Page 29 of Wolf Caged (Bound to the Shadow King #1)

KAELERON

J enavyr hadn’t stopped sniping at Riordan from the moment the two of them had set foot in my office on the second floor of the castle.

Riordan, of course, gave as good as he got, the two of them seeming to bask in the glory of irritating me with their inane remarks and poorly executed retaliations.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, an ache building between my eyes as I closed them. Fatigue rolled up on me the moment they shut, the long day of meetings I had endured wearing away at my strength, together with my two commanders.

“I only asked what you might be doing in such a disreputable tavern. The poor creatures within should not be subjected to your advances.” Vyr launched the same salvo she had already used several times, her tone scathing.

Riordan sighed, the sound as weary as I felt. “A man has to feed.”

The same response he had given each time my sister had remarked upon his visit to one of the taverns near the docks that sailors regularly frequented while looking for some female company.

Apparently, this was not a good enough answer for my sister, since she would not let it go.

I cleared my throat, gaining their attention as I sat back in my new chair on the other side of the also newly delivered desk to them.

Furniture I would rather keep in one piece.

To their credit, they both fell silent and straightened, their backs going rigid as they faced me instead, standing almost shoulder to shoulder.

“I did not summon you to hear you bicker.” I draped my hands over the arms of my chair and surveyed them. “I wished to hear your reports.”

Riordan irritated my sister further by being first to speak.

“The second legion has been training in the west fields near the garrison, and the new recruits are coming along nicely. The north-eastern range is quiet and the south-western reaches have reported their latest scouting party found no sign of anyone crossing the mountain passes. Malachi is due back any day now with information from the Summer Court.”

I pushed back from my desk and stood, my legs aching as they straightened, a sign I had spent far too long sitting in chairs or on thrones today. Malachi’s return might be a problem, but I would deal with it when it happened. The demon would understand.

Vyr’s gaze drilled into me, and I knew why she watched me so closely. She believed that when Malachi returned, there would be a reckoning, and she wanted to speak frankly about it with me, as was her way.

I met her gaze, silencing her with a look, and turned from my two commanders, heading for the grand arched window to my left, near one end of my desk, as instead of berating me she filed her report about Wraith Wood and the preparations she had overseen there, together with the trade routes.

I lifted the scrolled iron latch and pushed the leaded window that reached almost from floor to ceiling open, relishing the fresh sea-laced breeze that swept into the room.

Movement below seized my attention.

The little wolf.

Riordan said something, his words distant as I watched the slender silver-haired female below me.

She stood near the balustrade that edged the patio on the cliff-side of the gardens, fingers toying with the loose platinum strands of her hair as she gazed out to sea.

It was a strange pleasure to observe her without her knowledge, watching her fingers combing the unruly strands that caught the rising breeze, and then as she nimbly plaited the long length of her hair, until it hung in a single braid that snaked down her spine.

How soft might her hair feel in my fist if I gripped that braid?

I failed to notice Vyr moving up beside me until she spoke.

“Maybe we should take a break. We have all been working for hours now. Well, two of us have.” Another easy shot at the vampire and his tavern activities. “I could use some fresh air. We all could.”

I kept my gaze fixed on the little wolf, unsure I could pull it away from her if I tried, and my sister had already caught me watching her, so there was little point in covering what I was doing, and equally little need.

I owned Saphira and could look at her if I wanted.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Riordan was already halfway out of the door.

It snicked shut behind him.

“Beltane is approaching,” Vyr murmured, watching me closely. “What will you do?”

“Beltane,” I muttered, considering the implications of what my sister was really asking. She was not interested in what I would do at the great feast and the rites. She wanted to know what I intended to do with Saphira while they were happening.

How would the little wolf cope with it?

If I included her, things would certainly be more interesting than usual, and it would be a pleasure to watch her during the feast and the rites, studying her as she navigated her first Beltane.

But it might be wiser to keep her safely locked in her room that night instead.

“We are also due to visit Ereborne soon.” Jenavyr sounded even more cautious now and with good reason.

I glared at the sea, watching the white foam lace the rolling waves and a black wooden galleon that rode them, heading towards the docks.

The thought of leaving Saphira unprotected in my court while I visited with the high king had my shadows growing restless, snaking outwards to climb the stone walls towards the window, as if they wanted to wrap around her as they had that day at the lake.

Shielding her.

Protecting her.

I could put off many things to keep her safe, but Beltane or visiting my high king were not one of them.

Both had to proceed as planned.

“Issue guard duty to two of your finest men.” I did not look at Vyr as I issued that order. I kept my gaze locked on the little wolf as she casually strolled in the direction of the lake.

“And who will they be guarding?” Vyr asked.

“You know who.”

She leaned into view, angling her body to track Saphira with her gaze as the wolf disappeared behind the wall of my office. “Is that really necessary? Saphira will not like?—”

I cut her off with a look. A silent order.

She nodded. “As you wish.”

And hesitated.

“What is it?” I moved to one of the windows at the end of the room to my left, beyond my desk, opening it to allow more air in the room, and happened to find Saphira sitting on one of the benches beneath an arbour laced with flowers the colour of her eyes.

“Saphira spoke to me of her pack and things that happened in her past.” Each word was carefully measured, spoken slowly and reluctantly.

I held my hand up to silence my sister, even when I wanted to know what the little wolf had told her.

“Did she give you leave to speak of this to others?” I slid a look at her, seeing right away in her eyes that Saphira had not.

“No, but I thought it might be useful information for you to have. You seem to want to understand her better so you can discover the reason Neve told you to take her, and I thought perhaps?—”

I stopped her again, denying the part of me that wanted to hear it. “I would rather hear it from the wolf herself.”

That surprised me, and my sister too judging by how her eyes widened slightly. There was no logical reason to wait to know the information she had gathered. It made more strategic sense to know it now.

It hit me that I wanted the little wolf to open up to me as she had to my sister.

Which made no sense at all. I had no reason to want to hear it from her lips. It made more sense to hear it from my sister now.

And yet, I still desired that Saphira be the one to tell me of her past.

To open up to me.

I could order it, as part of our contract, and offer to knock a handsome sum off her debt, but that did not sit well with me and instead I found myself making plans, forming a route that would lead to the little wolf speaking to me of her past and herself.

“Send the handmaidens for Saphira.” I put my back to the window. “She will dine with me within the hour and will tell me of her visit to the town.”

Jenavyr bowed and made for the door.

As it closed behind her, I turned back to the little wolf where she perched on the wall now, near the thundering falls.

“I will know what you make of my world.”