The Crimson Queen (Dark Halos Book 3) by Amanda Aggie

Author:Amanda Aggie [Aggie, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Book Dragon Publishing
Published: 2023-01-30T18:30:00+00:00

23

Kai

Ivar’s fist collides with my cheek, but my upper cut manages to make contact with his chin, even as I’m stumbling backward. It’s not every day that I choose to spar without my power, my sword, or any semblance of protection, but I refuse to be a king that won’t fight along with my men. Train with my men. Most of which are mortals, and therefore I’ll settle myself to hand-to-hand combat.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he says, nordic accent thick in his draw.

“If you want to become my first hand, yes. Everyday men don’t become first hands. Only the best warriors. If you want that seat by my side, you have to earn it and that comes with practicing to become the best.”

I rub my cheek with my thumb, knowing it will heal before the bruise even begins to settle in. I’ve been holding back my punches with Ivar. He doesn’t have that luxury, and I won’t hurt him just to teach him. Something my father taught me well by doing it the wrong way.

“Again,” I command, readying my stance.

“Your Grace,” someone calls from outside the training arena, and Ivar and I separate. Breathing heavily, I wipe my forearm across my brow, keeping the sweat beading there from dripping in my eyes.

“What could possibly be so important that–” I turn toward the voice, and the world seems to stand still, fading into the background as Finn smiles. His beard is longer than I remember. His hair unkept and unruly, but the same cheesy grin is still slathered on his face, highlighted by the dimples in his cheeks. He creeps a box wedged between two blunt ends of his arms up into the air, and my heart could crumble into ash, and I’d still be standing here, gawking.

What the hell happened to his hands?

“Your Grace,” the guard says again, knocking me from my daze, and I quickly shuffle toward the arena’s edge, jumping over the railing.

“You’re here.” It’s all I can manage to get out. My chest tightens as if a thousand pounds has been placed upon it, and my skin breaks out in a cold sweat.

If he’s here, then he was set free.

And if he was set free…

Traveling my gaze to the glass box he holds, my throat goes dry, and even as I try to swallow to wet the sandpaper-like tissue, I can feel every ounce of resolve I have fading. If he’s here, then that was Alice the other day in the keep.

“Please, by all the gods, new and old, tell me that’s not what’s left of her…” I step closer, and the glare reduces until a beating heart becomes clear. A pinkish-red glow radiating from its core.

“No. This isn’t Alice… Your Grace.” He exaggerated the term of endearment that I’ve quickly come to hate. It makes me sound too much like my father, and he’s everything I wish to never be. Still, there’s a sense of pride in Finn’s tone, and it tugs at something deep within me, like a glimpse of hope.

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