Song of Earth and Claws by Lena Abram

Author:Lena Abram [Abram, Lena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Lannahi sent Erril to escort Blann and Souhi to the kitchen and headed to her chamber herself, accompanied by Esau and Akammu. They all clutched knives in their hands. Lannahi didn’t believe that Lizaar had prepared more than two traps, but remembering the role of Gannar, Eshshar, and Nuur in the first one, she preferred to remain cautious. She didn’t know what orders the rest of the palace’s residents had received so when she saw Ashared with a sword in his hand climbing the stairs connecting this floor with the underground part of the palace, she stopped, suspecting the worst. A long moment passed before she realized that no one was following him, and he was staring at them with surprise rather than hostile intent.

Sensing the tension in her companions, Lannahi moved slowly forward, but the closer she got to the stairs, the more certain she was. The man ran his gaze over the bump on her temple, her uneven, disheveled hair, and the knife in her hand and was utterly shocked. She noticed the drops of sweat on his brow and the fact that he wasn’t wearing a uniform but loose clothes and realized that he must have been practicing in the training room. He hadn’t known about Lizaar’s plan.

Suddenly, Lannahi felt exposed under his scrutiny. In the dining room, she didn’t care much about her appearance because everyone who was present had suffered humiliation in one way or another, but now, with the strong, proud, handsome man in front of her, she felt the urge to smooth her hair and hide her injured head.

Then Ashared noticed the tight expressions and stances of her guards and his grip on his sword tightened. Her embarrassment was crushed by a boulder of hard anger.

“What is it, captain?” she asked coolly, stopping at a safe distance. “Do you wish to issue a demand as well? Or do you intend to tell me more lies?”

The man’s confusion grew, but if he cared about his reputation, he had to respond to the insult. “I have never lied to you, Lannahi.”

Accustomed to him addressing her politely with her title, the emotion vibrating in his voice and the sound of her name coming from his lips surprised her to the point she couldn’t hide it.

“Your Highness,” Ashared corrected himself belatedly.

Lannahi collected herself. “‘As long as you are here, the Palace Guard will protect you,’” she quoted. “Didn’t you say those words the day I came here?”

“That’s what I said,” he admitted after a moment, though his expression was wary. He had begun to suspect the reason why Lannahi was in such a disheveled state.

“So how do you explain that your deputy and eleven other guardsmen attacked me and my personal guards?”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. His face paled, and his free hand, which he kept casually lowered alongside his body, clenched into a fist. She knew he couldn’t answer her. He didn’t know it had happened.

“It is possible that it was my mistake, though,” Lannahi continued.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.