Page 25

CHAPTER 25

T hey finally left Inasvale the next day, with enough horses for everyone in the party and an expanded entourage to escort them to Vunmore in safety. No one discussed the king’s absence; it was as if everyone but Laena had been informed of his reasoning for remaining behind. It seemed to her that the entire party might have waited on him—he was the king—yet he’d opted to send them on ahead.

Whatever had passed between Callum and Hawk yesterday, it couldn’t have been pleasant. He’d disappeared for the rest of the day. Judging by the grayness of his complexion this morning, he’d spent much of that time in his cups. He rode beside her, near the middle of the group, his expression distant. When she asked why the king would not be accompanying them, he’d muttered something about stubborn idiot children. Even though the king could not have been more than a few years younger than him.

At least the soldiers appeared to be deferring to him again, and not subtly. He barked orders at them, and they complied, while Landon Moore sulked at the back of the party.

She would have expected that to at least bring a smile to Callum’s face. But when she mentioned it, his expression grew even darker. “Hawk dislikes traitors. Calling his emissary a whore amounts to a betrayal.”

Laena huffed out a breath of annoyance. “If not even Landon Moore’s fall from grace can bring you out of your bad humor, then I must admit myself defeated.”

“Apologies, my lady. I’ve been lost in my thoughts.”

Clearly. Even her mention of it was not enough to pull him out, or to lighten his expression. He rode on, back straight, eyes trained on the road ahead until she thought he might be trying to sear a hole in the hills with his gaze alone.

Laena decided to ignore him, opting instead to take in the beauty of the countryside. After Inasvale’s cliffs, the land had smoothed out into a vista of gentle hills. The road cut around them, which minimized the difficulty of the trek. The hills, thick with green grass, were interrupted only by white and yellow flowers, the buzz of bees, the occasional flash of a butterfly’s wing. Here and there, a lone tree stood upon the top of a hill.

They passed a fork in the road. Rooftops in the distance announced a village. She would have liked to stop, to wander the streets and meet with the people, but the entourage moved forward without so much as acknowledging the place’s existence. It was just as well. There was business to attend to in Vunmore.

They rode in silence for so long she nearly jumped out of her saddle when Callum spoke again.

“Why did Katrina send you to Aglye?”

Laena patted her horse’s main, though the animal didn’t seem overly worried about its jumpy rider. “And here I was thinking you’d been paying attention, Captain. She sent me to speak to King Hawk as emissary.”

If her lighthearted response affected him, he didn’t show it. “ But why you ? She is surrounded by councilors and courtiers and regents?—”

“One regent,” Laena corrected, but Callum kept going as if he hadn’t heard.

“—and yet she insisted it be you. That you abandon the life you’ve made for yourself, that you leave your village and face insult and disdain at every turn.”

“Not every turn,” she murmured. But he just shook his head.

And what kind of a life had it been, truly? Her only friend was a lizard, for goodness’ sake. She’d gone so long without admitting how much that hurt that she certainly couldn’t do it now. And there had been reasons for Katrina’s request. Reasons she’d at first rejected, true, but reasons nonetheless.

Perhaps he was embarrassed by yesterday’s forwardness. Only… only, he’d stayed with her. He’d brought breakfast. And he did not seem the kind of man to be embarrassed by a kiss. Especially one he’d returned, if briefly.

“Are you sure,” he said, “that Katrina does not know of your magic?”

The magic. That was what this was about? She thought he had accepted it, that he trusted her. Laena glanced behind her, hoping the nearest riders were yet too distant to hear their conversation. “She couldn’t possibly know. I’m here to help Etra.”

“I know why you want to be here, my lady. What I cannot discern is why your sister would send you, specifically.”

Laena straightened. If he kept repeating that, she was going to find a way to kick him in the shins. As soon as she wasn’t seated on the back of a horse. “I’m a skilled negotiator, Captain Farrow. I still hold a title equal to meeting with a king, and I have spent much of my life studying the intricacies of court life.”

If nothing else, it was odd that Katrina would admit this. Declan might have convinced her of it .

“No doubt,” he replied. “But the queen has other well-trained negotiators at her disposal, does she not?”

Laena shook her head. “Katrina believes Silerith is stirring. For all her faults, my sister does care about Etra. Perhaps she merely sent the person she knew would care as much as she does. I trust her to do what’s right.”

“Hawk claims Silerith isn’t stirring at all,” he said. “Hawk claims that the Ruthless King keeps to himself, as he ever has.”

“Perhaps Hawk is wrong.” Or perhaps he had reason to keep them from seeing what was happening in Silerith. She thought of the strange resonance she’d felt when the king touched her hand.

“Callum, when King Hawk shook my hand, I felt…” He looked at her expectantly, and she swallowed. “It felt as if he might have been using magic. Like…” She lowered her voice, glancing around. No one was riding close enough to hear, or so she hoped. “… like mine recognized his somehow. The way it did the crystal.”

Callum snapped his head toward her, eyes glittering. “You think Hawk is working a heart-tithe?”

She hesitated. “It didn’t have the signature?—”

“Exactly. Magic is forbidden in Aglye.” He said it like a warning, and she sucked in a breath, suddenly frightened. He would not use his knowledge of her power against her. Surely he would not.

What had the king said to him, to put him in such a humor? What did he know that he was keeping from her?

Before she could say anything more, he dipped his head. “Excuse me, my lady. I need to check in with my men.”

And with that, he rode off and left her alone.

Laena couldn’t help but be impressed by the efficiency of the King’s Guard as they erected their camp for the night. In traveling with the bandits, they’d had no shelter to assemble; now they had a field full of tents. Some had peaked roofs that she suspected would provide ample space for the king’s bed, while others looked as if they would barely fit two men.

Callum was nowhere in sight. And it was just as well—she had no wish to renew their earlier conversation.

It was Edmun who came forward to help her from her horse. She might have managed it herself, though she wasn’t certain she could trust her legs to hold her after the long ride. Another day ahead, and another after that. She would sleep well tonight.

Or she would lay awake replaying the conversation with Callum and wondering what she had done to offend him so.

“Never mind the captain, Princess,” he said. “He’s out of sorts more often than not.”

Not with me , she thought.

“He’ll apologize before the morning,” Edmun added. “Take my word on that.”

“If he tries, I may slap him for his trouble.”

Edmun grinned. “I’ll relay the message.”

The old soldier led her to a larger tent near the center of the camp. Her legs were sore from riding and the discomfort stiffened her lower back. When he lifted the flap to usher her inside, she paused at the entrance, unable to suppress a gasp.

It seemed impossible. It was impossible, but there it stood: a bathtub, in the middle of the tent, the water still steaming.

Edmun chuckled. “There’s a village right over the hill there, to the west. King Hawk pays a good sum for people to attend the camp for the night.”

“Wise of him,” Laena murmured, her head throbbing. All she wanted was to submerge herself in that water for as long as it would stay hot. And perhaps sometime after. “I imagine he takes a different route each way, to spread the coin around. ”

“That he does,” Edmun replied. “I’ll station two guards outside. You call out if you need anything.”

As Laena lowered her aching body into the tub, she thought she would never need anything ever again. Her muscles loosened in the heat of the water, allowing her to stretch, and she let her head rest against the side of the tub. She might have wept from the comfort of it.

When the water grew lukewarm, she washed her hair with the pat of soap someone had left—it smelled of roses—and scrubbed her skin until it ached pleasantly.

Someone had left her a clean shift, which she slipped it on. She wrapped herself in one of the soft blankets from the bed. This town clearly had a lot of experience serving the king and his soldiers. She wanted to thank each of them personally.

As she was considering that, one of the guards rapped on the pole outside the tent. “Captain’s here,” the guard said. “Only, Edmun says I’m to send him away if you don’t want to see him.”

Laena hid a smile and said, “It’s all right. I’ll call for you if he acts out of turn.”

Callum ducked into the tent, and her heart stuttered. He’d managed to procure a bath, too, or perhaps Edmun had dumped a bucket of water over his fool head. He’d attempted to smooth his dark curls away from his face, but they were as unruly as ever, falling across his forehead and over his ears.

“My lady,” he said. “I owe you an apology.”

“And I owe you a slap,” she replied.

He had the grace to look ashamed. “Edmun warned me you’d say that. It would be no more than I deserve. Shall I position myself here by the wall? I’ll face my punishment without complaint.”

Laena slid off the bed, the blanket still wrapped around her. She approached him slowly, unsure of what she planned to do until she got there.

“Do you trust me?” she asked .

He swallowed, drawing in a long breath. “I trust you.”

She raised her hand, and he didn’t flinch as she gently touched his cheek. His skin was warm beneath her fingers. “I felt magic when I touched the king.”

“That,” he said, “is a sentence I never want to hear you say again.”

“Tell me why.”

He leaned into her touch, ice-blue eyes boring into her as though he could see to her very soul. Instead of answering the question, he leaned forward until he was a breath away. Less than a breath—the width of a coin, the width of a hair, his lips so close that the slightest quiver would bring them together, until she thought she would go mad. This sliver of distance would be her very undoing.

“Because, my lady”—his lips skimmed along hers as he spoke—“you belong to me.”

He tilted his head, and then he was kissing her, capturing her lips between his with a hunger that made her gasp. He made a sound in the back of his throat, sweeping his tongue into her mouth with an urgency that made her dizzy with need. Wrapped in his smell of woodsmoke and leather, and the barest hints of whiskey, she dropped her hands to his neck, running her fingers through his curls as he kissed her.

The blanket slipped from her shoulders, landing in a heap on the floor. His hands were already on her hips, drawing her closer to his obviously growing need. She pushed her body closer to his, reveling in the feel of his hands. He lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bed.

When he laid her down, it was with a reverence that made her breath catch in her throat.

As he pressed his lips to her neck, she arched into his touch, throwing her head back to allow him full access to her throat. His fingers played at the laces of her shift, freeing her chest, and she gasped as he flicked a thumb over her nipple then worked it between his fingers. His body, now flush against her, radiated heat even through the layers of their clothing. Their legs tangled together, her shift riding ever higher as his hands skimmed along her sides.

He took her breast into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the nipple before taking it into his mouth. Ripples of pleasure pulsed out across her ribs and down through her core, her magic rising to join with her desire.

When she moaned, he pressed his knee between her legs. “Ride,” he commanded, his teeth grazing her nipple, and she was all too eager to comply. She jerked her hips against his leg, rubbing her sex against his thigh. He pressed a thumb to her breast, freeing the second one for his hungry mouth as she dragged her body against him, the fabric of her underthings rubbing against her, bringing her ever closer to her climax. She could feel the swell of his own desire against her belly, and it emboldened her to ride harder.

“Come for me, Laena,” he said, his fingers skimming beneath the waist of her trousers as she rode him. When he pressed his thumb to the sensitive nub above her sex, she exploded, pleasure expanding out from her core in exquisite waves. He muffled her moans with a deep kiss as her pleasure subsided, leaving her limp with its aftereffects.

Still, she could not resist touching him. She reached between them, tracing the outline of his straining cock, and he groaned into her mouth. Smiling against his lips, she unfastened the ties of his trousers and freed him from the stays. Demons, but he was large. Part of her wanted to straddle him now, offer herself fully to him. Instead, she let her fingers explore his body, taking in the massive length of him, the combination of soft skin and rock-hard want.

“You needn’t—” he began, but she traced the tip of her finger around the head of his cock, wetting it with the bead of his own desire, and he groaned. “Mages, Laena, you drive me wild. ”

She wrapped her fingers around him and stroked, reveling in the rhythm of his hips, his clear desire for her. Her hips moved in time with his as he fucked her hand, panting and moaning into her mouth while her own climax built a second time. She’d never felt so powerful, the instrument of his pleasure, and the maker, at least in part, of her own.

When he spilled his seed, she came again, and they cried out together in shared pleasure.

As she fell back onto the bed, she imagined the entire camp must have heard them. And yet for the first time in a long while, she cared nothing for their opinions.