Arc 4: Chapter 28: The Headsman Revealed
The silence in the imperial court broke when the Lord Steward lifted his finger, his deep voice filling the chamber like the deepest note on a pipe organ.
“SIEZE HIM!” The Emperor’s chief advisor roared.
At once, a cascade of noise filled the room. Lords and ladies began to speak all at once, asking questions, shouting demands, their voices lost in the din. Steel rattled as Accord knights, some of them Markham’s own guard, but not all, rushed forward to obey the Steward’s command.
I caught Rosanna’s eye. She clutched the arms of her throne, as though to rise to her feet, words already forming on her lips.
I shook my head very slightly, and she froze. I watched her whisper something, perhaps a curse, or a prayer, and settle back. When she blinked, her face became cold and stern as her silent husband’s.
The knights disarmed me roughly, taking my cloak and belt as well. In a flash I was on my knees, the razor edges of two mirror-bright swords pressed beneath my chin, armored fingers wrenching my head back by my short hair. No less than six guards had subdued me, though I hadn’t offered them a fight.
A storm of noise filled the room. Once again, the thunderous bellow of the enormous steward drowned out all other noise, and near silence fell at the man’s command. Some conversations still rolled across the court.
My eyes rose to the Emperor. I couldn’t move my head, not with the fingers in my hair and the blades at my neck, but the knights had made sure I looked at him.
Markham Forger studied me. No longer caped and hooded, my face was on full display. I saw the furrow appear between his brow, the slight downturn of his lips. He did not have an expressive face, that high king, but even still some emotion showed on it.
I knew the moment he recognized me when his dark brows lifted. It had been most of eight years, so I didn’t take offense he hadn’t known my face at once.
“Alken Hewer…” Markham’s voice rolled like a rumble of distant thunder across the chamber. The gossiping lords fell silent, and the Emperor of the Accorded Realms leaned forward on his dour throne.