Страница 19 из 86
He straightened his bloodstained coat, and it was as if he’d do
I reeled back. “If you expect me to thank you for giving me the opportunity to suffer, then you are no better than King Nemea, Your Majesty.” His flinch filled me with satisfaction.
I wrenched the door open, letting it crash into the wall. “Move,” I yelled to one of the guards who blocked my path. Panic scurried up my throat, blocked my breath. Agatha’s chamber was on the lower floor. I could keep myself together until I reached her, but as I made my way down the hall from King Theodore’s chamber, I faltered.
Two of Nemea’s guards, clad in their ominous black armor, stood before my chamber door. They wore helmets that only showed their lower faces. One guard, whose jaw was covered in red spots and pock scars, shoved the other with a gangly elbow when he saw me. “She’s there.”
The older guard offered me a quick half bow. “Into your chamber, my lady.”
“You have no right ordering me around.” I spoke with authority, even as my heart plummeted. “I’m the king’s ward.”
“You’re the captain’s lady now,” the pock-faced boy-soldier mumbled. “And he’ll make my life hell if you’re not in that room when he’s back.”
“I’ll not be a prisoner in my own home.” I trudged onward, but he reached out a single wiry arm and scooped me up. I yelled as he hefted me toward my open door. I thrashed and clawed before I was unceremoniously dropped to my rug and shut in. “I’ll have the king skin you for this.” The door rattled in its frame as I beat against it.
“Forgive me, my lady.” The guard sounded unrepentant through the heavy oak. “Captain’s orders.”