“I’ll see you there,” Iver promised, no doubt winking in her direction despite the fact she couldn’t see him in the darkness.
“For the love of the Spirit. Will you shut your mouth? Someof us really are trying to have our beauty sleep, as you put it.” Kole grumbled.
Iver chuckled. “Alright, beautiful.”
Silence fell over the group once again, though the heaviness that had been with us this entire trip seemed somehow less. And for the first time in days, with Ariana in my arms, I briefly drifted off to sleep.
38
ARIANA
“We need to tighten things up around here,” Iver stated. We were all clean and rested compared to the last few days of travel, sitting in the Bavadrin council room which was becoming more familiar than I liked.
“Are you either the King or the Leader Superior? Because I don’t think you can make such commands,” Kiora offered him a tight-lipped smile. It had been more of a suggestion than a command, but Kiora didn’t hear it that way.
I looked across the table, meeting the sapphire eyes that always seemed to watch me. Erik’s lip lifted just a touch. If allowing them to volley back and forth with their words allowed me to stare into those eyes longer, then so be it. I had missed him. The presence of him. The sight of him. The way he made me feel safe and seen and whole.
“Just a suggestion, little Sparrow.” Iver smiled, his attention easily resting on her.
“Stop calling melittle.” Hereyes narrowed.
He raised a brow. “You have seen yourself? Stood next to a Lysian? Yeah?”
“Must you enjoy aggravating those around you?” Eislyn commented with a resigned sigh and a knowing stare.
Iver turned to her. “Awwh. Miss my attention on you and Kole?”
“Feel free to keep the Sparrow,” Kole muttered, leaning back in his chair, and folding his thick arms over his chest.
“I belong to no one,” Kiora snapped at him.
“Do you wish to change that?” Iver’s smile grew in invitation.
Willis sighed but said nothing, as if waiting for me to put an end to this.
Kiora bristled. “I am going to cut out that tongue.”
“Oh, but I am certain it would be so much more enjoyable for you if you let me keep it,littleSparrow.” His gray eyes sparkled.
“Before this conversation went off course, what did you mean by ‘tightening things up’?” Erik focused on his brother, finally bringing the crossfire to an end.
Iver ended Kiora’s torment by returning to the point of this gathering, figuring out how to strengthen our homes and forces, before ultimately figuring out how to dethrone the Sidhe King. “I mean our exiled cousin in the mountains, Hedrek. He is a problem, one that we cannot continue to entertain.” He did not mention the other thing we still needed to figure out. Mal. The assassin recovering from her wounds in my dungeon.
“If we told him of what we know, is there a chance they might stand with us?” I asked, looking at Erik for his thoughts.
“I would need to let him and his followers off of thatmountain.” It was not a flat no, nor was it a yes, nor really an answer at all.
“We won’t know unless we try, and he is a strong conjurer. It would be useful to have more of those to stand with us, just in case.” I offered.
Erik tapped his thumb rhythmically against the armrest of his chair as he contemplated.
“Can these Lysians be trusted?” Willis leaned his forearms on the table.
Kole snorted. “No way.”
Erik’s thumb stilled. “You all need to understand that my hands are stained with the blood of Hedrek’s direct family and followers, a lot of it.” The heavy stare of a King settled on me, and I was well aware of it. I had seen him single-handedly eliminate a handful of those Lysians. A chill ran through me, not out of fear, but awe of the lethal power of him. “Perhaps we could come to terms for a time being, but as soon as the Sidhe King is handled, I doubt we would live amicably.”
“What are the choices, then? Just kill them all?” Kiora’s brows were drawn, not liking the idea. “Can we at least try to talk to them before deciding? Test the waters.”
