Chains of Revenge by Keziah Hill

son and most would say you should’ve been his heir. Do it now, tonight. The army is behind you.’
    Devadas stared at them while a hot ball of anxiety tightened in his chest. Could he do what they asked? Did he want to? He glanced up the table to find his brother scowling at him.
    ‘What are you saying down there?’ Antos demanded. ‘Plotting and planning, my dear brother?’
    Devadas smiled and shook his head. ‘Just talking with my old friends, Relno and Tival. I haven’t seen them in ten years after all. A lot has happened in that time.’
    ‘More than you know.’ Antos leaned back in his chair and gulped at more ale, all the time watching his brother. ‘You spoke before of working together to trade and make money. But I’m one step ahead of you as always. I’ve been in contact with the merchants of the Southlands and have stitched up an agreement already. There should be another wedding soon for Catiscal.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Devadas asked with growing dread.
    ‘Dana will marry the Prince of Arvo. Soon we’ll have gold for the asking.’
    A murmur of disquiet filled the room.
    ‘And what does Dana think of this match?’
    Antos shrugged. ‘What she wants doesn’t come into it. She’ll do as she’s told. Catiscal is more important than the needs of one woman.’
    The murmur grew. Devadas looked around him to see hard, angry faces. The people of Catiscal might be rigid but they knew right from wrong. They did not want to see their beloved princess sold for gold.
    Antos peered around at the angry faces and seemed to realise his comrades were not happy. He stood, wobbling slightly and stretched out an arm, pointing to all of them.
    ‘I am the King of Catiscal. If I say Dana will marry, then she will marry. That is the end of it.’
    ‘I don’t think so, Brother.’ Devadas signaled to Luc and Alain who came to attention along with their small retinue of armed men. Antos spluttered in outrage.
    ‘Seize them!’ he demanded. ‘Seize them now!’
    Devadas raised an eyebrow at Relno who stared back, a half smile on his face. With a brief hand signal, he ordered his men to stand down.
    Antos paled with shock, which transformed into fury as Luc and Alain grabbed his arms. ‘This is treason!’ he shouted. ‘You will all pay for this. The people of Catiscal will rise up to defend me. Then you will all be punished. If you release me now, I’ll be merciful and banish you. But if not, I’ll see you all burn.’
    Relno shrugged. ‘A chance we’ll have to take. Lock him up. My men will show you where.’ Luc and Alain pulled the struggling and shouting Antos out of the hall. Relno smiled at Devadas.
    ‘King Devadas. It has a good ring.’
    Devadas stood unsmiling as the shouts of his brother faded in the distance.

Chapter Twelve
    Lissa stretched, then winced as muscles she didn’t know she had screamed in protest. A hard day’s ride from Catiscal to Horvald left her limp as a rag doll. She glanced at Devadas who dismounted from his horse looking as if he’d been for a ride in the country.
    He wouldn’t look at her.
    Since he’d rescued her and left Catiscal in the care of Princess Dana, he’d said barely a word to her. She wondered if he believed she’d been defiled by Antos and was somehow contaminated, but he’d been appalled when she suggested such a thing in the one conversation they had just after Antos had been banished. Since then he’d avoided her. He wasn’t cold, just distant and preoccupied.
    She thought perhaps he was full of unexpected grief having to bind his older brother to a horse then direct two guards to escort him to the port of Telno. They were to pay for his passage to the Southlands.
    ‘Find your fortune there,’ Devadas told him. ‘Your destiny is not in Catiscal.’
    Antos had spat on the ground in front of his brother and glared at him with a hatred that made most onlookers step back. But not Devadas. He’d stared at his brother as he rode off with a look Lissa