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Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 86
One of the guards, an aging man with thinning hair, saluted a second time and said, “Captain—you’re needed.”Though his features remained neutral, Maximus’s shoulders shifted, and his chin rose a bit higher. “What is it?” he said, a bit too quickly to pass for unconcerned.“Another body,” replied the guard. “In the servant’s passages.”The second guard, a slender, frail-looking young man, was deathly pale. “You saw the body?” Matilda asked him. The guard nodded. “How fresh?”Maximus gave her a sharp look. The guard said, “They think it’s from last night —from the way the blood’s half-dried.”Maximus’s eyes were unfocused. Thinking—he was figuring out what to do. He straightened. “You want to prove how good you are?” he asked her.She put her hands on her hips. “Do I even need to?”He motioned the guards to lead the way. “Come with me,” he said to her over his shoulder, and—despite the body—she smiled a bit and followed him.As they departed, Matilda looked back at the target.Maximu
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 87
Of course,” he said, a dark expression crossing his handsome face. She wasall too aware of how close his leg was, but she couldn’t bring herself to shift away.“And you’re not at all concerned that so many Champions have been brutally murdered at the hands of someone’s feral beast?”Leonard leaned in, his eyes fixed on hers. “All of those murders occurred in dark, isolated hallways. You’re never without guards—and your chambers are well-watched.”“I’m not concerned for myself,” she said sharply, pulling back a bit. Which wasn’t entirely true. “I just think it reflects poorly on your esteemed father to have all of this going on.”“When was the last time you bothered to care for the reputation of my ‘esteemed’ father?”“Since I became his son’s Champion. So perhaps you ought to devote some additional resources to solving these murders, before I win this absurd competition just because I’m the last one left alive.”“Any more demands?” he asked, still close enough for her lips to graze h
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 88
“I’m being practical. There’s a difference. And you’re the Leaderof Gold Coast. You’re in a position where it’s possible for you to change Erilea for the better. You could help create a world where true love isn’t needed to secure a happy ending.”“And what sort of world would I need to create for that to happen?” “A world where men govern themselves.” “You speak of anarchy and treason.”“I do not speak of anarchy. Call me a traitor all you like—I’ve been convicted as an assassin already.”He sidled closer to her, and his fingers brushed hers—calloused, warm, and hard. “You can’t resist the opportunity to respond to everything I say, can you?” She felt restless—but at the same time remarkably still. Something was brought to life and laid to sleep in his gaze. “Your eyes are very strange,” he said. “I’ve never seen any with such a bright ring of gold.”“If you’re attempting to woo me with flattery, I’m afraid it won’t work.”“I was merely observing; I have no agenda.” He looked at his
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 89
The next evening, Spencer stood on the second floor of the castle, looking over the courtyard. Below him, two figures slowly wove through the hedges. Matilda’s white cloak made her easy to spot, and Leonard could always be noticed by the empty circle of space around him.He should be down there, a foot behind, watching them, making sure she didn’t seize Leonard and use him to escape. Logic and years of experience screamed at him to be with them, even though six guards trailed them. She was deceitful, cunning, vicious.But he couldn’t make his feet move.With each day, he felt the barriers melting. He let them melt. Because of her genuine laugh, because he caught her one afternoon sleeping with her face in the middle of a book, because he knew that she would win.She was a criminal—a prodigy at killing, a Queen of the Underworld—and yet . . . yet she was just a girl, sent at seventeen to Endovier.It made him sick every time he thought about it. He’d been training with the guards at s
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 90
Matilda didn’t hear him, and though they talked for a good hour afterward meandering through the grounds, she couldn’t get her heart to calm. Elena had to have known someone would recognize her amulet—and if this was the real thing. . The king could kill her on the spot for wearing not only an heirloom of his house, but something of power.Yet again, she could only wonder what Elena’s motives actually were.Matilda glanced from her book to the tapestry on the wall. The chest of drawers remained where she’d shoved it in front of the passageway. She shook her head and returned to her book. Though she scanned the lines, none of the words registered.What did Elena want with her? Dead queens usually didn’t come back to giveorders to the living. Matilda clenched her book. It wasn’t like she wasn’t fulfilling Elena’s command to win, either—she would have fought this hard to become the King’s Champion anyway. And as for finding and defeating the evil in the castle . . . well, now that it s
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 91
Days passed without seeing Azar, and Matilda kept her mouth shut about the incident to Spencer or Leonard or anyone who visited her chambers. She couldn’t confront Azar—not without more concrete proof, not without ruining everything. So she spent her spare time researching the Wyrdmarks, desperate for a way to decipher them, to find those symbols, to learn what it all meant, and how it connected to the killer and the killer’s assasin. Amidst her worrying, another Test passed without incident or embarrassment—though she couldn’t say the same for the soldier who’d been sent home—and she kept up her intense training with Spencer and the other Champions. There were five of them left now. The final Test was three days away, and the duel two days after that. Matilda awoke on Yulemas morning and relished the silence. There was something inherently peaceful about the day, despite the darkness of her encounter with Azar. For the moment, the whole castle had quieted to hear the falling s
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 92
“Because I didn’t expect you to consume all of it before breakfast!”She snatched the bag from him and put it on the table. “Well, that just shows poor judgment on your part, doesn’t it?”Leonard opened his mouth to reply, but the bag of candy tipped over and spilled across the table. Matilda turned just in time to see the slender golden snout protruding from the basket, inching toward the candy. “What is that?” she asked flatly.Leonard grinned. “A Yulemas present for you.”The assassin flipped back the lid of the basket. The nose instantly shot inward, and Matilda found the strange golden-haired pup quivering in a corner with a red bow around her neck.“Oh, puppy,” she crooned, and petted her. The dog trembled, and she glared atLeonard over her shoulder. “What did you do, you buffoon?” she hissed.Leonard threw his hands in the air. “It’s a gift! I almost lost my arm—and more important parts—trying to put that bow on, and then she howled all the way up here!”Matilda looked piteous
Unexpected Rise of Leonard Storm Chapter 93
Oh, she shouldn’t even be thinking this. But she’d seen friends do terrible things before, and it had become safer for her to believe the worst. She’d witnessed firsthand how far a need for revenge could drive someone. Perhaps Azar wouldn’t do anything—perhaps she was just being paranoid and ridiculous. But if something happened tonight . . .Matilda opened the doors to her dressing room, surveying the glittering gowns hanging along the walls. Spencer would be beyond furious if she infiltrated the ball, but she could handle it. She could handle it if he decided to throw her in the dungeons for a little while, too.Because somehow, the thought of him getting hurt—or worse—made her willing to risk just about anything.“Will you not even smile on Yulemas?” she asked Spencer as they walked out of the castle and toward the glass temple at the center of the eastern garden.“If my teeth were crimson, I wouldn’t be smiling at all,” he said. “Be content with an occasional grimace.” She flash
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