Page 40 of The Royal Gauntlet
I can faintly hear the tinkle of the children’s laughter as we walk past the spot where that vendor was.
“Excuse me,” I call, stepping toward the first person I see. We made it five blocks without running across anyone, and I’m deeply unsettled. “Where is everyone?”
The man starts to snarl at me, but once he gets a good look at me, he must realize who I am because something akin to pity flashes on his face. Then he turns his attention to Essos and Xavier, and his entire posture changes. He stands up taller, no longer trying to make himself as small as he can.
“You shouldn’t be out here, Majesties,” he warns.
“I appreciate your concern, but where is everyone?” Essos says.
“Her Majesty, Queen Posey, has instituted a curfew,” the man replies, averting his gaze. Essos and I exchange a look. We knew this, but we expected the curfew to be at night, not in the middle of the day.
“It’s not even noon on a Saturday,” Xavier points out.
The man’s entire demeanor changes rapidly, moving straight into panic. He surges toward me and grabs my upper arms, his dark eyes frantic.
“She’s–” His words die in his throat…because he turns to stone, his hands still clutching my arms painfully. I look at Essos, trying to keep the building terror from showing in my face. I don’t want him to see my fear, because I’m sure he’ll become unhinged about it. He never wanted this, he never wanted me out of the safety of our home, and now I’m going to have to deal with the incessant reminder that he was right.
“Daphne, love, you need to relax,” Essos tells me, his hand on the small of my back. It’s a soothing gesture, and I try to relax into him, but I don’t want to hurt this man either. The only way I can imagine Essos getting me out of this is to shatter his hands. My breath starts to come faster and faster, until I’m on the verge of hyperventilating. “Daphne, please.” Essos sounds so panicked when he says this, I can only nod.
I take a deep breath that comes out shakier than anything else. I have completely forgotten about Xavier until he comes to my other side, his hands bracing around the man’s. I watch helplessly as they both channel their magic into changing the hands that hold me from stone into flesh again, long enough for me to step away before they revert once more to stone when Essos and Xavier let go and step back. Their powers together are not enough to override whatever this twisted Fate wants. Not long-term, anyway.
How many others are stuck like this? Posey’s the cat in this game and we’re all mice running around for her to torture.
“Why would she do this?” My voice is shaking more than I want. Essos steps closer to me, offering his comfort should I want it, and I do. I lean into him, fighting the urge to rub my upper arms where I’m sure bruises are forming.
“Because it’s how she can control people,” a female voice says from behind us.
We all spin, and a vine dagger forms in my hand before I even think about it. Gods, I can’t wait for the days when needing weapons is no longer second nature.
“Relax, you three. I come in peace.”
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Essos and I share a look before I meet my mother-in-law’s gaze.
Octavia looks just as put together as she did the last time I saw her. Her long, blonde hair is pulled back into a severe ponytail, and a black dress form-fits all her sharp lines and pointy edges. She is every bit the woman I remember her to be…except for her bloodshot eyes and red nose.
She’s been crying.
It seems my unwillingness to bring back Galen is sinking in. Essos and I still haven’t told anyone about her offer to become a turncoat in exchange for the monster from my nightmares.
Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones or I’ve gone a little soft since being a human, but I realize the pain she must be in. Her son and husband were killed on the same day. Even if Octavia and Titus were estranged when he died, they were together for eons.
Essos breaks our eye contact when he steps between us.
“What do you want?” Xavier demands.
Essos’s hands are loose at his sides, but I see the urge to clench them into fists in the set of his shoulders. I’m surprised when Xavier steps up beside his brother, shielding me as well.
“I was hoping to see my children. Is that too much to ask?” I hear her heels as she steps forward, closer to us.
“We need to know whose side you’re really on,” Xavier prods.
I shift so I can see between the brothers.
“You really are the densest of my children. If I wasn’t on your side, why would I approach you?” She shrugs one dainty shoulder. “Daphne knows what I want.”
“I can’t imagine what you could possibly want from me that your favorite daughter-in-law can’t provide, seeing as she has the Scepter of the Dead, one of the God Killer blades, and all the souls from the Underworld.”
Octavia’s eyes narrow on me. I do know what she wants from me, but Xavier doesn’t know that.