Page 6 of Slayer

“Yes.” The answer leaves me too quickly as I reach for it, placing my pipe down on the desk. Maddoc gently places the hilt into my hand, and it settles against my palm perfectly. The feeling of familiarity rushes through me. Like it was always meant to belong to me. “Where did you get it? I've never seen anything like it.”

“I made it,” he says, exhaling softly before adding, “Been working on it since we met. I figured it was finally finished.”

A small smile slips free before I can stop it. “You’ve been working on this since we—”

“Yes, Nes.” His voice turns impossibly soft, and warmth blooms low in my stomach. A feeling I’ve only ever known with him.

I study the blade, tracing every detail carved into the steel. It’s perfect. Beautiful in the same deadly way storms are beautiful. No one has ever given me something that feels this thoughtful. Something that feels like me. A small smile pulls at my mouth as I turn the dagger beneath the lantern light.

I look at him. Warm golden light flickers across his face, shadows dancing along the sharp lines of his features. His dark eyes stay fixed on me, watching carefully like he’s memorizing every reaction I give him.

I rise from my chair and lean across the desk. Maddoc moves toward me just as slowly, mirroring the movement.

“I love it,” I murmur. “Thank you.”

I lean in first this time, pressing my lips against his. The kiss is soft. There’s something terrifying about being understood so completely, about someone seeing every ugly, broken part of me and staying anyway.

“Anything for you, Nes.”

I pull back slowly before sinking into my chair, the cushion dipping beneath my weight as I prop my feet onto the desk and cross my ankles. The dagger remains balanced in my hands, lantern light gliding across the black steel every time I turn it. I can’t stop looking at it. At the proof that someone spent years creating something just for me. The smoke from my abandoned pipe catches my attention. I pick it up and take another long inhale.

“So, love,” I rasp, breaking the silence with a voice soaked in smoke and sin, “what news do you bring me?”

“Not the best,” he murmurs, his eyes searching for a flicker of softness in mine. The tender moment shatters with his change in tone. My gaze drifts to the smoke curling through the air, coiling around the room like it is searching for something to burn.

I lean back, taking another pull from the pipe and letting the silence thicken. “Then go on,” I say calmly. “Before my patience burns out with the embers.”

Maddoc hesitates. “The king… he wants you.” My interest is piqued and my eyes narrow.

“Is there a reason?” I ask. “Or does he just want a pretty trophy he thinks he can control?”

Maddoc lets out a low, bitter laugh. “He wants you to marry one of his sons.”

My blood runs cold and my body stills. I say nothing. He knows the familiar silence of a storm brewing inside of me.

“A wild request,” he continues, “considering the king hates pirates with a passion. But you’re not just a pirate, are you?” He leans back. “You’re the queen of them. A leader.” He smiles like he’s proud. “You’re a slayer. A powerful one. And a siren.”

He stops for a moment to gather his thoughts. I told Maddoc about what runs in my blood a year into us seeing each other. It was getting hard to lie about why I couldn’t go to Coral Haven, the island capital of Vespera. I can’t set foot in the sea, can’t even go aboard a pirate ship. He’s never looked at me differently. The most loyal man I have ever known.

“He wants an ally. Someone he can keep close. Keep caged. And if you’re living under the stones of his castle, tied to one of his sons, he gets to say he owns you. He can control you. Guess the bastard doesn’t know you’re uncontrollable.” I let a small smile escape.

His voice drops slightly, just above a whisper. “If you marry into the crown, he gets to own you without ever drawing a blade. Never having to face you. He would never risk losing to you. Because he knows he would under any other circumstance.” I already know all of this, but I don’t interrupt.

I uncross my feet and plant them firmly on the ground. My elbows rest on my knees, my pipe still balancing between my fingers. I set my newly found treasure down on my desk. “Just to be very clear,” I say, “I am not someone anyone owns. Especially not some delusional excuse of a king.”

Maddoc’s face lights up, and the sound of his laughter echoes through the room. “Oh, trust me, I know that, Nes.” He leans forward, elbows on the desk, eyes glinting. “But he doesn’t. He just sees another powerful being to cage.”

I pause, letting the silence stretch. “Where does he think you are right now?”

“Shoreline Village,” Maddoc says easily. “On my days off, I make sure to cover my tracks. A few bloody deals with the locals to keep up appearances, then I make my way to you.”

I nod. That much I already know. Since Maddoc is rising higher in the ranks, he’s got more eyes on him. With the treaties starting to rise again, the king is extra diligent. The last thing he wants is more traitors. Who knows how many innocent royals died due to the treaty shattering last time? My gaze sharpens. “Do you think he’d ever suspect that you come here? To Magda?”

“No. Only the man I share my quarters with knows my whereabouts. In case I need him to come help me.” His voice is firm. I relax back into the chair, the cushion soothing the aches in my body.

“Hmm, and he’s trustworthy?” I muse, smoke curling past my lips.

“I trust him with my life. We grew up together,” he replies confidently. I’ll accept it. Relief floods through me at the knowledge that he has an ally inside the castle walls.