It is one of the few plants that are poisonous to fae, even in small amounts. Its nectar looks innocuous enough, a honey-colored liquid that isn’t quite as thick. But a teaspoon of it will lead to full-body paralysis for days. More than that? Immediate death. Dragons are bigger, their bodies tougher than our own, but I imagine that in a high enough dose, the effects would be the same. Which begs the question, was my father trying to paralyze Bali or kill her?And why?
It’s something I ponder as I make quick work of setting the tainted meat on fire to ensure neither dragon consumes it before finally leaving the fields.
When I finally emerge from the dark tunnels near the palace, I pocket the small flame gem I use for light and climb from the dragon’s landing platform onto Navin’s balcony. The moon is lower in the sky, the sun close to peaking above the mountaintops. In my exhaustion, I don’t realize that there is someone standing on the balcony already, not until Navin steps forward, his finger pressed against his lips.
“What—”
“Do you not see the universal sign forbe quietthat I’m giving you?”
Navin rolls his eyes as mine narrow, and he leads me to the corner of the balcony. He’s still dressed in his flight leathers, twin swords strapped down his back and his hair thrown into a messy ponytail. He looks over his shoulder as he whispers, “Leesi came looking for you earlier.”
I match his low tone. “Why?”
“I don’t know, something about—” Navin halts when he turns back around, sniffing the air twice before his face twists into a grimace. “Why do you smell so bad?”
I look down at myself. “It’s dragon blood.” Sir Dae might be splashed on me too.
“It’s dragon…Whyare you covered in dragon blood?”
“Navin, we don’t have time for this. What did you tell Leesi?”
He wipes the hand that was holding on to my arm on his thigh, making no attempt to hide his disgust. “First, I told her you were visiting Mother.”Fuck.That might have been a mistake. “Then, when she returned an hour later, I told her you were already in bed asleep. She said something about Father Yamin and began pounding on your door, eventually fishing out a key.” His hands brace his hips as he shakes his head. “I tried tostop her, but she knows you weren’t in your room, Myla, and I don’t doubt that she’s already informed both Father Yamin and the king.”
My frustration battles for dominance against my exhaustion as I growl and tip my head back, staring up at the predawn sky. “Has she returned from telling them?”
“Not yet—”
“Let’s get back inside before she does.” Brushing past Navin, I open the slider and slip inside.
“Wait! What are you going to tell her when she comes back?”
I shrug, heading to Navin’s bathroom so I can change. “I don’t know. Maybe that I was in the library. That’s far more believable than saying I was speaking to Mother.” I squat to untie my boots before kicking them off.
“I had to think of something quick,” he retorts as a drawer opens and closes in his bedroom followed by footsteps. Taking off my cloak, I tug on the laces of my vest, loosening them enough to pull it off entirely before letting it fall to the floor. My trousers join it. Grabbing a black cotton towel from where it’s hooked on the stone wall, I wrap it tightly around myself, grabbing a second one to lay my weapons on.
“If that is you thinking quickly on your feet, I’d hate to see you in battle.”
“That’s rude. I’m great in battle.”
I layer dagger after dagger onto the towel from my vest, moving to the sheath on my thigh and sliding the curved blade there free. “You’ve never been in battle.”
“What happened to your ribs?” His voice takes on a solemn tone, one that relays his concern for me and makes tension build between my shoulder blades. I drop my gaze to where his meets my skin, a large and ugly welt peeking out from where the towel gapes at my side.
“Likely a wound from Sir Dae.”
Navin makes a choking noise, stepping farther into the bathroom. “I’m sorry, did you just say Sir Dae. As in,Sir Dae? The fucking owner of the biggest collection of businesses in the entire kingdom?” His incredulousness makes my annoyance flare. Well, that and the fact that I am injured, covered in foul-smelling blood, exhausted, and have missed out on an opportunity to bond with Sunis.
At least I got fucked tonight. Though even my time with Karina feels like a godsdamn week ago. “I did.”
“Fuck.Fuck, Myla. This is a big deal. You can’t just—”
“Ican,” I snap, abandoning my daggers in the towel as I stand and take a step towards my brother. “And I alreadydid. So you can save whatever self-serving, idiotic nonsense you were about to spew at me because it won’t change anything. Sir Dae was a conniving asshole who brutally raped and tortured females for fun.To release stress,he said. The kingdom is better off without him.”
Navin blinks once, then twice, his stunned silence piercing my already pockmarked heart. I look away and bend down to secure my weapons in the towel before standing again, ignoring the chemise he holds out for me.
“I’m too filthy to wear that.” Confirming that the space connecting our bedrooms is still empty of a meddling maid, I pad across the carpet, a hot shower and my bed sounding more and more like a cure to this fucking nightmare of a night the closer I get to my door.
“I can’t just turn off caring about you,” Navin says at my back, halting my steps as I reach my hand out to the door handle. “After everything you’ve been through”—I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing he would stop and not say anything else—“I can’t just turn it off like you can.” Too many words pile up on my tongue but none that I am willing to let out. When the silence lingers, Navin sighs from across the sitting room. “Good night, Myla.”
