Page 51 of City of Snakes
“She wanted to die,” I said to Krait, and the room quieted. “He killed a pig in order to Death-wield, hardly a punishable offense.”
Krait’s Shadows were whipping around him violently, as though they craved striking out at me. “Death-wielding is always a punishable offense. Be seated, Queen Wymark.”
Fuck no, I would not sit down.
“A century? For doing as his wife wanted?” I spat.
“Leave us,” Krait commanded the rest of the room, and the lords bowed, seeming eager to exit the room. Krait’s growing Shadows vined up the ceiling, and a lump grew in my throat.
Once Krait and I were alone, he rose and crossed the room. He stood so close that I had to tilt my chin up to meet his gaze, soclose that there seemed to be no light left in the room. He leaned into my space—still not touching me. I had to fight the urge to back away.
“You cannot walk into my throne room and dictate how I deal with my realm’s matters,” he snarled. “I would not interfere in your rulings if it were the other way around.”
I stiffened and he withdrew a step.
That was what I wanted, wasn’t it? A King who would leave me to my own devices.
“It wasn’t murder. It was doneout of love, Krait.”
“As I’ve stated,Queen Wymark,”he said, seeming to throw formality back at me like an insult. “It does not matter. Death-wielding is outlawed here. It strengthens Caym. It weakens us whether done out of love or hate, or indifference.”
My hands balled at my sides. I wanted to argue.
But this washiscourt,hishome,hislaw.
“You Death-wielded in Luz. I saw your hands—they were coaled at the fingertips when I met you.”
At the accusation, Krait’s Shadows snapped around my feet. I finally lost composure and flinched, blinking hard once. He noticed and took another step backward, the angry lines in his brow fading abruptly.
“That night, we used the energy of the dead already on the battlefield. That is different. While it is still dark magic, it is not the same as creatingnewdeath. That is what Death-wielding is, killing for the sake of harvesting energy, using death.”
Darvanda’s whole life had been devoted to stopping the Death Origin’s rise, and that was exactly what he’d been up to in Luz.
“You didn’t come to help us, to save Luz,” I realized out loud. “You simply came that night to stop those who were Death-wielding.”
“Among other reasons,” he snapped back.
The weight of his gaze unnerved me. I nodded. Instead of spitting more fire over this, I spun on my heels and went to find Ryn.
Ryn and Elsedora were waiting in the main hall. The smile and slap on the back I received from the silver-haired warlock snapped me out of my anger.
“You did it again. You got into that man’s mind unnoticed.”
My shoulders deflated as he squeezed them. I had.
Little good it had done for him.
Elsedora offered me a sad smile and said, “You meant well. But our laws are in place to prevent Caym from gaining strength before his Reverist abilities are returned.”
“Does Death-wielding risk giving him the power of compulsion too?” I tried to remember what Krait had told me outside the holding cell, but all I could recall was the way his warm spice scent had surrounded me.
“No, not yet. He will not have that power until the next black moon. He took that power from Isolde—he forced her into a bargain,” Elsedora explained. “It’s all in the book.”
None of this explanation helped calm the churning feeling in my stomach as I thought of the man’s desperation to end his wife’s suffering.
“How do you know so much about the Reverists?” I asked, wanting to move the subject away from what had happened in the throne room. Away from having uncovered my soon-to-be-husband’s motives in Luz.
“We saved many of the Reverist texts that Phynx wanted destroyed,” Ryn answered. “Despite being a Source-wielder, my father strongly opposed the spread of magic. He wanted it moderated, controlled and only accessible to the wealthy. My earliest memories are of the rebellions that followed some of those laws going into effect.”
