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“Surprised, to say the least,” he replied, stopping just shy ofhissoldiers – I could pretend they were mine, but it was Erix they ultimately followed. “But the important question is, how areyou?”

It was such an awkward conversation, as if we were strangers catching up. Which was exactly what we were now: strangers made by my hand.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “And you?”

“As I’ve already answered when you asked me the first time, I’m surprised.” He stepped aside and gestured for me to follow him. “I trust you haven’t journeyed all this way to reiterate how you don’t need me as your personal guard, or have you changed your mind since you dismissed me?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. Pathetic, like a fish out of water. Taking a deep breath in, hoping to clear the cobwebs of my anxiety, I ended up sounding like a petulant child. “I didn’t dismiss you.”

“No?” Erix scoffed, silver eyes trailing me from head to boot. I lowered my hood, feeling as exposed as a person standing in a ray of sunlight in a darkened room. “Not in a manner of speaking. But making me Lord of Berrow, knowing the responsibility that would come with it, is certainly a back-handed way of dismissing me from the service I should be completing.”

I stopped stock-still, forcing Erix to do the same. “We’ve had this conversation, and I’m not willing to open it again.”

Erix scoffed. “I thought as much. So, have you come to inquire into my first couple of months as a lord, and see that I’m not abusing my power?”

I picked up my pace again, falling into step with Erix. “I gave you this position because I trusted that ‘abusing power’ was not ever going to be an issue when it comes to you. There was no one better for the job,” I replied.

“Then what brings you to my door?”

“Believe it or not, I’ve not come all this way to argue again.”

Erix huffed a laugh, finally drawing his eyes off me. “Of course you haven’t.”

“Iron,” I said, plain and simple, needing this conversation not to draw on for too long. “Eroan told me your gryvern–”

“Yourgryvern, Robin. They follow you, as I do; we’re your loyal subjects.”

I hated the serious bite in Erix’s tone, how his words struck as true as the steel at his waist.

“Yes, well,” I continued, clearing my throat in hopes that would make me sound more confident with my strange request. “Eroan informed me that they’ve recently confiscated three carts worth of iron from the Hunters’ encampment on the border of Wychwood and Durmain. I’ve come to see the stores.”

“I’m sorry,” Erix said. “But you’ve come too late. The iron has already been dealt with. It was best not to keep such a material close to so many fey. I haven’t got anything left to show you.”

Dealt withmeant it had been taken north of Berrow, to the lake known as the Sleeping Depths, and dumped into its waters, never to be claimed by another again. Which was exactly not what I needed here, considering I had a purpose for a material that removed a fey’s power.

A purpose currently festering inside my castle walls.

“What about the labradorite stores?” I added, fumbling for something – anything – that would help me keep my secrets. If Erix dwelled too long on why I was interested in the iron, it would not end well.

One look into Erix’s eyes, and apparently, I had failed before I even began.

Erix narrowed his gaze on me. “As agreed with Cassial and his Nephilim, all labradorite stores are being shipped to Lockinge before they make the journey to Irobel. I haven’t seen any in weeks. Reports from Cedarfall, Oakstorm and Elmdew are all the same. The borders have been torn down, we are no longer a land of four courts, but a united realm. Just as you desired.”

“Good,” I said, nodding whilst a cold shiver trailed down my arms like the kiss of ice. “That’s good news.”

Was it?

It wasn’t new information to me, but I was still struggling with the idea that Erix had no iron. I waited for him to ask me why I needed the one thing that could render me powerless: my weakness.

The truth was that iron was no longer the thing that made me weak.

“If you are in need, though I cannot fathom for what for, I could send a request to our allies and ask for a store of labradorite back?” Erix asked. I couldn’t help but feel like he was testing me.

“No, no need.” Silence stretched between us, so heavy I rushed to bring an end to our interaction. “Well, that’s all I came here to inquire. I see Berrow is thriving, which I thank you for. Erix, your work here is… really impressive, but there’s no reason for me to waste any more of your time,” I said, turning on my heel, the ache inside my chest impossible to control now.

I needed iron.Lotsof it. The minimal store I had back in Imeria Castle was working as I required it to, but if I was to keep Berrow, Icethorn, Wychwood – everything and everyone – safe, I needed alotmore, and soon.

A hand reached out and stopped me before I could walk back to the main doors. “Will I be seeing you in Lockinge for the events Cassial is hosting?”