Read Online Michelle West - The Sun Sword 02 - The Uncrowned King by The Uncrowned King - Free Book Online Page A

probably better than any of the rest of 'em.
    And Jewel, seer-born, had never learned to accept that the only life her gift would ever let her save for certain was her own. They all had, and they all did. But not her.
    Carver shook his head. "Glad I'm not you," he said, as he pulled away from the kitchen door. "Funeral's in two hours, and you're going to have to dig her out of there and get her ready."
    The phrase "if looks could kill" took on significant meaning only if one knew Avandar Gallais well enough to understand the subtle sourness of his expression.
    It wasn't a rainy day; it wasn't a dark one. It was the type of day that was so mild and so beautiful it made toil of any sort seem almost an insult to the benevolence of the weather gods—whichever gods those were at the moment. Changed a bit, with time.
    Jewel hated it.
    There should have been rain, storm, something that showed the displeasure of the heavens at the unjust, the unfair, the unacceptable passing of a decent woman. There should have been mourning, and if not that, than at least weather drizzly and gray enough to keep people from good cheer and ease. Petty thought, that. But Alea was dead, and the death should mean
something
.
    She hated black. She hated gold. She wore them both for Alea because Alea would have insisted on it. For the good of the House, of course. For the sake of solidarity.
    What she'd chosen not to wear spoke volumes, and indeed volumes had been spoken by Avandar all the way from her rooms to the edge of the grounds.
    "You cannot leave your House Ring; it
is
the mark of your status as part of the House Council."
    "The House bloody Council," she'd replied, "can choose to go straight to
Allasakar
for all I care."
    That silenced him for a moment. The name of the Lord of the Hells was rarely, if ever, spoken. In matters of protocol, however, he was rarely silenced for long.
    So she tried a different tack. "Look," she said, "you're not an idiot. I'm not an idiot. We're standing on contested turf right now, and Alea's death was just like Courtne's—part of a turf war. There are two dens forming up. Maybe more."
    He was quiet another minute—which allowed her to get from her room to the great hall—before he spoke again. "Four."
    "Four. Or five. I don't know. But I do know this. I don't have the funds or the soldiers to throw away in a turf war over a House that's not even up for grabs. The Terafin's not
dead
, Avandar."
    "But the—"
    "And the House Council
is
the collection of den leaders who are sharpening their knives. Who've already blooded them. Alea is
dead
because they've started their skirmishing. Who's left that's worth respecting? Courtne's dead, and he was considered the unimpeachable heir to the title. Gabriel? Rymark's his
blood son
. And I've already said enough about Rymark.
    "Look, I've seen it before. I thought—because I was an idiot— that I'd never see it again. You think I want to be part of them right now? Think again. You want the ring?"
    "You don't insult
them
," he'd said, "You insult
her
." Avandar spoke of The Terafin, not the dead, and Jewel knew it. "You are her choice, as you well know, and your inclusion on Council was a matter of harsh words and politics."
    That almost worked.
    Almost.
    But she ached when she thought of Alea, and she could think of nothing else to offer her. She wanted to make a gesture. So it was childish. So it was a waste of time. It didn't matter. She wanted to, and this was the only one she could think of.
    "If she's insulted," she told the domicis gruffly, "I'll grovel in private later. But I have to say something, and if I can't say it this way, I'll actually
say
it."
    He didn't surrender gracefully. Never did. But he shut up, which was the best she could ask for.
    They made it to the grounds in the relative chill of his anger and the relative heat of hers; her den were smarter than he was and walked about five yards behind her temper, letting her cool off the only way she knew