Page 24 of This Shattered Star

Death hurts more than fear.

“Diana’s guard, Gideon, taught me everything I know,” I began hesitantly. “I was much younger when he started teaching me the basics. It built from there.”

“My father speaks well of him,” Kodhan said, nodding. “They worked together for years. Fought on the same training mats. It would make sense as to how you managed to somewhat hold your own.”Without any magic,went unsaid. “Our teachers were friends.”

“I watched you bleed as I held your own dagger to your throat. I thinksomewhatis an understatement,” I argued crisply.

Amusement fluttered around the room on sprouted wings. Brannon did nothing to hide his laugh, the sound low, and smooth like velvet. He’d won the hearts of many with that laugh alone, no doubt.

“Please,” he said through another chuckle. “Don’t hold out on the details.”

“The details aren’t necessary,” Kodhan replied before I could, through gritted teeth.

“For now.” Theia cleared her throat, struggling to swallow her own laugh. “So you fight similarly. That’s good, then.”

“You left out an important piece of the story,” Kodhan drawled above their snickering.

When Brannon and Theia’s inquisitive stares settled on me once more, I debated plunging Kodhan’s dagger into his stomach.

I shifted in my seat. “I’m sure whatever you’re about to say is hardly important.”

“Taking the lives of innocents is unimportant?”

“Oh, don’t be hypocrite, Kodhan. Like you haven’t enjoyed burning people alive in the name of your father since he pulled you out of whatever crevice he’d hidden you in,” I hissed, pushing to my feet.

His eyes narrowed to slits. “That’s different.”

“The ashes of your victims speak otherwise.”

I made it all but three steps before Theia intercepted the next, halting my warpath. When my eyes met hers, no judgement lay there. Only curiosity, and a hint of apprehension. “It’s alright, Eloise. You can tell us the truth. It won’t leave this room, I promise.”

How many promises did she throw around,I wondered,and so easily, at that?Promises were only good for getting oneself killed.

I slumped back onto the chair, deflated. Then, sighing heavily through my nose, I spared a glance at Brannon, who pretended to sew his lips shut with invisible thread.

“It’s no secret that many members of court have their own agenda.” The one sconce lighting up the room was my sole point of focus. “Diana wanted to put me to use, seeing as I couldn’t do anything a regular girl in court could with my lack of magic. She found a way to do that and take care of her personal business at the same time.”

“So you assassinate the people Diana asks you to,” Kodhan pressed.

My words stuck to my tongue like they’d been coated in adhesive, but I managed to force them out regardless. The secret was already out. There was no point in stopping now. “She gives me slips of paper with a name on them. Then I take care of it.”

Brannon let out a low whistle. “When did this start?”

“When I was fourteen.”

“Fourteen?”Theia gasped. “You were still a child!”

“After your parents died.”

I finally tore my eyes away from the sconce, and was instantly met with twin orbs of jade. “Yes. After my parents died.”

“That’s sadistic! Let alone barbaric.” Theia shook her head. “Gods, I can only imagine…” she trailed off, at a loss for words. Not that I could blame her.

“Why didn’t you refuse?” Kodhan asked coolly, face devoid of any emotion. As if the information had absolutely no effect on him.

I doubted the man had ever found it in himself to care about anything other than his personal gain.

I squared my shoulders. Lifted my chin. He could judge me all he wanted. It meant nothing. His hands might not have been stained red, but the ashes of his own victims still floated somewhere.