Page 18 of The Blade in the Ashes
“Do you have a heart, Nikolai?”
Rankor snickered, throwing back more of the nuts and dried cheese. Silently, I reached my hand towards him and he dumped out some for me.
“I have lots of parts I’d like to give to you,” Nikolai winked down at her, before backing away and glancing up at the rest of us. “Besides, why would I need to kill you to protect my secrets when your king has come to ask for my aid?”
Iris looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes both skeptical and resigned, as if a small part of her held out some hope that he was wrong, that Nikolai’s estatewasn’tthe place I was bringing us.
I too wished we were going somewhere else.
But alas.
“I’d consider it more of a request for an alliance than that of aid,” I breathed.
Iris’ eyes closed and she sighed, throwing her head back to the sky and taking three long deep breaths. When she eventually lowered her gaze again, she ran a tongue over her teeth and pushed her dagger back into the sheath on her thigh with careful precision.
“You remember the way home, don’t you bird?” Nikolai teased.
Iris threw herself onto her horse without hesitation, glaring at me as she did.
“You should have told me we were coming to meethim,”she hissed, riding her horse next to mine.
“How was I supposed to know you two were so… familiar?”
“Very familiar.” Kent agreed.
“Yeah, I’m going to want the background story on that,” Rankor chimed in from behind. “Preferably with every sordid detail included.”
Iris only rolled her eyes. “You’re all insufferable.”
Chapter Seven
Thea
Ispent most of the meal shoving the food around my plate, arranging it in a pattern that gave the illusion I’d eaten despite the fact that my stomach was far too unsteady to even consider it. When dinner, thankfully, ended, I cleared my throat and dabbed at the corner of my mouth with a napkin. “How were the petitions today?”
Hyrax watched me for a long moment, his head tilted just enough that grey hair dangled forward onto his cheekbone.
“I had hoped that you would join me,” he admitted.
Holding onto that pleasant, unfazed smile became increasingly difficult. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t ready yet.”
His brows pinched together in a show of understanding. “Of course. But next time?”
“She’ll be there next time,” Caldrius agreed for me, fingers stroking against the back of my shoulder.
Slow enough to evade Hyrax’s notice, I leaned away from his touch, and he snickered under his breath.
“It’s important,” Hyrax continued, drinking deeply from his wineglass. “With any regime change, it’s essential for people to greet their new rulers,to actually see them on the throne. I’ve allowed you time toadjust,but I do have certain expectations of you as my heir.”
Something hard and demanding laced his voice. I bit down hard on my tongue, silencing the protestations that came to mind.
The people already knew who I was.
Not to mention, this wasn’t just a simpleregime change.
And I didn’t want to rule on the throne beside him.
Hyrax wasn’t even atrueruler. Ruling required so much more than allowing Mortals to bow before you.
