Page 14 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)

~ JANN ~

Diadre saluted her commanding officer as I strode out of the room and down the wide corridor towards the Royal wing. I hadn’t had the energy to give that man more than his basic due of a nod. His head was shoved so fucking far up his ass, he was blinded by his own intestines.

This entire alliance is… shaky…

Bullshit. Melek and Yilan were of one mind—even I could see that. Reluctantly.

We’d killed our own countrymen in the pursuit of this alliance for peace. The only thing shaky was fucking Turo and his fucking—

“Can you please slow down?” Diadre hissed.

I drew up short, mid-step, my body responding to her distress without thought, which made me blink. I turned to find her jogging at my side, her cheeks pink and eyes sparking.

She hadn’t rebraided her hair this morning, only combed it with her fingers, and it had loosened overnight—stray tendrils falling around her ears and the nape of her neck softened the normally severe look she had in uniform.

It suited her, that softness. I wondered—

“What?” she snapped.

I frowned, then realized I’d been staring. “Nothing,” I muttered quickly, turning the corner, but keeping my strides shorter for her sake. “You don’t have to accompany me to the suite. I know where it is. Melek—”

“The guards will set on you and assume you’re either a thief, or an infiltrator if you don’t have someone in authority with you.

So, yes. I do,” she said. “But also, Yilan asked me to bring her something back. So I need to go there anyway. Once I’ve told the guards you’re taking the suite and we make our plans, I’ll leave you to rest.”

I frowned harder, my chest tightening at that. Which was foolish. What difference did it make if she left me in the suite alone? I would sleep better without her fluttering hair and muttered curses making a far bigger presence than her tiny frame should have warranted.

“There’s very little to plan,” I said a beat too late. “Do we need to return to Jhonas for any reason?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then I’ll do what we did going in. I’ll aim to hit that summit to the north—it will be a longer trip ascending and I’ll need breaks—but then we can camp on the eastern side and drop down to the valley the following day.

The overall trip will be far faster since we don’t have to circle the base of the mountains through the pass. ”

“Do you have the strength? It’s obvious this has taken it out of you.”

“I’m fine,” I snapped.

Diadre’s head jerked back. “It was a question of concern. Not capability,” she muttered a moment later, glaring at me from the side. “We are all mortal, after all. Even you, Halfling.”

I huffed. It was a line I used with my own men.

Generally I appreciated a leader who took that approach and taught it to their men.

But that didn’t change the fact that she’d observed that I’d wearied fast. Far faster than I would have expected.

Even carrying a burden like her and our bags, even with the chill of the mists…

I’d been sore this morning when I rolled out of the furs.

And my body drained in a way I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt beyond a day of intense battle.

Which we’d had, I supposed.

I shouldn’t have dismissed the fact that we’d fought, and stayed up most of the night, and then walked and flown. But still… Usually this kind of responsibility invigorated me. I was easily capable of skipping a night’s sleep. At least, I had been in the past.

It was all this mental back and forth about her and the curse and my fucking eyes that was wearing me out. I needed to get her out of here so I could sleep.

“I’ll show you the maps to be sure,” Diadre said, looking at me from the corner of her eye like she wasn’t sure whether to be angry or concerned by my cold silence. “But if you’re sure of the path, then I’ll be able to leave you quickly.”

She was right that the guards were alarmed to see me, and needed her instruction to allow me entry into the Royal suite—and then again to be certain they were to allow me free rein if I left it alone.

It grated, standing behind her like a supplicant. But she handled it well, and made certain the instructions would be passed on at shift change.

Once inside, she walked straight to Yilan’s desk, then her drawers, taking something small from each and stuffing them into her pockets.

Then she disappeared into the changing room and returned with a long tube of canvas that she unrolled on the desk and used the inkpot and a book to keep the ends flat.

It was interesting to see her slip into her professional role, examining the map, frowning and following lines with her fingers as she spoke.

“…I’d estimate we found Jhonas roughly here, and followed this line.

An arc—that’s probably why you were tired.

Our journey ended up miles longer than it needed to be.

This is the summit where we slept last night,” she said, tapping the tallest of the mountains that was hugged by the curve of the Shadows where they reached through the mountains and into the swampland beyond.

“Take a look—you’ll see that there’s only the one pass through the Shade Wall.

If you’re confident of your direction, we’ll have a shorter time in the Shadows to drop into the valley. Perhaps we should take more breaks…”

I watched her, surprised by how easy she seemed, suddenly.

Here in her own land. Speaking on a topic she knew well.

Leading without thought, despite the fact that I outranked her.

She was a natural leader—and an efficient one when she wasn’t spitting, assuming she was being undermined for being female.

Fascinating.

When she was done with her assessment, she looked up at me to measure my response.

“I’m sure,” I said. “Even if I can’t see the terrain from the mountain, even if the Shadows obscure the sun, it’s a shorter flight. Less time to go off course. And we know the path follows the foothills at the bottom. In a pinch, I can drop down and we can realign.”

She nodded once. “I think so too.”

Then she straightened and shrugged. “Then that’s it, I guess.

You should bathe and sleep. The servants will come with a bath soon—we had one that was large enough for Melek.

I’ll make certain they bring it. If you have need of me, any of the guards can show you my quarters.

I won’t leave them unless Turo gets news of Istral, or calls for me to debrief him.

So, I’ll likely be in his office, or my own rooms.”

I nodded. “I’ll find you if I need you.”

“Or send a messenger,” she said, her eyes dropping down to her hands, and that self-consciousness returning. I grieved it. I liked the set of her shoulders when she stopped questioning herself. “I’ll come as soon as I hear.”

“You need to rest as well,” I pointed out.

She nodded. “But I have a feeling that of the two of us, I will rest far more peacefully tonight than you.”

I grunted. That was only truth.

She raised her eyes back to mine and something in me went still.

For a split second I saw it in my head—that hand that had been tracing the lines on the map suddenly raising to flatten against the center of my chest. Her body, lithe and honed, fitting against mine as she drew that hand up to curl her fingers in the hair at my nape and I dropped my chin, eyes on those lovely lips—especially that lower pillow.

I wondered if it would taste sweet or salty, or—

I cleared my throat and tore my gaze from her, to the room behind me, turning abruptly. “I think I’ll be very comfortable here,” I muttered. “Especially if I can bathe.”

It took a moment for her to respond, but when she did, her voice was tight again. “Of course, I’ll… I’ll tell the servants now. See you later, I suppose. I’ll send a messenger or come myself if anything turns up.”

“Yes,” I said flatly. “If there’s any sign of Gall, any at all… it would be good for me to be there if they think they’ll find him hidden. He… can react poorly when he’s scared. I don’t scare him.”

“I’ll make certain Turo knows.” So formal.

“Thank you.” I sounded almost as uptight as that fuckface.

She nodded, then cleared her throat and walked out, bidding me a quiet farewell as she slipped out the door to converse with the guards in the hall.

I turned towards the bed and my body yearned to fall into it, but I knew I needed to bathe and find clean clothes before that was a good idea.

So I picked up my bag and rummaged through it, but my mind wasn’t on the task.

It kept pulling me back with shrill insistence that she should not leave.

I shook my head. That was preposterous. I was merely tired and… and in a strange environment. I was a General. I had no need of her presence to keep me safe in this place.

And now I sounded like fucking Turo again.

But even though I couldn’t hear when the conversations on the other side of that door ended, I felt it.

I felt her moving away. Felt the distance between us grow, and grow.

Had to fight not to grasp that door handle and rush after her. Which was ridiculous.

I paced the room, skin itching, spine tingling, clawing my hands through my hair—until I caught myself doing it and growled, pulling my body to a halt.

What the actual fuck? Had she magiked me? Or was this just the way it would be between us?

I prayed it was the former, and that there was a cure.

Because the further she drew away, the longer I resisted following, the more it felt like tearing off my own skin.