Read Online Souls of Aredyrah 1 - The Fire and the Light by Tracy A. Akers - Free Book Online Page B

tighten as Mahon leaned in closer. The heat of his breath
on her face and the antagonism of his tone surprised her. He was
not a hostile man, but even he had changed this past year.
    She raised her head defiantly and worked to
release her arm. “No,” she said. “Let us not mention the one
person’s name that should be mentioned.”
    Brina jerked her arm from Mahon’s grasp, then
rose and rested a cool, critical stare on every person seated
there. Some ignored her, as her sister the Queen did, and a few
scowled at her insolence. But most simply looked away in
embarrassment. Brina turned her gaze to the elaborate feast spread
before her. Dozens of golden goblets, once carefully arranged, were
scattered throughout a maze of food, their purple spills bleeding
into the white tablecloth. Plates of half-eaten food sat ignored
while others were piled with second and third helpings. Some guests
did not even bother with plates, choosing to pick from the serving
platters instead. It occurred to Brina, as she stared at the
abundance of discarded food, that most of it would be thrown away.
So many hungry people outside the city walls, yet this would be
tossed into the gutters rather than sent to feed them.
    With that thought in mind, she realized that
angering the guests would only serve to prevent her from doing what
had to be done—what she had been doing for years now—and, even more
importantly, what had to be done tonight. She did not excuse
herself, but turned and walked silently from the banquet hall.
    Brina was almost to her room when a noise
from behind alerted her. She glanced over her shoulder and frowned,
then quickened her pace. It was Mahon, come no doubt to settle with
her. He was at the far end of the long corridor that led to her
private chamber, but even from that distance she could tell he was
primed for battle. She clenched her jaw and kept on walking.
    “How could you have behaved like that,” Mahon
said upon reaching her. “How could you have mentioned Reiv’s name
at a celebration of your nephew’s wedding?”
    “The fact that it is a celebration of my
nephew’s wedding is the very reason I felt it needed to be
mentioned,” she said. She continued toward her room, her eyes
averted from her husband’s exasperated face. He would not follow
her all the way. He would not dare.
    Mahon followed at her heels, his long strides
keeping up with her short, quick ones. “Brina, you must listen to
reason,” he said. He increased his pace to round her and planted
himself between her and her chamber door. Brina reached for the
door handle, but he positioned his body in front of it.
    “Out of my way,” Brina said indignantly. “I
am tired and wish to go to bed.” She attempted another reach for
the handle, but he moved to once again block her.
    Mahon cocked a brow and narrowed his eyes.
“Tired? Or is this merely an excuse to sneak out and see Reiv?”
    Brina shot him a glare, then fumbled for the
handle and shoved the door open. She brushed past him and entered
the room. He followed her inside.
    She spun to face him, her hands balled into
fists. “Get out!” she shouted. “You have no right to be here.”
    Mahon closed the door behind him and secured
the lock with a click. “I have every right to be here.”
    “No, you do not, not since--”
    Mahon’s jaw went slack. “Brina, please.”
    “Please what? Please do not remind you of
what you did to our child? Or please let your murderous hands touch
me?”
    “You know what happened to our child had to
be done,” he said.
    “Do I detect a tear, husband? And who would
it be for? Our infant son, or his executioner?”
    “You know I did not kill our son!”
    “Perhaps you did not kill him with your own
hands, but your insistence that it be done took him from us just
the same.”
    Mahon grabbed her by the shoulders. “You are
right. It was not done by my hands. It was done by yours! You would
allow no one else to touch him. It was you, not me