Page 97 of The Mercy of Dawn

“Tobias gave you everything you need?” his mother asked Cyril as she came to a stop in front of them. Cyril’s shoulders heaved with a heavy breath.

“That and then some. And I—” Her molten gold eyes darted up to Mikael, and widened before she winced, clutching that leather pack tight to her chest. “Tonight. I-I won’t be able to come…”

“Another night. The barracks aren’t going anywhere.” Mikael’s disappointment was immeasurable, but he gave her an empathetic smile. It wasn’t like it was her fault. He would bet good money she didn’t have a single say in if she was going or not. “More pressing things to deal with right now.”

“Right.” Cyril nodded, looking between him and his mother. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she looked disappointed too. “I have to go pack. I’m sure Dion is wondering where I am.”

Runa reached for her arm and quietly said, “Don’t forget what we talked about, alright?”

Well, that was fucking suspicious.

But Cyril smiled at his mother and nodded before she took off up the stairs.

It did not surprise him in the least that the two of them were conspiring together. His mother was always a proponent of having an expansive network of allies, as she liked to put it.

“Mikael,” his mother hissed. “Your eyes are lingering.”

He blinked down at her, opening his mouth and quickly shutting it. There was no getting out of that—he watched Cyril appreciatively the entire way up. Maybe last night's tumble with the nymph hadn’t sated that itch as much as he hoped.

“And?” he challenged, and his mother sighed.

“Be careful, Mika.” The look she cut him was sharp. “If you break her heart, it’s not just Dion you’ll have to worry about.”

“Break her heart?” It was his turn to sigh. “I’m not sure what you think is going on, but that is a wild conclusion to jump—”

“Everyone saw the two of you dancing last night, Mika. Councilor Mathias even commented to your father this morning.” Of course the fucking creepy old man did. But his mother didn’t stop there. “Are you going to tell me you just suddenly decided to be, what, friendly? A good host? I saw how you looked at her, and I saw the two of you leave together.”

“We left at the same time, Mother, not together. We left and went our separate ways.” Much to his disappointment, but no one else needed to know that.

“And now you’ve invited her to go to the barracks with you at night?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

Mikael shut his eyes and sighed. “Do I need a reason?”

This entire conversation was pointless, seeing as she wasn’t even going to be there anymore.

His mother scoffed, and he didn’t even need to see her face to know how annoyed she’d look. He was too familiar with this.

“To bring someone like Cyril to the place you get lost in your cups and pick up women? Absolutely you do.”

Of course, his mother never seemed to have an issue with what happened in the barracks before now…

“I feel bad for her. She’s alone all the time.” He could give his mother that bit of truth, at least, as long as they didn’t delve into what other sort of feelings he had stirred up for her. “Aren’t you the one who told me she needed a friend?”

An indignant noise left Runa, and Mikael smirked.

“I said friend, not bedmate. Gods, I can’t believe I birthed you sometimes.” She rubbed her brow and Mikael chuckled as he turned to leave. “But I’m dead serious, Mika. If you hurt her and Dion or one of the others doesn’t kill you first, I will. And then I’ll—”

“You’ll find someone to reanimate my corpse and then kill me all over again? Yes, I’m well aware of that drill, Mother, but thank you for the warning.”

Chapter 23

“Was there this much blood found with any other bodies?” Cyril asked, her blouse tugged up over her nose.

They arrived in Brynnhold, finally, after riding hard for over an hour in the late afternoon heat. The same humid, stifling heat that the merchant’s shop had baked in all afternoon.