It wasn’t enough, though. He knew that. How could he ever have thought it would be enough?
The king snarled, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a crumpled parchment. “This? You thoughtthiswould be enough?”
He threw the paper at Marius’s feet.
Marius stared at the note. Gods, how had everything turned out so badly?
“I was wrong,” he admitted, his voice breaking as a cough crawled up his throat. “I should have spoken to you both. I just… I didn’t think you’d let me go.”
“And you were right.” The king’s ire was as sharp as any sword. “In leaving, you hurt my wife. She was in agonizing, soul-deep pain as we flew over Ithenmyr and Eleyta, searching for you.”
“I’m sorry.” He would apologize a thousand times over if necessary.
Shadows streamed from the king’s hands, blotting out the violet lights. The air thickened, and seconds that felt like hours passed.
“Do you know what I do to people who hurt my wife?” Sebastian asked. His voice was soft, but he might as well have screamed the question.
Was that a real question? Did he actually want Marius to answer? Of course, he knew what the king did to people who harmed Luna.
Marius had been a child when the last queen died, but he’d heard rumors of Sebastian’s fury. He’d heard about the way the then-prince had dealt with the People of the Night, how he ripped through the cult members as though they were made of paper and dispatched their leader before he Made Luna and saved her life.
Sebastian Montquartier was the King of Darkness, and his kindness only extended to Marius because of his relationship with Luna.
He couldn’t seriously be asking Marius to vocalize that, could he?
Long, excruciating minutes went by, where the only sound was Marius’s ragged breaths. The three vampires were statues. Vivienne’s forehead was pressed against the stone, and both royals were staring at Marius.
It took him far too long to realize the question wasn’t rhetorical.
His heart thundered as he sucked in a breath and whispered, “You kill them.”
His words echoed through the throne room, as loud as any clap of thunder. Marius’s palms grew slick. Up until that moment, he hadn’t actually believed the king would physically punish him for leaving.
Be upset, yes. Kill him? No.
Now, he was coming to the horrific realization that he might’ve been wrong. Maybe this would be the end.
Marius should probably be horrified by that, but he couldn’t help but think that death might be better than returning to life the way it had been. He’d been little more than a prisoner, unable to truly live.
“Wrong,” the king growled. “I kill people who hurtme. Those who harm my wife do not deserve a quick end. I ensure they feel every ounce of pain they inflicted upon my beloved a hundred times over before finally allowing them to feel death’s cold embrace.”
Goosebumps peppered Marius’s flesh. The king was serious.
His gaze swung from Sebastian to Luna. Crimson tracked down the queen’s cheeks, and she appeared to be holding back sobs as she remained by her husband’s side.
“You should die for this,” Sebastian proclaimed.
Luna sucked in a sharp breath, and she grabbed her husband’s arm.
“But for her,”—the king looked fondly at his wife, as if she was the center of his universe—“I will spare you. For her, I will let you live.”
Marius’s shoulders loosened, and he dipped his head, pressing his forehead against the floor in a mirror of Vivienne’s position. “Thank you, my king.”
“Don’t thank me,” Sebastian practically snarled. “I’m not doing this for you, but for her. Iknow what it’s like to be alone, and I would never wish that on my beloved. You, I’ll let live. But her…”
The king strode towards Vivienne, and his voice dropped an octave. “Shefailedme.”
A Broken Vow