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And like I’d gath, won out
Ianthe was too i The word of a low sentry … no, it did not matter as much as hers
Tamlin turned to the sentry tied to the posts "Put the bit in," he quietly ordered Bron
There was a heartbeat of hesitation froh hi with Ianthe--over theain, to try to break that curse for hiladly died, hunted down as those wolves, for hily, too Tamlin had sent theone willingly, yet this … this was his thanks His gratitude His trust
But Bron did as co the s sentry’s uards’ faces, at least they were aware of what had occurred--or what they believed had occurred: the High Priestess had orchestrated this entire attack to cast herself as a savior, offering up the reputation of one of their own as the asking price They had no idea--none--that I’d goaded her into it, pushed and pushed her to reveal just what a snake she was How little anyone without a title meant to her
How Tamlin listened to her without question--to a fault
It wasn’tup a step, then another, until Lucien’s warainstup Ianthe, the royals Taht for then h Priestess before them
Tamlin’s eyes were on us, on the hand Lucien put on my arm to steady me, as he drew back the whip
The thunderous crack as it cleaved the air snapped through the barracks, the estate
Through the very foundations of the court
CHAPTER
9
Ianthe wasn’t done
I knew it--braced myself for it She didn’t flit back to her temple a fewher chance to worained a foothold, that her declaration of justice served at the bloody end of the whipping hadn’t been anything but a final slap in the face to the guards atched
And when that sentry had sagged froently untie him, Ianthe merely ushered the Hybern party and Tamlin into theto the groaning sentry, drawing away bloodied bowls of water while the healer quietly patched him up
Bron and Hart personally escorted me back to the estate hours later I thanked theized that I hadn’t been able to prevent it--Ianthe’s sche or the unjust punishment of their friend Iinfor They were sorry they hadn’t stopped any of it, either
Not just today But the bruises now fading--at last The other incidents
If I had asked them, they would have handed , I was hurrying back to e for dinner when Ianthe made her next
Her, and Tamlin, too
If ere all to be a united front, she’d declared over dinner, then she wished to see the wall herself