I was dying to lie down and rest. To allow my brain to not think of what had happened over the last two days.
His hand slipped into mine, and I leaned closer to my mate. He smelled of gryphon and sweat, but beneath the scents of travel were notes of sandalwood and freshly fallen snow. Of Vale. Of home.
We hadn’t gone more than ten steps when the double doors to the hall slammed open. My heart jumped, only to squeeze in recognition at the sight of the new arrivals.
Chapter 2
NEVE
Atravel-worn, yet somehow still regal, Princess Saga stood between Lord Riis and Arie. The rebels who had traveled with Arie to retrieve his father congregated around them, plus ten others. Presumably the additional fae had been on guard around the town while the rest received a debriefing.
“What’s Saga doing here?” Luccan whispered.
“Lord Leyv Riis and Princess Saga Aaberg,” announced Bac, one of Thyra’s most trusted advisors.
For the second time in ten minutes, the room erupted. Fae rushed the doors, and my heart rate spiked.
“Stop!” I grabbed onto someone’s wrist as they joined the tide. They didn’t spare me a glance before yanking free.
“Princess Neve?” Astril, the eldest of the pale, raven-haired vampire sisters and part of my Valkyrja, came to stand next to me while her sisters hovered behind.
“Shall we protect them?” Astril arched an eyebrow, the suggestion clear.
“Oh!” It hadn’t occurred to me to do anything but interject. “Yes! They’re friends. Don’t let them come to harm.”
The vampires surged forward, and thanks to the great speed of their magical order, they reached the spymaster of Winter’s Realm and the princess before anyone else. They drew their swords, pointed the deadly metal at the rebels.
“The spymaster and princess are guests of Princess Neve,” Astril stated. “An attack on them is as good as an attack on the Falk royal line.”
Sure, I’d go with that.
“That’s theking’sspymaster!” Someone yelled, unrestrained fury in their voice. “He needs to be locked up!”
“We need to question them both!” Another voice added.
I cut a glance at Bac, a bastard son of Lord Balik’s deceased brother. He looked so much like the rest of the Balik family, brown of skin, gold of eye and wing, with lustrous, golden-brown hair. He’d gone with Arie to assess the Lord of Tongues, and Lord Riis was here, so I assumed Bac hadn’t found him to be untrustworthy. Why wasn’t he speaking up?
Vale shoved through the crowd, pulling me along with him. It was good that the rebels had met unarmed, else we’d be in a larger predicament. As it was, the hardest part of closing the distance between us and the doors was getting people to move.
The pink-haired, petite princess smiled at me when I stopped before her. “We didn’t mean to garner so much attention.”
“Oh, please,” I laughed dryly. “That’s kind of your style.”
“Enough with the joking.” Thyra surged around me and Vale. “We had Arie go to collect the spymaster, but I still want Lord Riis questioned.”
“Thyra!”
“Heisthe king’s Lord of Tongues, Neve,” my sister retorted, her tone flat and tired and hard. “Raised to a lordship by Magnus and therefore indebted, even if he does have a relationship to some fae that we trust, that is suspect.”
Lord Riis was father to Thantrel, my sister’s own mate, Luccan, and Arie. And though only a few fae and one half-dragon knew it, Lord Riis was also Vale’s father.
“Why is the princess here, Bac?” Thyra’s narrowed gaze took in my friend.
“You can ask me.” Saga’s hand landed on her slight hip. “I’m standing right in front of you.”
Thyra snorted. “As if I could miss that hair.”
“Would you like my colorist’s name?” Saga asked, unbothered.
