Whisper of Blade | ✓ (Crimson #1)

Chapter 20: Bloody Knuckles

Minerva flicked her wrist, signaling for her guards to fall into step behind her. Following the Terron raid, she'd asked Matsudo to handpick security, not only for her Trial, but all-around the clock.

Kaolin strode ahead with a toss of her head. She hadn't appreciated needing to redo a full face of makeup.

Not for the first time, Minerva pondered how her plans for vengeance on the Phoenix Kin could be carried out if she absconded to her military post after the Heir's tournament. Leaving the city in her mother's hands also invited usurpation of authority and the throne. But staying in the black-hearted vipress' nest could prove even more deadly.

As always, her line of thought always returned to a singular goal.

Survive. No matter the obstacles. No matter the cost.

She'd walked through the Trial's furnace. Now there would only be the tournament and she'd be out of reach. If it came to it, she could fight a war of armies. The war she sensed brewing in the shadows was what worried her.

Minerva stalled at the staircase leading to the lower floors of the palace and motioned two of her bodyguard forward. The stairs were a chokepoint and a prime location to assassinate a target. She would know.

The kirukkan walls shone white, reflecting a blurry image of herself. The guards returned. As she descended, she kept her eyes on the curve of the wall—if anyone approached, she would see.

Paranoia. Her past had marked her. The reason she'd never kept a bodyguard before was because of the limitations they imposed on her movements and the opportunity they presented for betrayal. Even while she focused on what could be waiting ahead of her, her senses strained to detect any inconsistency behind. She could not take much of this, she knew—her nerves already frayed like delicate threads.

Kaolin rejoined them at the stairs landing and led the way to the stables. "Mala has been groomed and the master of tokas cared for her paw. He admitted he's not sure how effective his remedies will be though, since they're not regularly used on manticores."

Minerva nodded, noting how easily her maidservant navigated the palace's vast layout.

When they entered the stables, Minerva sneezed from the floating specks of dust and hay. Black tokas snorted and pawed at the earth in their stalls. Further down the row, she spied Taras and Kodak guiding their white mounts out.

"Kaolin?"

Her maidservant followed her gaze. "I didn't see them here earlier."

Within her sleeves, Minerva's hands twitched. "Will my parents be in the procession?"

Kaolin shook her head. "They will not."

In other words, she would have the public support of the Hydro King, but not the Pyro Emperor and Empress. "This is a disaster."

The faint clicking of hooves preceded Taras' voice. "The sun shines, Your Highness."

Minerva slipped at the familiar greeting, but recovered. "The sun shines, Your Majesty."

It took effort to meet his eyes. They were no less icy, but at odds with the deep warmth of his voice. His height topped Kodak by a hand's length, his head almost at the same level of his toka's.

The Hydro prince seemed subdued in his father's presence. Minerva couldn't blame him—Taras was an intimidating figure and she knew how it felt to be eclipsed by a greater and more established power. When their eyes met, Minerva raised an eyebrow at him.

As if all their past meetings had been erased from time, he released his toka's reigns. He drew nearer and Minerva's guards tensed behind her.

Worry etched itself on his forehead, but it didn't belong. His face seemed such a stranger to it. Then Minerva noticed the hair near his forehead was slicked with sweat, though it was chilly and he wore only a thin white shirt tucked into black pants.