The Bloodsworn Read Online Free PDF

from him. There was too much to do and too little time. She withdrew, feeling as though she’d left more behind in that sitting room than her husband and his silence.
    She felt it all over again the following morning when she rode out under cover of darkness with Ide and Dain Cooper, leaving a still-silent Liam on the steps of the keep.

T HREE

    â€œI think it would be best,” said Albern Highmount, “if you allowed me to do most of the talking, Your Highness.”
    Big surprise, that. Highmount barely trusted Liam to dress himself, let alone run a council meeting. He obviously thought his prince an irredeemable idiot—which verdict, to be fair, Liam probably wouldn’t dispute just now. After all, he’d just let his wife ride off into mortal peril without him. Again. Only this time, he’d sent her forth not with a love letter, but with fatal doubts about their marriage. Bloody brilliant. Happy endings sure to follow.
    â€œI sense I do not have your undivided attention, Your Highness,” Highmount said.
    â€œYeah, well, you’ll have to forgive me,” Liam said tartly. “I’ve had a bit of a rough morning.”
    The chancellor was unmoved. “Her Highness is exceedingly capable. If anyone can accomplish this task, it is she.”
    â€œFor what it’s worth,” Rona Brown put in, “I agree.”
    Liam sighed and shoved a hand through his hair, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand. His gaze roamed over the oratorium, all stately pillars and polished stone and stained-glass windows. He could scarcely fathom a moreintimidating room, yet Erik had always commanded it from the moment he walked through the door. Liam would have to find a way to do the same, even if he was only half the man his brother had been.
Half the man he is
, he corrected himself. Erik wasn’t lost, not yet. Alix would fix this. Liam needed to believe that on so many levels.
    The guardsman Pollard appeared at the door. “Ready, Your Highness?”
    Liam looked at Highmount and Rona, the only two council members who knew the truth about Erik’s condition. Could they hide it? Glancing from one steady gaze to the other, he thought,
Who are you kidding?
A chancellor and a banner lady, born and bred at court. He, on the other hand . . .
If anyone’s going to cock it up, it’s you.
    Green was the first to enter, as always, the rest of the lords and ladies following in the strict order protocol demanded. Liam found himself taking them in as if for the first time, measuring them up, deciding if they’d be friend or foe in the days and weeks to come.
    Raibert Green.
Cousin to Liam’s fallen mentor, Arran Green. First among the banner lords. Green, at least, Liam knew he could trust.
Or can you?
Green was a good man, fiercely loyal to the king.
If he thinks you’ve betrayed Erik . . .
Next came Norvin Gold. Liam knew nothing about him save his rank as banner lord. Still less of Lady Stonegate, or Lord Swiftcurrent . . .
    And then there was Sirin Grey.
    She met Liam’s gaze from across the room. Curiosity lit her blue eyes, but it was a cold curiosity, unpredictable and dangerous, like sunlight on a glacier.
Doing some measuring up of her own
, Liam thought. He had no idea where he stood with her. They didn’t have much history together, but what they did have could hardly have filled Sirin with warm, cuddly feelings. Liam had been there the day her lover was executed—her lover, Tomald White, brother to Erik and traitor to the crown. It was Liam who’d caught her when she swooned, overcome by the sight of the Raven’s blood running in rivulets between the flagstones. It was Liam who’d taken the Raven’s place as Erik’s heir. Meanwhile, her brother Roswald’s role in the plot had cast Sirin’s family into disgrace. Half their landshad been confiscated, their men-at-arms disbanded. By the time