Ash pushed himself to his elbows, and then he stood, dusting the dirt off himself.
A quiet smirk rose on Draven’s lips, and he gave Ash a once over. “You can stay in the building with Nadir’s men,” Draven told him.
The crooked smile that placed itself on Nadir’s face made a chill run down Aydra’s spine. “Now that’s an idea.” He stepped forward and held out a hand to Ash, pulling him up from the ground. “Come on, savior. Meet the other bastards you’ll be rooming with this night.”
“What’s wrong, Sun Queen?” asked Nadir as he joined Aydra on Draven’s balcony soon after their encounter with Ash. “Not used to your brother—”
“Who does he think he is?” she heard herself spit out. “Ordering them to follow me, obey his orders instead of mine… I am their queen. I am their security commander.” A wild terror ran through her. “I have just as much right to command them as he does. I am queen—”
“Yes, we’ve established that,” Nadir mumbled lazily.
“I am—”
“She can be quite adorable when she gets like this,” Lex mused with a delighted smile, leaning beside Nadir on the deck.
“—as much in charge as he. It is my birthright—”
Nadir snorted.
Aydra’s feet stopped moving and she stared at him. “Something you’d like to add, commander?”
Nadir paused a moment to consider her. “You’ve been handed everything your entire life. You’ve known no more terror or fight than the Infi who infiltrated your towns only a few months back.—”
“I wouldn’t—” interjected Lex.
“What makes you think you’ll stand any chance with us against these strangers coming on our shore?” Nadir finished.
Aydra’s arms crossed over her chest. “I—”
“Because if she dies, then we’ll have done her brother a great deal of services she dare not gift him herself,” came Draven’s voice as he joined them. “A reason to go to war with us. Ridding him of the pest that annoys him on a daily basis. Shall I keep going?”
Aydra’s nostrils flared. “What did you do with the captain?”
“Killed him,” Draven replied nonchalantly. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“Where have you been my entire life?” Lex said dreamily.
Aydra ignored her and glared at Draven. “Be serious, Draven. What did you do with him?”
“He’s fine. Balandria will take care of him,” he said with a wink towards Nadir.
Aydra sighed heavily and stepped onto the balcony once more. Her eyes darted around the camp, watching as the Hunters’ all gathered and sharpened their weapons.
“What is the plan?” she asked after a few minutes.
“Someone is anxious to die,” Nadir muttered.
“You sent word about a ship. I assumed it was nearly here,” she said.
“They are,” Nadir said.
She stared at him. “They… are?”
“Set up camp a week ago. Three more ships have arrived since.”
“So why are we sitting here?” she asked.
Nadir’s eyes flickered towards Draven. “Because someone wanted to wait for the backup we weren’t sure was even coming.”
