He met her gaze once more, and the look in his eyes made her stomach knot.
“Aydra.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
AYDRA AND LEX were welcomed back to Magnice with a doting party that Aydra had not expected. Her ankles were not fully healed, and so she allowed Lex to help her through the halls to her room.
She was interrupted through most of the day with people going in and out, bringing her gifts, wishing her well. Nyssa stayed at her side most of the day. Dorian brought the pair food twice. She was happy to see their faces and hear their voices, but she missed the independence of being in the forest.
At least there, no one treated her as though she were broken.
The one person who didn’t come to see her was Rhaif.
After Nyssa and Dorian left her side, Aydra made herself get out of bed, using the crutch she’d been made to make her way through the halls and up to her brother’s study. She didn’t know if he was in there, but she knew she needed to find out what had happened with the boats. Not only had the thoughts of Draven’s lips kept her awake in the days they’d traveled, but the letter her brother had written the Venari refusing to help them dug a hole in her core. She felt betrayed, as though Rhaif did not trust her, which she reminded herself he didn’t, but… Enemy or not, the Venari and Honest were Haerland’s people. And Haerland was their home.
They should have sent aid.
She made a promise to herself upon reaching his door that if he came at her with fire, she would be ready.
The fireplace was blazing upon her entering, but Rhaif was not there. Her raven squawked in through the open window and landed on the edge of his desk. Aydra hobbled to his new leather chair and sank herself inside it, propping her feet up onto the desk.
It was an hour before the door opened. Aydra placed the papers she’d been reading back onto the desk and waited for him to see her sitting in his chair.
He jumped backwards upon seeing her.
“Curses of our mother, Aydra—” his hand clutched to his chest, and he gathered his balance. “What are you—”
“We have to talk,” Aydra interjected.
He did a double-take at her sitting in his chair, and he straightened his shirt. “What about?”
“When were you going to tell me about the ship?”
Rhaif’s eyes narrowed. “What ship?”
A brow raised on her face. “What….What ship?“ She repeated incredulously. “Do you think me stupid? That I wouldn’t find out about it? I am in charge of the safety of this kingdom. I should have been told first about them.”
He shook his head and started towards her calmly. “Sister, you don’t understand—”
“What don’t I understand?” she balked, rising from the chair and balancing herself against it. “The fact that you allowed two Haerlandian races to go into battle alone when they so very clearly asked for our aid? The fact that you basically spat in their faces when they even offered for you lead the charge, even take one of the strangers back to get information from where they hailed? Tell me, brother. What do Inotunderstand?”
“That Hunter is a liar,” Rhaif spat. “He has filled your head with lies this last fortnight. You know you cannot trust him or any of his kind.”
“I saw your letter.”
He looked as though he would laugh. “What letter?”
“The letter you wrote back to Draven—”
“Oh, so he is Draven now? Not Venari scum—”
“What I call him makes no difference,” Aydra nearly screeched. “How dare you not tell me about it. How dare you deprive me of my own duties—”
Rhaif gave her a deliberate once over then, and his nostrils flared. “Have you gone soft on me, sister? What other lies did he tell you?”
Aydra was so frustrated, she felt herself on the verge of tears. “He told me no lies,” she said through clenched teeth.
Rhaif huffed impatiently. “Look at you,” he snarled. “Weeping over the fate of a few deceased men not of your own kingdom.” He paused crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you see this said boat?”
