Page 72 of Wrath of the Dragons (Fear the Flames #2)

Chapter Fifty-two

Cayden

Dawn gently caresses the cabin as I blink my eyes open.

Judging by the lack of thumping, hardly anyone aside from the guards stationed on deck are awake.

I clear the roughness from my throat as Elowen drags the tip of her finger down my cheekbone.

The last time she did this was when she got drunk after the alliance ball and I carried her to bed.

I doubt she remembers any of it, but she traced my features with one hand and used her other to lace our fingers together.

She even held my hand as she slept, and I spent the night sitting beside her bed to keep hold of her like I promised.

“How may I be of service, wife?”

“You can release me from your death grip so I can get the letter that slid under our door,” she responds, and I tighten my arms for good measure, making her laugh before begrudgingly letting her go.

I sit up, resting my back against the headboard as Elowen rejoins me and settles the sheet over her waist. “It has the Ilaria seal.”

I grab my reading glasses off the nightstand and snatch it from her hands, breaking the wax serpent coiling around the sun to unfold the letter.

How…interesting. Prince Zale requests our presence at a café in Zraka for breakfast without guards, stating that friends don’t need soldiers between them.

I knew we’d hear from the king and queen regarding our offer, but I didn’t think Zale would ever speak to us again after I held my blade to his throat.

Pity.

I suppose I’ll have to do something worse next time.

“Dear Cayden, go home, bastard, and leave your promiscuous wife behind so my son can make an honest woman of her. All my love, Cordelia. What a generous offer from such an intelligent woman.”

Elowen rolls her eyes and steals it, her brows rising as she scans the words. “I didn’t realize holding someone at swordpoint was a sign of budding friendship.”

“You’ve drawn your knives on me multiple times and I’m your husband.” I shrug. “It builds character.”

“I also didn’t expect him to apologize on behalf of his parents. He wouldn’t risk putting this in writing if he didn’t mean it.”

“I’m interested to see what he’ll say when he’s not acting like a lap dog in front of his parents.”

“Like the little ratty ones I’ve seen in court.”

I chuckle, tucking an arm around her waist to pull her to my chest. “He requested Zarius’s presence as well, so I think his offer is sincere.”

She sighs, pushing away from me without relaxing, and rises from the bed.

Much to my dismay, she dons the robe I tore off her last night.

No matter how many times she lets me into her body, the need to touch her is never sated.

This desperation lives within me like a growing flame and Elowen’s presence is the oxygen that gives it life.

Water sloshes in the porcelain bowl as she begins wetting her disheveled curls to begin her morning routine.

“We should leave in an hour so we’re not late. Can I trust you to let Zarius know?”

“Yes, love, I believe I’m capable of relaying a message.” My feet press into the plush rug beneath our bed, and I pull a fresh pair of pants and a white linen shirt from my trunk, throwing both on before shutting it and lacing up my boots.

“I know you’re capable of relaying a message, I just don’t know how amicably.”

“That depends on him.” I kiss her cheek and dip out of the cabin, requesting a servant send coffee so she’s not a monster by the time we make it to breakfast. Rhys and Zarius’s room is in the same hall as ours and I pound on the door, heedless of the early hour.

Rhys yanks it open, revealing the prince of Thirwen sprawled out on his small cot, snoring loudly with his mouth open.

“Well, I see why you’re already awake.”

Rhys gives a half smile, the first I’ve seen in his presence. “The prince is not a graceful sleeper. I assume you have a message for him since you’re here so early?”

“Zarius needs to be awake and ready to leave in an hour. He’s been summoned along with Elowen and me to meet Prince Zale in the city for breakfast.”

“Not at the palace?”

I run my tongue along my teeth. “I doubt he wants his mother and father bearing witness to this meeting.”

Rhys was there last night, seated at the long table with our soldiers and members of the water cult.

Though even if he hadn’t been, I have no doubt Zarius would have informed him of every detail once he made it back to the ship.

The pair of them are often whispering to each other, and despite the rockiness between them when our paths first crossed, when sober the prince often seeks the knight’s counsel and company.

“You need the support of Galakin if he’s to ascend the Thirwen throne. His enemies won’t be able to take on both of your kingdoms and those in Thirwen who support his claim.”

“Speak plainly,” I begin. “Do you honestly think many in Thirwen will support his claim?”

Rhys rolls his lips, looking down to hide the rare show of emotion, and clears his throat. When he meets my eyes again, the years he’s spent on this earth seem heavier on him. “Many loved Ruella. They will support him because he’s her son.”

I quirk a brow at the informality with which he spoke of the late queen of Thirwen, but he doesn’t balk. “So the rumors are true.”

Rhys holds my stare, the lines around his mouth tightening as he looks over his shoulder to ensure the prince is still sleeping.

“Not all of us have the power to overthrow a kingdom for the ones we love, demon. Sometimes we love them in secret, but even secrets have a way of never truly belonging to us.” His eyes harden, and his fists clench.

“The prince isn’t my son if that’s what you’re insinuating, but that’s never stopped me from viewing him as such. His claim is legitimate, as is he.”

He’s lying.

And that’s why he stayed with him in exile. Not as a knight, but as a father protecting the one thing left in this world that connects him to his lover. I doubt Zarius knows; if he did he probably wouldn’t be so eager to take the throne, especially considering King Fallon has other children.

“You don’t have to reassure me of anything.

The blood that runs through his veins is of no concern to me as long as it doesn’t complicate my plans.

” I knew I’d never beat the game until I cheated all the players who stood against me.

Zarius needs to figure out how to do that in Thirwen.

There’s nothing that threatens someone who inherited power more than someone who won it. “Ready the prince to leave.”

I’m halfway down the hall when Rhys speaks again, “We both know what it is to suffer for wanting a woman who never should’ve been ours.”

I look over my shoulder, waiting for the man to finish.

“Hold on to yours. From one bastard to another, I pray you never know the pain of fate when it comes to take what you’ve stolen.”