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“Nah. All they care about is the kill. Which is why it’s going to be a challenge to keep them occupied without getting into trouble.”

Isesi gave me her butt, twitching her tail, demanding scratches. “They just need a job. Isn’t that right? You need to find some bad guys to kill. Too bad our queen already took out all those thralls.”

“Ah. That gives me an idea.”

I risked a quick, narrowed glance up at his face. His golden eyes flashed, burning with power. The two sphinxes snapped to attention, no longer cuddly or catlike in the slightest but eager, sleek hunters. He held their gazes for several long seconds, and then they whirled away, running in opposite directions into the night.

“Thanks, warcat.”

He sounded sincere, though again, I tried not to read too much into his tone. I shrugged casually, straightening to lean back against the wall, my gaze scanning the darkened patches across the alley. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he leaned against the wall beside me. Barely a foot away. His lion reek made my warcat twitch with anxiety. I didn’t mind being the smallest cat on the totem pole. As long as I could stay out of his way. Happily.

“I came out here to speak to you. To apologize.”

A startled laugh broke through my mouth before I could completely strangle it. “Sorry. Is that a joke? I don’t mind. Being the butt of a joke, I mean. I’m used to it.”

“Shut up and listen for one fucking second.” He blew out a breath and raked his fingers through his hair. “I came down on you. Hard. For no fucking reason. I’m sorry. It was unfair of me to judge you so harshly, especially when I wasn’t even a living, breathing creature on this earth. You were doing the best you could. Serving our queen the best you could. I get it now. Okay? I would have made different choices, but I get it. You do love her, just as much as any of us.”

“As much as you,” I dared to whisper.

He sucked in a ragged breath and his body sagged, as if the only thing holding him up was the puny wall meant to merely be decorative. “I never Saw myself failing her like that. Not ever. It never even crossed my mind.”

Some of my fear leaked away. The proud stone general had discovered his only weakness. His own fucking heart.

When pestilence struck, I’d been quick to die. I hadn’t even made it to her side before I couldn’t move another inch closer. Not even to Rik. In the end, it’d been Ezra holding me as we breathed our last. And rightfully so. He’d loved me first, and I could admit that I’d loved him first too. No less or more than I loved Rik and Shara. “No one could’ve done it. I certainly couldn’t.”

Sekh ground his jaws together for a moment. “Guillaume could have.”

“No way.”

“Fucking way,” Guillaume said behind us, making us both jump guiltily. I glanced over the short wall, watching the headless knight stride across the grass to join us. “But I wouldn’t wish the hellish ability to uphold any oath, no matter the consequences, on anyone else but myself.”

Sekh shook his head, his bond churning with guilt and dread. “I tried. Over and over.” Then his eyes narrowed on the knight. “How would you have done it?”

Guillaume still carried the blade he’d worn to court earlier. A long, heavy broadsword strapped across his back. He reached over his shoulder and easily unsheathed it despite its ridiculous length. “Your mistake was in choosing the wrong blade. Always choose the biggest, sharpest sword for the vilest task.”

He swiped the sword in a two-handed, heavy stroke. Then straightened, holding it in both hands horizontally before him. Reverently, he kissed the blade and then re-sheathed it. “That way you accomplish your dread task in one blow.”

“Then what?” Sekh retorted. “How do you live with yourself?”

The knight smiled and slowly shook his head. “You don’t.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“When she went to save Thierry, I swore to kill her and every single one of her Blood if a single drop of the Dauphine’s power got inside her. Then I would carry her to the eternal flames burning in Centralia where her mother passed beyond the veil so we might all be together. That oath still holds me.”

Sekh scowled. “That’s a long fucking way from Paris, France.”

“What if the fire doesn’t kill you too?” I asked him, morbidly curious and fascinated.

“Sir Lancelot swore to give it a try with Excalibur.”

“Fucking knights, swearing oaths to kill each other,” Sekh muttered.

Guillaume laughed. “I never swore to kill him. Honestly, I’m not even sure that I could. Not with simple swordplay. My only hope would be to survive whatever death blow he dealt me and try to take him again.”

I couldn’t help but shake my head and shudder. “Are all knights as crazy as you?”

“Probably,” he replied cheerfully. “Though I’m not so sure about Warwick.”