The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

of the throne.
    My gut tightens. The remnants haven’t met with much success these last two weeks.
     Sure, they’ve hurt and killed a good number of us, but we’ve hurt and killed a good
     number of them, too. They should be losing support, especially since Lena wants to
     make changes that will benefit the majority of the Realm. She’s promised to do away
     with Atroth’s unpopularly high gate taxes, and there will be no more special exemptions
     and favors for the fae who kiss noble ass—my words, not Lena’s. Fae will no longer
     have to worry about swordsmen invading their homes on hunches, and they will no longer
     be required to register their magics. I honestly don’t understand why the remnants
     are willing to kill to keep Lena from the throne.
    “Do you think they’ve found another Descendant?” I ask as I take off my cloak. A Descendant
     with a traceable bloodline back to the
Tar Sidhe
, the fae who ruled the Realm centuries ago, might have a stronger claim to the throne
     than Lena. I might—
might
—be able to understand their behavior if that’s what has happened.
    The palace archivist showed me Lena’s heritage after the king was killed. It confirmed
     that she’s a Descendant, and that she and her brother, Sethan, would have been high
     nobles if their parents weren’t murdered and their province dissolved.
    Lena turns away from the window, but before she can respond, another voice answers
     my question.
    “If they had a Descendant, they would have told the high nobles by now.”
    It’s Kyol. His voice still affects me, sending a warm, anxious tingle through my body.
     It’s impossible to ignore his presence. Even without turning, I know where he is.
     It’s like the air itself recognizes his authority, and it’s difficult to describe
     what I’m feeling. Kyol is the man I loved for a decade, and what we had together didn’t
     just disappear overnight. I still care deeply for him, but I haven’t seen him in two
     weeks, mostly because I’ve been avoiding him. Or we’ve been avoiding each other. The
     last thing I want to do is hurt him, and I’m worried that seeing me, especially seeing
     me with Aren, will do just that.
    But it will be obvious I’m uncomfortable if I don’t acknowledge his presence, so after
     setting my cloak down on the lowest step of the dais, I finally turn and see him striding
     toward us. His dark hair lies damp with sweat against his forehead, and there’s a
     smudge of dirt or ash on his left cheek.
Jaedric
covers his shoulders and torso, his forearms, thighs, and calves, and even though
     it’s obvious he’s been fighting the remnants, he’s almost more presentable than Aren,
     whose
jaedric
armor is slipshod in comparison. Aren would be the first to receive a new, well-oiled
     set of armor if he wanted it, but he chooses to wear these patched-together pieces.
    Kyol stops a few paces away and gives me a slight nod. It’s the way he always acknowledged
     me in front of Atroth and other Court fae. Detached but respectful.
    “We didn’t tell the high nobles about Sethan,” Aren says. His posture has changed.
     Before Kyol entered, he was annoyed at Lena, but he was relaxed. He’s not relaxed
     anymore. His left hand, which was resting casually on his sword’s hilt, has dropped
     to his side, and his right is now loose and open, ready to draw the blade if he needs
     to. He won’t need to, though. Kyol has sworn to protect Lena, and he’d never do anything
     to hurt me. Aren knows that. I don’t think he’s aware of the subtle change in his
     posture.
    “We didn’t tell them about Sethan because we knew Atroth would attack Haeth if he
     knew who we were,” Lena says, referring to the city she and her brother grew up in.
     Sethan was the fae the rebels intended to put on the throne, but he was killed by
     the Court fae outside of Vancouver. If he were still alive, I think the transition
     to a new ruler would be going much more smoothly. He