Page 21 of The King has Fallen (The Kingdom of the Krow #1)

~ YILAN ~

The days that followed that moment were… strange.

Strangely peaceful.

Strangely tense.

Melek was busy. When he wasn’t already gone from the tent, Jannus came for him several times a day. Gall was posted as my guard with instructions to keep the tent entirely free of visitors unless Melek ordered otherwise.

This new routine meant there had been very little activity in the tent, and even fewer dramas… unless you counted Gall growing more and more silent and sullen around Melek—which broke my heart.

Everyone believed the endless guarding was a punishment for Gall—including Gall himself. I hated it, but also found it a relief because it meant no more groups of young Nephilim showed up to manipulate him. And that meant, even if Gall was upset or angry, he was at least safe.

I knew that was why Melek had done it. And I wouldn’t breach his instructions. But it made me ache every day knowing this might have been the most peaceful and easy task Gall had ever been given if he wasn’t harboring anger and confusion towards his father… because of me.

I prayed for wisdom to see how to soothe him, and a way to smooth the path between the two so that Gall could forgive him. But no opportunities were presented in those days.

I slept a great deal.

Between my cycle starting, the fighting, the injury, and the general lack of sleep for the weeks prior, I found that whenever I wasn’t eating or speaking to someone my body constantly dragged towards sleep.

It was easy to give in to because Melek was quite clearly burdened with a great deal and avoiding any conversation with me beyond instructions. Even when he woke in the mornings, or returned to the tent at night, he kept to himself. He would call in Jannus or Gall to speak if he lingered over a meal. Or, if he did have a free hour, he brought out his book and ignored me.

I might have been offended. I might have feared he resented the situation he found himself in on my account and was scheming to get rid of me. But more than once, I caught him watching me.

Our eyes would snag, and he would turn away immediately, his face a blank mask, as if I were only an inanimate object his gaze had passed over.

But his body always stiffened at the brief connection.

After a few days of this, I began to mirror him, tensing when he was there, but afraid when he was not. The moment he walked into the tent my stomach would flutter, fizz with a bubbling kind of anticipation—though I could not have said what my body thought was to come.

The moment he would leave, after that first breath of relief because my nerves disappeared, a crawling kind of dread would climb my spine and would not leave me until he returned.

It was insane. Confusing. And very unsettling.

But after five or six days of sleeping whenever I could, forcing myself to ignore Melek when I could not, I was rested and growing rest less.

I needed to move. I needed something to engage my mind.

I needed a purpose.

So, it was with that fidgety, agitated spirit that I finished eating my lunch a full week after that dreadful night.

There were crumbs of the bread left on the plate, so I gathered them and sprinkled them in the corner of the cage, then placed the plate next to the door where Gall would remove it later.

The only time Melek had spoken to me with any kind of levity had been three days earlier when he’d seen me spread the crumbs and he took a moment to tease me about inviting rodents into his tent—was I trying to get him bitten?

But before I could respond, there had been a messenger and he’d left abruptly. Then he was in a black mood again when he returned hours later.

But even though that little memory made me smile, now I found myself with nothing to do, no one to talk to, and a body that no longer yearned for sleep.

I had been careful to keep my injured joint mobile, swinging and rolling it every hour or so, increasing the activity a little more each day. I thought perhaps to try pull-ups on the cage roof that day, but the moment I jumped up to take my own weight on my hands the joint screamed.

Too soon.

I sighed and began jogging a small, tight circle around the cage just to keep my blood pumping.

But then there was nothing left to do. And so, once I had caught my breath again, since I was still alone, I began to sing.

I crouch in shadows, but still your heart beats for me.

I am safe.

I lay in the arms of danger, but you do not leave.

I am safe.

I am safe in your arms.

Safe under your eyes.

Safe with you.

I am safe.

The shadows do not touch me.

Danger does not claw.

I am safe.

Rest with me, and find

I am sa—

The tent flap snapped aside and Melek strode in, his expression dark and his body lined with weariness. I opened my mouth to greet him, but to my surprise a small army of serving women followed in his wake, along with two young soldiers struggling under the weight of a very large bath. It was oval shaped at its base, but the rim was irregular, with one end higher than the other. All of it large enough for a massive Nephilim to sit comfortably inside.

I watched the soldiers drop the tub to the dirt, then turn. My heart flinched when the women behind them dropped their heads and jerked aside to let the males pass, their postures making it evident they feared being touched or hurt.

Once the two soldiers were gone, the line of slaves continued to file through, each carrying a large pot or pitcher that steamed. One by one, the women walked to the tub to empty their vessels —some glancing at Melek from the side while others avoided all eye-contact—then turned and exited the tent in single file.

They were as efficient as the soldiers that marched towards the battlefields.

But then one of them broke from the rank to slip up to my cage with a small smile. I recognized her as the woman who Melek had brought to speak with me the week before.

“Are you well, Yilan?” she asked graciously. “Do you have any further needs?”

“No, thank you,” I said, smiling at her. “My courses are done. I am grateful for your thoughtfulness, though.”

She ducked her head. “Please tell Melek if you have any further needs, I’m happy to fulfill them, even if it is during my rest hours.

I was about to thank her profusely—slaves had so few hours of rest that for her to offer to give them up was truly a gift. But then her eyes drifted to Melek and I saw her… yearn.

Ah.

That explained it.

I gave a little huff. “I’ll remind him… when the time comes,” I said quietly.

She nodded absentmindedly as she stepped into the line with the others, glancing one more time over her shoulder towards Melek.

Oblivious to her admiration, he stood over his clothing trunk unbuttoning his shirt, his face a cold mask, his eyes fixed on nothing as if he stared through the canvas wall.

What happened today? He seemed even darker than usual.

Had Gall said something?

It took some time before the last of the slaves poured her tall pitcher into the bath. The steaming pool, filled deep enough to submerge a Nephilim body, sloshed up the sides of the tub, nearly overtaking the rim.

She walked over to where Melek still stood, holding his belt and frowning at it. She curtseyed, then cleared her throat hesitantly when he didn’t notice her.

He startled, as if he’d been deep in thought, then turned to face her, nodding when she indicated the full tub. “Do you have soap and a washcloth?” she asked him carefully. “Do you need assistance? I could scrub your—”

“ No,” he said quickly, biting the word off so hard she flinched. He took a deep breath as if he was catching himself. “Thank you. I’ll send Gall when I’m ready for it to be taken away.”

She curtseyed again, which was odd, but then she turned and scuttled out like she was afraid. I watched her leave without really thinking, then turned back to find him shoving his leathers down, pulling them off his feet and folding them quickly to lay in the basket he used for the launderers.

Then he turned, entirely bare, and walked with a heavy sigh to the bathtub.

I quickly averted my eyes and kept them down until I heard the water splash and a deep groan of relief from Melek.

I looked up, surprised to hear such an emotive sound from him, to find him leaning against the high back of the tub with his head tipped back, eyes closed, and his arms resting along the rim on each side.

He was the picture of a troubled man in repose, his face no longer tight, but… pained.

I frowned. “Melek—”

“You have a beautiful voice,” he rumbled without opening his eyes. “This has been a trying day. Would you… would you be willing to sing?”

I didn’t think I’d ever been more startled by a request from a male—and startled again by how self-conscious I suddenly felt… and the warmth that bloomed in my chest at his compliment.

I almost teased him. Opened my mouth to tell him that we hadn’t negotiated the terms of my release, and so I was not his servant. But the way he sighed and the lines on his face…

I cleared my throat. “I… I’ll try,” I said. Then repeated the song I’d been singing before.

I crouch in shadows, but still your heart beats for me.

I am safe.

I lay in the arms of danger, but you do not leave.

I am safe.

I am safe in your arms.

Safe under your eyes.

Safe with you.

I am safe.

The shadows do not touch me.

Danger does not claw.

I am safe.

Rest with me, and

I am safe.

Do not fear for me while your arms hold me close.

Do not fear the dark while your eyes watch.

I am safe.

I am safe.

He sighed more than once during the song, and when I let the last note hang in the air, for a moment I thought he might have fallen asleep.

But then, without opening his eyes, without moving, he spoke.

“We should have taken the ravine already,” he said, so quietly I could barely hear him and no doubt to ensure that no one else would be able to either. “If my instructions were followed, we would have. But I believe… I believe our Commander grows greedy.”

I blinked. It was the first time he’d spoken to me by choice all week. I swallowed hard.

“Greedy for… what?”

“We possess the land leading into the ravine already—there was one scout sent out, and our trackers avoided him easily. So, if they were to try and push through the Ravine, we would have them.”

“Then why haven’t you taken the rest? Is it the sinkholes?”

“No,” he growled. “We have followed runners and mapped three paths through now. No, it is not that. Instead, we sit on our asses, risking discovery every day because the Commander has decided that more troops are needed, that the easily hidden three hundred spears we had were no longer enough. He demands we more than triple it so that when we advance into the swamp, we will have an actual force ready to fly the cliffs and descend on both armies. Which would be excellent… if it didn’t delay our movements by a full week in order to bring the ranks across the plains and into the ravine without being spotted,” he snarled through his teeth.

Dear God . “You’re being set up for failure,” I said.

He didn’t open his eyes, but I saw his hands grip the side of the bath. “I don’t know.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “Melek, I know that he is—”

“There is no point speculating. I have done what I can to ensure the safety of our ranks, and our victory. All that is left is to wait and see.”

I frowned. “Then why—”

“There are more pressing matters tonight,” he muttered, then waved one hand towards the tent flap.

Ah. “Gall,” I sighed, nodding. “I meant what I said when I offered to smooth that road. Without undermining your story, I have been trying to… help him soften.”

Twice I’d had a chance to actually speak with Gall. Only a few minutes each time.

He wasn’t ready to listen about anything to do with that night.

But Melek shook his head against the rim of the bath, his eyes still closed. “Nothing can be done. Nothing should be done. Nothing about this can change. Don’t try.”

I took a deep breath. “But… you don’t deserve his ire. You deserve his admiration.”

Melek’s eyes opened. He blinked at the tent ceiling twice, then lifted his head and looked at me, his expression stunned. “Did you just… compliment me?” he asked incredulously, with a wry twist of lips.

I rolled my eyes, but nodded. “You said to speak truth. I am. I hate seeing him hurt, and… and I hate seeing it hurt you.”

I still had my chin down, but I lifted my eyes to look at him from under my brows, wondering if he would grow angry again and stop speaking.

But he just stared at me, his face blank. Unreadable.

Except… something crackled in the air. Something I didn’t understand. Something I wouldn’t allow myself to think on, because it could not be. But my breath quickened.

Then he jerked his eyes away, shaking his head like he shook off some kind of fog. Then he pushed himself to sit upright and reached for the soap and the rag he’d left on the other side of the bath. Plunging both into the water, his jaw set and eyes down on his task, he began to wash himself.

And I found myself unable to look away.

His movements were efficient, strong, and confident—the quick, thoughtless movements of a soldier at a task he’d done countless times before.

He stretched high first one hand, then the other, revealing snatches of coarse hair in his armpits, coiled muscle on his arm, and rippling lines down his ribs and sides as he scrubbed. His expression remained troubled as he leaned forward, reaching over his shoulder to scrub the back of his neck and upper back in a move that, for a moment, made him vulnerable if someone were to aim for his chest.

And I found myself imagining tsking, telling him to give the rag to me. Then plunging it into the water, and adding soap before leaning on that glistening shoulder to reach in and scrub his back… those shoulder blades, that dip that ran the length of his spine, those rippling muscles in his back…

As he twisted and curled his body, contorting to reach difficult places, more and more of him was revealed.

I grew so lost in the vision in my mind of the other ways those muscles might contract and his body might twist, that my throat went dry and my body began to thrum—deep in my belly, high between my thighs…

My breath grew shallow.

Had there ever been a more masculine, more alluring male form? If so, I had not seen it.

And that was a problem.

That was a very big fucking problem.