Page 4 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)
~ JANN ~
With only two of us, and both motivated, we made good progress. Diadre was an excellent rider. She knew her way through the mists so we weren’t slowed by navigation. And she didn’t complain about the rigors of travel. Still, she remained a pain in my ass.
Except for basic warnings or instructions when changing path, we didn’t speak for the first couple of hours. I was frustrated, unable to stop hearing her accusations about my eyes, how they hadn’t changed, and what that might mean.
Was I truly irredeemable? Or only cursed? Or was it a simple bloodline issue, like Melek had assumed?
Still, we made good time. We kept the horses at a steady lope with breaks to walk and catch their breaths. During one of those slow stints, she turned in her saddle to look at me over her shoulder.
“Are you going to scowl the entire trip? I thought the broody demeanor was more Melek’s style.”
Startled out of my dark thoughts, I blinked and grunted a wordless disapproval.
“You know, the growling is really only effective if you bare your chest—”
“Would you please shut the fuck up. You don’t know me and are determined to see the worst no matter what I do. I see no point in playing your games.”
Her lips pursed and her eyes flashed. “I was trying to tease you out of your funk, Jann. Travel is far more enjoyable when companions get along. But forget about it. Let’s just ride and get this done.”
She turned forward, shaking her head and muttering curses under her breath that were just loud enough for me to catch the odd word.
Like prick.
And asshole.
I sighed and clawed a hand through my hair, arguing with myself about whether or not to soothe her, but when she gathered her reins like she’d kick the horse into more speed, I called after her and she hesitated.
“I was thinking about where all of this might take us. Where it might take me . I am… upset about what’s going on, wondering about the future, and tired.”
She didn’t turn around but spoke loud enough for me to hear her. “We’re all tired.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
Her horse’s head rose as she pulled him to an abrupt halt and twisted in her saddle, gripping the cantle to keep her body turned to face me, her mouth open in apparent shock.
“Did you just… apologize?”
I rolled my eyes.
She grinned. “Maybe there is a heart beating in that broad chest after all.”
I locked eyes with her and growled. “It’s not the only thing about me that’s broad.”
Her head tilted as if she sympathized. “I know, but I wasn’t sure if you were insecure about your ears. I was trying to be polite.”
Well, fuck.
She laughed and I was stunned by the sound. She laughed like a man—throwing her head back, enjoying it with her whole body. I was so accustomed to women giggling or turning coy, it was a disconcerting.
“Since you deign to speak to me, now… when will we fly?” she asked, her humor quickly replaced by apprehension.
“After we reach your brother and his troops. It would be impossible to find them from the sky in this fog.”
Diadre nodded, but her face fell.
It was my turn to smile. “You didn’t like the flying?”
She shrugged and turned away again, but she kept talking. “I could see how it could become fun. But it was frightening. I was completely out of control. And being so high up, if you’d dropped me…”
“I’d be happy to show you how much fun losing control can be…” I purred.
But instead of laughing again, or flirting back, she shot me a dark look over her shoulder. “Are you capable of having an adult conversation?”
I snorted. “I’d hope adults are the only ones having these conversations.”
“God you are insufferable. I don’t know why I even try,” she grumbled. But as she turned back around I caught the tiniest edge of a smile on her lips.
“If this is you trying, I’d love to see your indifference,” I muttered.
She did grin then, turning to look at me again, readying a quip, and that thrill fizzed in my chest. The push and pull of flirting was water to my soul.
I adored it. A matching of wits, a competition to win, yet also a gain for both parties.
If she could be cajoled into flirting over these days we travelled, it would make the time pass so much more quickly.
But this time when she turned with that evil little grin on her face that made me want to rub my hands together in anticipation, she locked eyes with me—then froze. The smile fell from her features like it had been knocked off her face.
“What?” I asked her—half irritated, half-alarmed.
Her gaze held a worried accusation until she averted her eyes and returned to facing the front. “Nothing.”
“Well, that’s fucking bullshit,” I muttered. “You’re all strength and surety until someone asks you to own your thoughts?”
Her chin dropped and she shook her head. “I was trying to be polite. But if you insist.” She turned again, locked eyes with me and spat through her teeth. “I was merely reminded about your eyes—and that I don’t trust you,” she said coldly. She held my gaze a moment longer, then faced front again.
“You don’t trust me?” Defensive anger raised my hackles. “Me, who saved your ass?”
“Saved my—what?! You’re the one who said you owed a life debt!”
“Because I’m honorable and recognize my debts, whether you do or not.”
“Debt?! What debt do I hold to you?”
I gaped and heeled my horse up next to hers. On the narrow trail it forced us to ride knee to knee, but I didn’t care. “Have you so quickly forgotten the way I claimed you when the other Neph arrived? The way I’ve continued to keep you safe when my people—”
“The people who needed you to continue that alpha male bullshit are dead. I’m grateful, Jann, don’t get me wrong. But we have bigger things—”
“No, Diadre, we don’t. In days, possibly hours, you and I will return to that camp and you’ll continue to need me just as you did that day, and every day since!”
Her jaw dropped. “God, I knew you were arrogant, but this… wait, is this about that fucking life debt? I said I didn’t care—I did for you what I would have done for any ally. If this is some ruse to convince me that you’re repaying it—”
The rage that rose in me made no sense. If she wanted to make stupid mistakes around my people when we got back and get herself hurt, why should I worry? If she was stupid enough to deny my protection, let her learn. Why should it anger me?
But the thought of watching her treated like a mare in heat by the brothers who hadn’t yet understood that things were changing enraged me.
And I wasn’t even sure whether it was the men, or her that sparked that volcano.
All I knew was that something in me needed her to understand the risk she faced without me at her back.
“You think you’re safe, Diadre? Safe among my people?”
“Safe under Melek’s rule? Yes. Yilan has made it very clear that he, at least, has some modicum of honor. And I’ve seen how gentle he is with her—”
“I’m not talking about Melek, he wouldn’t touch you even if you weren’t claimed,” I snarled.
Her head snapped back and her mouth dropped open in offense. “You fucking prick. You think I want to attract Melek? Or any of you brutes?”
“I think if you continue to believe yourself capable against a Neph, you will, whether you wish to or not.”
“I knew you were like the rest of them with only men can fight bullshit. Now the truth comes out!” she hissed, her eyes blazing with anger to match my own. “Who owes the life debt to whom, Jann? Who came crawling, begging to repay the saving of a life? Because it wasn’t me!”
“In battle,” I growled. “In battle you had my back, and I remain grateful. But we aren’t talking about the chaos and teamwork of battle, Dee.
We’re talking about you against a man who is not weary, not watching behind and before, not at risk of taking a spear with a wrong move—if you walk into that camp,” I pointed back the way we’d come, “telling yourself that you’re safe alone, you will be destroyed. ”
Her eyes narrowed and she leaned towards me from her saddle. “You want me afraid?”
“I want you defensive for your own protection—and fucking grateful for mine.”
She gave a cold little laugh. “Of course you do, that’s what this is really about, isn’t it?
I’m not fluttering my lashes and shoving my breasts under your nose.
The Great Jannus the Halfling—so accustomed to every woman opening her legs at the slightest look, he’s offended by one who doesn’t fall to his charms! ”
“It’s not my charms you’ll fall to if you keep up this idiocy!” I snarled. “It’s—”
“Don’t try to make me afraid so that I’ll play along with your fucked up priorities. You’re the monster here, not m—”
I wasn’t proud of myself for what I did next. But I also knew it wasn’t only my rage that drove me off that horse, to grab her before she could kick hers into a gallop, and drag her to the ground, then away from the dancing animals.
Was she a fucking harpy who needed to learn a lesson? Yes, yes she was. And I would be the one to teach it to her.
And she better be fucking grateful. Because with the exception of Melek, any other male of my kind would make it a much, much more bitter potion to swallow.