Page 52 of The King has Fallen (The Kingdom of the Krow #1)

~ MELEK ~

It was fucking annoying when the bossy Fetch agreed with me, because that meant I couldn’t argue with him.

Yilan held no such compunctions. “I will go when Melek agrees to lead and take this opportunity he’s been handed,” she said stubbornly.

I wanted to throttle her. “We are not discussing this in company,” I growled.

“Fine,” she replied, then turned to Turo. “Take the body and dispose of it. Make certain no one’s going to stumble on it. The longer we can make it uncertain what’s happened to him, the better.”

The Fetch hesitated, but then nodded.

“Gault is already more than twice his weight! He can’t do that alone,” I hissed.

“He’s not alone,” Yilan answered reluctantly.

And in unison, Turo muttered, “I’m not.”

I blinked, but Yilan sighed as Turo gave a low whistle. A moment later, the shadows at the back of the tent began to move and first one, then a second, then a third Fetch appeared, all of them tense and watching me warily, but drawing closer as soon as they stopped being vapor, or whatever it was that they did to walk the shadows like that.

I grabbed Yilan’s arm and pulled her behind me, but she just muttered something under her breath and put her hand to my back where they couldn’t see as she spoke to them like they’d been there the whole time.

Had they?

“Take the body. Walk the shadows—I know it’s risky, but we can’t let anyone catch sight of him. Then wait for me at our meeting point. Keep one of the runners close to hear the song.”

I looked at her sharply. She’d told me that they weren’t close enough to hear her!

She returned my gaze, and I felt a thrust of reassurance through the bond, but she didn’t answer the question, just continued softly but firmly giving orders.

And the men didn’t question her.

Turo glared. The others looked at me nervously. All of them hesitated before passing close to me. But they didn’t question her orders, and within a minute, they had Gault draped over their shoulders and they were walking him into the deepest of the shadows at the back of the tent.

I didn’t miss that Turo shot a look at Yilan before they entered the dimness. But he said nothing. And a moment later they all disappeared into that shadow as if it were fog.

I took a deep breath and turned to Yilan, who was watching that same place with a frown on her face.

“Are they gone?”

She nodded, but didn’t look away.

“Yilan,” I said firmly. She blinked and turned to look at me. “Are they out of earshot?”

“Yes.”

“You said they were earlier, also—yet here they are.”

“We have… ways to reach. It’s not as easy or as quick as just being close enough to hear, but I reached for them the moment Gault arrived in the tent. It just took time for them to arrive.”

My jaw dropped. “You said you couldn’t sing because they were too far away to hear!”

“They were—but I reached out in the ways I could. I just wasn’t sure they’d hear me. Besides, I wasn’t singing in front of that bastard. No way. That’s… that’s between us,” she said, her eyes dropping and her body squirming uncomfortably.

I clawed a hand through my hair and just stared at her, overwhelmed with both admiration at her grit, and genuine unease.

“Yilan… are you lying to me?”

“No,” she said emphatically, meeting my eyes without flinching.

“These men—you said Turo was the General of your people. Yet he’s following your orders? And the others as well?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I know in your society women are nothing but chattels. But in ours it is… different,” she said through her teeth.

I opened my mouth to reassure her, but she wasn’t finished.

“I am the best shadow walker of our people. I had the best chance of infiltrating. The others worried for my safety because obviously I’m not as strong in a fight. But I wouldn’t let someone else take a greater risk to attempt what I knew I could achieve . I am the best equipped, and so I am commander of this mission. You know how critical orders are in this kind of operation. When one Fetch is leader, all others follow, regardless of rank.”

I stared at her. “Even the King?”

“A King, a Queen, a General— anyone,” she said pointedly.

My head was spinning. “How many Fetch are here?” I asked.

Her expression went uneasy. “A dozen,” she said finally.

“What?!”

“They aren’t all here,” she said waving her arms at the tent. “But in or around this camp. Watching and… studying. They take turns visiting the camp and listening. At any given moment there would be three or four within the tents, though not always close to yours. Your tent is well positioned, the rock behind keeps us from approaching on two sides—”

“I know,” I growled. “That’s why I chose the position. But Yilan… How long have you all been here?”

She squirmed. “Since you reached the swamplands,” she said. “But those details are unimportant now. We need to—”

“Yilan, I don’t wish to fight with you when we’ll soon be separated… but if this is what you call honesty, if this is honor in your people—”

“Don’t you dare judge me,” she hissed. “I walked into this place ruled by men with no honor, and even less self-restraint. I did as I said I would and I helped you. But I would not give up my own people for Gault’s trust. No. Never.”

I stared at her. “Very few things worth dying for…” I muttered.

She nodded. “But not none.”

We stared at each other and my heart was flinching. Every time I thought I’d found peace with her, every time I thought I truly could trust her, some other secret was revealed.

But I knew it was a question that couldn’t be answered here and now. Gault’s body was gone, but he would be missed within hours at the least. All it would take was the wrong servant or guard who’d been given instructions to come back and…

I cleared my throat and shook off the dark thoughts.

“I have to go—and so do you,” I said just as emphatically as she’d given her little tirade.

“No,” she said firmly.

“Yilan—”

“No. This is the time, Melek. This is an open door for you. You can take the crown and they will follow and—”

“And I said no,” I growled. “Dear God, Yilan, let it go. There are very few things in this world worth dying for—but you and Gall are it for me. I will not risk either of you to rumors and suspicion and the fucking chaos that’s going to ensue here when they realize Gault is dead!”

Yilan’s expression grew more worried than angry, but she folded her arms. “Your only options are to take the crown, or flee, Melek. But you have no reason to flee—you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I believe one thing we can agree on is that my brothers at arms are unlikely to see this that way,” I growled.

Her eyes widened and she dropped her arms. “So… what? You just walk into that cesspit and get yourself blamed for my actions and killed for no gain? You are my mate, Melek,” she hissed. “I will not let you do that. I will walk the shadows and tell them it was me if you try to confess to this!”

I took her arm and God help me, I shook her. “No, you won’t. You will leave, and I will say you escaped in the chaos in the wake of the King’s death.”

“You can’t put yourself on the line like this!”

“If you’re so certain they want to follow me, why don’t you believe they’ll listen?” I snapped.

“Because we both know they won’t think about this, they’ll only act. Most of them are ill-disciplined, self-indulgent, children!”

“Children who will kill my son if they have even a hint that he was involved. No judges, no questions. They would tear him limb from limb before I’d even had a chance to shout. You expect me to leave him to that? I will not let him carry this!”

Yilan stared at me, those worry lines appearing on her forehead again, her eyes big and liquid and locked on mine.

“I wouldn’t ask you to leave Gall to them,” she whispered a moment later. “But—”

“I am a soldier, Yilan. I wasn’t born to be King. I do not aspire to a crown, and I never have. If I were supposed to, God would have given me one.”

Her jaw tightened. “He may not have placed a crown on your head at birth, but He has given you men you didn’t ask for, land you didn’t seek to possess for yourself—the entire fucking continent listens to you, Melek! You are already more than a General. You are a—”

“If I embrace what you say, I am nothing but an ambitious traitor and not anything that all these hearts and minds follow me for. No, Yilan. I will take my chances. I will protect Gall, and you, and I will pray that God finds a way through this for me. But I will not sit myself on a throne that was not mine to take.”

“And if they forgive you… and crown you? You did win a challenge against the King.”

“Then I would consider it only if no other strong male stepped forward,” I said reluctantly, everything in me recoiling. “But hear me, Yilan, my goal is freedom to live in peace with you. Not to rule a nation.” I was angry, bristling, ready for a fight—and frustrated. But to my shock and dismay, Yilan didn’t push again.

Her chin trembled and she dropped her face into her hands.

And she sobbed.