Page 118 of Infernal Bonds

Rhistel sighed. “She has a point.”

Cornaith turned to the others as Ardvaen urged Cyn and me to move over to stand with Ezra, Ash, and Zeke to put distance between us and Cornaith.

“While I agree she’s influencing our boys, I’d be foolish to ignore the mental strain their time in Feranzis has inflicted.” Rhistel cast a withering glance my way. “We shouldn’t hold her solely accountable for their defiance right now. Perhaps rest is the better option, hmm?”

Cornaith sighed and allowed his alternate form to recede, straightening the front of his dress shirt. He turned his attention to us. “Leave now, before I change my mind.”

31

STRATEGY

RAE

Cyn threw the front door open and stalked across the foyer, collapsing on the sectional in the conversational pit in the center of the living room. Zeke joined him, taking a pastry from the bowl Ash had set on the table. Ash and Ezra had carried containers of cooked dishes from the palace kitchen when we left the council chambers.

The cooks were so thrilled by our return that they whipped together a variety of tasty-smelling dishes for us to take home, knowing we’d survived only on berries and branches while in Feranzis.

“I’ll get plates and silverware,” Ash said, disappearing into the kitchen as Ezra took a seat across from Cyn and Zeke. I took the empty section in the middle, perpendicular to where they sat.

Zeke swallowed his bite and turned to Cyn. “How’s your jaw?”

“It’s fine now.”

Ezra took the bottle of water Ash offered as he rounded the couch. “Why did you provoke Father?”

Cyn narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Father is looking for any excuse to hold his position. If he believes we are incapable of maintaining the maturity necessary to sit on the thrones, we can’t expect them to retire.”

“Who the fuck cares?”

Ezra breathed slowly out of his nose as if he were gathering his patience. “The longer he sits on that throne, the longer we have to play his game. The longer every single person in the palace is stuck catering to his whims. The longer your parents have to fall in line when they disagree with him.”

Ash sat back next to me, handing me a small plate with various bite-sized portions. “Start slow. Your stomach likely isn’t up to a big meal yet.” He looked at Zeke and Cyn. “You should do the same. Healing or not, Feranzis weakened you both.”

Zeke sat up and started plating items while Cyn continued glaring at Ezra.

“You want to lecture me for provoking your dad, but what did you do? You stood there while Rae threw herself in front of me to stop your dad from hitting me a second time. You let your Nyrith protect me and did nothing to protect her.”

Ezra’s hand clenched on the arm of the sofa. “Unlike you, I am thinking long-term. A show of defiance now means nothing if it destroys any opportunity we have of shedding these shackles Father has placed on each of us.”

I had always thought Ezra accepted his father’s callous actions without much thought—much like the guys seemed to believe. His ability to look beyond the immediate situation put a lot of his previous choices into perspective for me.

He wasn’t complacent; he was calculating.

“Father knows if he does anything too drastic to Raelynn, he harms us. If she dies, we suffer.”

“But you’d let him hurt her just enough to keep the peace?”

“You’re not thinking rationally,” Ezra said, but I saw the flicker of something in his eyes that told me Cyn’s callout had affected him.

“Ezra wouldn’t let Cornaith hurt Rae,” Zeke said, putting his empty plate down. When Ezra didn’t comment, Zeke looked at him. “Would you?”

Ezra’s gaze slid to mine, holding me captive in his icy stare. When I looked away, he said, “I won’t allow Father to harm her.”

Cyn propped his elbow on the arm of the sofa, cradling the side of his head in his hand. “Then why didn’t you do something?”

“Because your father intervened. It was unnecessary to show my hand. Father would treat an attack from me as a challenge to his rule.”