But I’d been trained in a similar way in Mirren and Pict, and knew what she was doing: cataloging every clue to what had gone on in this room since her last visit, and every possible weapon she might need, or that someone might use against her. Looking for hiding places, or escape routes. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the window, and I had to force myself to be still. Could she tell I’d been using it to go out into Turino?
For that matter, I wondered, as her gaze fell on me again—picking apart everything about me, looking for a flaw to poke at, as she did every time we met—whether she could tell I wasn’t truly sick. Did she know I’d been pretending for the past threeweeks, so I could have time to decide how to complete my mission here, while keeping her presence a secret… and leaving an apology I hoped she would understand and appreciate?
If four dead Alphas could be considered an apology. In some countries, they would have been considered a courting gift. Not that she could be courted by me, or anyone, if she was Rada. But I could dream, and did, my cock keeping me awake night after night until I took care of myself while picturing her hands instead of mine, her lips as soft as petals as she tasted me… I shifted, moving a hand over my groin as she wandered around the room, picking up game pieces from a board, and grimacing at the pile of herbal remedies and soft foods on the side table.
No, she would never imagine how I felt about her, and I knew better than to dream of her in that way. She would never guess that I’d been the one to punish the males who’d dared to touch her, to speak of her. No man was worthy of her, but especially not those dead fools.
She was so far above all of us, by the nature of her birth, her very purpose in being born, no human male had ever breathed who deserved to kiss the hem of her… trousers. I stifled my smile as she turned to face me, her gray eyes glinting with resolve.
“I came to apologize. I shouldn’t have poisoned you. I was vexed, and took it out on you.”
I was silent until she began to scowl. “Tell me, then, why did you poison me? You owe me an explanation.”
Her cheeks turned a dusky pink, and my cock grew even harder as her tongue darted out to wet her lips. Was she being intentionally seductive?
“Just let the apology stand. I’d been out of sorts all day for many reasons, but none of it was your fault, exactly. It was unforgivable to serve you candellia while we played chess.” She went on, her words mumbled so quietly, I didn’t think sheintended me to hear. “Even if you were shamelessly flirting with the parlor maid.”
My heart almost stopped. She’d nearly killed me out ofjealousy? I had no idea what to do with that suspicion, so I let it go. I could be merciful. “You admit you tried to kill me, while I was a guest in your city? Your home?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “And I know Pict’s guesting laws. I have to pay a sum equal to the price of what I would have stolen.”
I fought to contain my shock that she would know my homeland’s customs. We were a small nation with strict laws about everything, including who could land on our shores. Even stricter ones covered who could leave once they’d stepped foot on the island. We had no ambassadors to speak of, and the spies who sailed to us were almost all fed to the Lord of Fire.
“Tried to steal,” I finally said. “You tried to steal my life. The value of your debt means you have to pay my worth. You can’t afford me, princess.” I couldn’t suppress a smile at the horror and rage that flickered across her face before she took a long breath. I forced my eyes to stay above her neckline this time, enjoying the unusual display of emotions.
“Don’t call me that. And I can so afford you.” She reached back—under her hair? I wasn’t sure—and threw something small onto the bed. A cloth pouch that smelled like… I held it up to my nose. Mint, and rain? Her cheeks went darker, her eyes widening at my flared nostrils. “What?”
“Nothing,” I muttered, trying to convince myself I’d imagined that scent. Omegas normally smelled like spices or flowers. They were also known to be biddable, quiet creatures. She couldn’t be one. I needed her not to be, so I could go back home and send my masters looking in another direction.
“Well, open it,” she snapped out. “It’s not an asp.”
I opened it, nervous. I shouldn’t have been.“A diamond?” It was a faceted, yellow stone, the size of the knuckle on my littlefinger. It had to be worth a small fortune. Perhaps a large one. Father of Pain, shecouldafford me. “What is this?”
“An apology. I didn’t steal that either. I worked for it. Had to sneak all the way to the border of Starlak and break into a guarded keep to earn it, so don’t go thinking it was an easy job.” She shrugged, but real regret shone in her eyes as she met my gaze. “I am sorry for all of it. Do you forgive me?”
My mind buzzed with questions. “I don’t understand.”
“I need to clean up some loose ends before… Anyway. Just tell me if it’s enough. If it’s not, come up with something else.”
I went cold. Was she offering me the very thing I needed, with no strings? I’d been worried about what I would have to do to liberate the dagger from her.
“Your knife,” I said. “Your blade.” When she pulled a plain blade out of her belt, I shook my head. “The black one.” The obsidian dagger was one of three holy blades, each one consecrated in the maw of the Lord of Fire Himself, and dedicated to a greater purpose than anyone outside our land knew.
She sighed heavily, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Can’t. I sold it.”
“What?” My voice was far too loud for a sick man. My hands trembled, though, and I hoped she thought it was from illness. I’d thought I had time to retrieve it. She never let it out of her sight.
I’d failed years before, when I was a guest in this palace at her adoption. I’d known her immediately, even if her name had changed. I’d been so shocked at who stood before me, at seeing the story I’d learned from my masters made real, I hadn’t paid enough attention to the dagger she’d worn even then.
Who would have thought a young girl would be allowed to even touch one of the holy blades? I hadn’t noticed it then, as my mission had been to bring back information about the supposedOmega, Queen Vali. So I’d never mentioned the girl or her blade to my masters when I returned home with news of the queen’s nature.
My order had sent a dozen others through the years to retrieve it, and investigate Queen Vali. They’d all vanished, with not a whisper of their fates on the wind. Finally, news made it back to Pict. The dagger had been seen, in this very city, by one who returned only to die of a slow-acting poison within hours of reaching our island. Almost immediately, my masters had declared my training on Pict complete, and ordered me back to the continent. To Mirren, and then to Rimholt.
I had what I’d always wanted: a mission that would secure a place as a servant in the eternal circle of flames, the Alldyns Vug itself.
Though even if I could never admit it, the thought of seeing Ratter again had been almost as enticing. After I’d encountered her again, and she’d had no conspicuous scent and no Omega mannerisms, and given no clue that she’d come from Pict at all, I’d been relieved. And willing to let the faint perfume I’d picked up go unnoted.
But to think I might fail completely… I opened my mouth to ask where it was, to demand she tell me, when she began to stand.
