Chapter 366 (1/2)

Chapter 366

titUS GRANBEHL

"Oh, I nearly forgot tohappily, she set down the skewered chunk of pink reed to our tero with their letter"

I finished chewing and reached doithwhat happened to the Rothkeller blood ht set a fire under the Vales…"

Karin's cool eyes darted to Ada, but the girl was paying us no mind as she stirred her food around her plate mindlessly

"Anyway," Karin continued, her eyes widening slightly as if to rereehtened around my utensils as I sawed deeper into the scorched white-tailed sae of our actions

I thought of Kalon and Ezra My eldest was too proud and self-righteous to have understood e did now, but had he survived, perhaps such extreh, he was the child whome, I pushed my unfinished plate away

If only Ezra had survived instead, I thought bitterly, casting a dour glance at hter

"And I've sent out feelers to so our proposal," she went on As she spoke, she reached over and began to cut up Ada's food, even lifting bites to the girl's irl feed herself, she's—"

She shotback

I watched as Karin spoon-fed hter like she had no arms, yet I said no more As difficult it was to admit, much of e had accomplished in this short time would have been i, charismatic, and ruthless But she was also a mother that had lost two of her children With Kalon and Ezra gone, Ada had becoths I would not previously have iined possible, in her mind, it was all done for Ada

"titus, are you listening?"

"Of course," I said, searching hbloods Lowe and Arbital Both fine candidates for Ada"

I pushed away from the table and a servant rushed in to collectto ether?"

A knowing se of my wife's lips "Of course, Lord Granbehl"

"It'll be Highlord soon," I said beforemy way outside

There was a salty sweetness to the war from the west, fro bitter cold down from the distant mountains And yet whichever way the wind blows, it is always at our backs Even our defeats turn into victory

My failure to secure Ascender Grey's holdings had been a dangerous time for Named Blood Granbehl When the justices we'd bribed were executed in their cells, I had worried we ht soon meet the same fate With e, and any wrong move could spell our end But fate, as it turned out, was kind

At least to us

The sun was just setting as I beganrounds to review the estate's enhanced security We had turned many rivals into bitter eneh they had so far been too cowardly to attack us directly—thanks in large part to the ruhly prepared for such an eventuality anyway

Despite ood mood, I affixed a thunderous scowl to uards, and ascenders I'd hired as security for our Vechor estate They had to fear me if I expected them to stay in line, after all

As I passed by the atehouse and snapped to attention "Lord Granbehl"

"At ease, Henrik"

The man bowed, then pulled a rolled parchment from the satchel at his side "This arrived for you only a few rin as I held up the rolled parchment, which was rounds look in order, Henrik"

The ood with the other guards—bowed again and returned to his post

I, on the other hand, hurried inside, eager to read Professor Grae in the entryway He flinched back at the sight of me

My lips curled into a sneer "What are you doing up here? Stop lurking and return to your dungeon"

Petral bowed deeply, his dark hair tuies, Lord I wished to tell you that the last of the prisoners has…expired, and the body has been taken away The dungeons are e a shooinga rather long-awaited victory"

The torturer slunk back into the shadows and vanished down the servants' stairs, leaving behind a strong scent of oil Shakingopen the seal and unfurling it, a boyish grin spreading over nashed my teeth in frustration at the hastily-scribbled words in the letter The fine parchment crumpled in my fist as I slammed it into the wall

"Incompetant fool Perhaps I placed too hblood"

With our mutual distaste for Ascender Grey, it seemed obvious at the tihblood couldn't even keep Grey detained by the Ascenders association for a day

My thoughts carefully skirted around my benefactor, who had left the details of this part of the plan entirely up to me If I failed to deliver…

"Father?" I spun at the sound of Ada's voice "Is everything all right? You wereher a false s to worry about Why aren't you in your rooo to bed You know you need your rest"

The girl's si was so pathetic—I didn't knohether to hug her or slap her across the face With a heavy sigh, I placed a hand on her small shoulder "Ada, it's tih Now stand up straight and—"

I cockedcarefully It had almost sounded like a—

Shouts frolow radiated through the front s, staining the foyer walls and floor a bloody scarlet A heartbeat later, the warning bells began to ring

"Ada, go down to the basehter She whiirl, now!"

I heard her quick steps recede, vanishi+ng down the servants' stairs the sa about her any longer Faltering steps took me to one of the front here I confir a red dome that covered my entire property

The courtyard flashed with spells as bullets of fire, arcing bolts of lightning, and spears of ice cut through the early evening glooet was a shadow that seemed to flicker within a shroud of purple electricity, appearing and disappearing more quickly than I could follow

"A rival house?" Idown into the sill "But ould dare…?"

My thoughts leapt unbidden to our benefactor, the source of our recent successes…but surely it could not be him He could not know about our misstep with Grey yet, and even if he did, we had time to correct the mistake, there was no need to—

I froze as a cold sweat began to pour down my face

Grey…

I crushed the letter init to the floor My face was nearly pressed against the glass as I looked for any sign that I was right

A bestial for asp and step quickly back

Men were screa

The front doors—warded tobarrier activated—shook under the weight of a heavy blow

Aincoherently—Henrik, I realized, though I'd never heard such panic in his gravelly voice before—then cut off abruptly as a purple blade of pure light thrust through the door with the cracking shriek of splintering hardwood

I stared at the blade protruding intoI had seen before, like liquid crystal amethyst folded over on itself The color shi+fted subtly but continuously, growing darker and hter and more violent For a heartbeat, I became lost in the otherworldly depths of that blade

Then it vanished Blood began to run in a thin stream from the hole in the door

I backed away slowly, already picturing as about to happen The wards shouldn't allow it, but I knew they wouldn't hold

The warded doors exploded inward, sending a shrapnel of sharp shards of wood and twisted black iron spraying across the entry hall A shi+eld of bright blue fire roared to life in front ofboth wood and uards running froh the distortion of the blue fire, I could see only a rough silhouette standing where my door had been, Henrik's corpse at his feet

"Getfrom behind rabbedwith us Two heavily-arical energy suffusing their ar wheel of wind and flame cut the air between theer there

A choking gasp uards, was already tus crumpled to the floor while his torso fell backwards, a look of a surprise etched on his already-dead face

A dark silhouette flickered next to us, lashi+ng out at my protector The shi+eld hurtled backwards with a screech, too quickly to adjust his spellcasting His screas, and what hit the as no longer recognizable as aaround in confusion, trying to find their attacker, their weapons ready but useless when he appeared between the in the air as it passed through their weapons, armor, flesh, and bones like they were made of silk

Bothaspect of the fire shi+eld faded away as the shi+eld choked out one last, rasping breath

Grey si round

My fists clenched, —not with fear, I told myself, but fury

"Y-you overstep," I said, "—I sed heavily, my mouth suddenly very dry—"elevated You have no station, no authority, while we are protected by a Scythe Do you understand? You'll die for this You'll—"

"You were told ould happen if you caain," he said, his voice devoid of ee reathed in black and purple fla up beside hi to bolster hter and cleared my throat "I am under the protection of Scythe Nico of Central Dominion You dare attack me? He'll—"

Grey took a step forward, and I backed away so quickly I nearly tripped over the dead Caster's outstretched arm