“Do you truly want to know?” Aidon asks, leaning towards me, his mouth almost touching the exposed, sensitive skin under my ear. My hair is braided to the right side, giving him perfect access.
I shrug off the sensation, tugging the glove that hides the brand higher, refusing to let it sink in, still too outraged by his earlier behaviour.
The jerk threatened to expose our blood bond, more specifically, me being his vessel, and embarrass me in front of the entire court if I didn’t provide an invite for the meeting. The only reason he can attend. I didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to protect my reputation. What’s left of it, anyway. Blood bond with a Simon? I disgraced the whole family line, and I am most certain they are fuming in the Eternal Gardens of Gorok.
At least they would be fuming if they weren’t doing that already, for a different reason. Uhhh, Grandma would send me to the mountains to the training camp as a punishment for getting in a situation like that. It would be a much better reason than the one I’ve got.
“Dirty little secret?” Aidon chips in, with so much disdain in his voice, I decide to ignore it altogether, and instead, answer his previous question.
Yes, do you know something? Can you read his thoughts?I ask in my head to prevent the deity from hearing it.
Of course I can.He smirks, and I roll my eyes.
I’ll let you take my moon blood without a fight,I suggest as a way of a bargain.
As if I want you to give it to me without a fight. What kind of Fae do you think
I am?He smiles with condescension.I want my female feral.
Right.
But…He pauses mid-sentence, surely for attention, before he continues, his striking scarlet depths finally getting a little of their usual spark. …for such a sweet willingness to open your thighs for me, I will take away your misery.
My cheeks flush, making it painfully obvious how his comment affected me. I feel completely off balance in our connection, no clever comeback forming in my mind.
She’s nothing like I imagined. A fucking vision.The deity’s words echo in my mind and I feel it; my toes curl, my chest tightens. My cheeks burn when I realise exactly what I’m hearing.
The deity likes me. I can’t help the small cheer that escapes before I force my composure back into place.
Self-conscious, I straighten in my chair, acutely aware of the eyes that flit towards me, quickly darting away. The room feels hotter, smaller, as if everyone is holding their breath around me.
Ignoring them, I eye the Simon with new-found appreciation.Can you project others’ thoughts? Impressive.
He leans back in his chair, arms crossed, an eyebrow raised.
“Mystic Forest sent an orb. We won’t be waiting any longer. Let’s begin without further delay.” Jestin instantly draws theroom’s attention. Another side of him appears—the Lord’s face. He commands the space effortlessly, each movement carrying authority. I wonder why he doesn’t count Aidon as a forest representative; shapeshifters usually speak for the forest’s mongrels. “General Riven, please share what you know.”
The deity raises, and I finally notice his leather armour, carefully tailored to accommodate his folded wings, bears a general’s emblem.
I can’t help but respect the weight of his status. He’s more than an ordinary warrior. The rank of a General is a particularly hard position to maintain, given that they fight for leadership in a real ring. Grandpa made me sit through a few fights. It wasn’t pretty. I didn’t want to look, but
Trisha was smitten.
He must be very skilled with his weapon.
“He’s one of the best,” Aidon leans towards me, pretending to whisper. Jestin and the bearded Fae beside him shoot him an accusing eyebrow.
“Chief is readying Rhodria’s army for departure. He predicts it ought to be assembled by the end of winter.”
“It is outrageous!” A female Fae with short black hair cries out. She must be an ambassador from Tricity.
Don’t you know who she is?asks Aidon in my mind.
No, who?
Really?
Tell me,I demand.
