“Well, I don’t know! A soldier! He has a message for you.”
The three pesky Fates did not want to give my mate and me more than a moment of peace. I rose reluctantly, as did Vale.
He reached for his pants, giving me another delicious view of his malehood before his trousers covered him up.
“You spoke to no one but the guards who brought you here?”
“No one,” I replied. “Odd that a message would come just for me.”
“Not if they want to speak with the Falk heir. Remember who these people fight for, Neve.”
I pulled my shirt over my head. In no way had I forgotten that white hawk symbol painted in a bold red across the curtain in the Royal Theater. Nor the fight.
Who did they follow? Likely a bastard, for before Harald Falk married my mother, he’d sired several children. As had other members of House Falk over the turns. Hawk Seeds, they called them.
Dressed, we left our room, and when we reached the common space, half of our friends stared. The others must be in their rooms. Resting, I hoped.
Anna watched me carefully, Clemencia, Luccan, and Arie with her. I turned to the annex door to find a faerie with only one arm waiting for me.
“Hello? What is it?”
The soldier stared at me, and in his gaze, I couldn’t decide if he viewed me as an enemy, a friend, or someone he had not yet decided on.
“Our leader wishes to break bread with you. The others will eat elsewhere.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.” I took Vale’s hand. “Show us the way.”
“Not him. Only you.”
A low growl left Vale’s throat, and the soldier curled in slightly, regretting his words. He found his courage, however, and straightened once more.
“She wishes only to dine with Princess Neve,” the soldier said. “No harm will come to her.”
“She?” I asked.
“Yes, as I said, you will dine with our leader. Her two closest advisors as well.”
Could their leader be the same whisperer who had spoken to Vale? Or someone I had not met?
I should have been more cautious. With a ribbon of ice spider silk wound around my middle and stuck to my body with a magical adhesive, I couldn’t access my magic, and I had no weapon. Then again, I was only a touch safer being here, with my friends and mate.
Truth be told, though, a dinner with the rebels did not faze me. That they had not already harmed us spoke volumes. And while they might take precautions around us, I had to see our release from cages as a giant step forward. It was time to take another and gain the trust of their leader.
“Vale, I’ll be fine.” I kissed him on the cheek. “As you were.”
He locked eyes with me, a clear and heated recourse brewing inside him.
“If they wanted to hurt me, they would have already done so. We’re outnumbered, and with the silks againstour skin, overpowered too. Yet we haven’t been harmed. Given those facts, we can assume this meal is just that. A meal. An opportunity?”
Not without noticeable effort, Vale inclined his head. “I’ll be waiting for you to return.”
We kissed, and I spun to face the soldier. “Show me to your leaders.”
The soldier led me down the hall and until we turned the corner, I sensed eyes on my back. Vale’s certainly. Probably the others too. My heart swelled with the knowledge that they cared so deeply for me.
