"Are you sure about that?" he asked, head tilting. "Because from what I was told, she has been imprisoned at Man's camp for some time now."
"She's at the Umber. That I can promise you."
"Then why—“
"I don't know where you're getting your information, but when I tell you she is back safe at the Umber, I mean I was there when she escaped Man's camp," she affirmed in a low voice. "I was there to help pull her from the void her new form nearly pulled her into. I was there, and I helped walk her ass back to Nadir's home, where Lovi has been keeping an eye on her since. And as for why I have been lying to you, it is because I did not want to cause a terror through you like the one you're displaying now. She's alive, and she's okay. She handled it. You should give your sister some credit." Bala paused to stretch her neck. "Any other questions?"
Dorian's nostrils flared, but he didn't speak.
Bala gave him another once over. "Leave your things. We can talk upstairs."
Dorian once more eyed the strange men around them as she turned on her heel. Something stirred inside him as they looked back at him.
"Who are the new people in your kingdom?" he asked.
Bala paused, considering him before answering. "A few from the abandoned faction decided to come back."
Yellow eyes flickered from one, and Dorian stilled.
"You have a problem, my King," he said, staring at it.
"More than your being a complete and utter twat today?" she snapped offhandedly.
He met her irritated eyes. "You've been infiltrated."
His fist curled in on itself. A tremble vibrated through his bones as his form rose on the surface, and with it, he watched that same tremble move through the Infis.
Bala shifted as she watched the display, and then Dorian turned in a slow circle. He cracked his neck and tightened every muscle in that right arm. The black ooze drew from his palm as his nails dug into the healing skin.
The Infis shuddered.
And theybowed.
Almost as though they were unable to stop themselves. As though something had forced them down and taken away their free will.
Heads and backs bending low, Dorian realized just how many Infi there were.
A quarter of the men standing were bent.
"Something you'd like to tell me?" Bala asked as her gaze darted over the people.
"Yeah," Dorian said, looking around. "You have a lot of Infi in your home disguised as Venari."
Bala turned to him, arms crossed over her chest. "Tell me why they are bowing to you."
Dorian looked over the crowd again, and then he declared in a low rattle, "Because they'remine."
Thunder rumbled the darkening sky. Wind whipped the trees, leaves flying and branches cracking. The claim, as low as it was, seemed to pulse through the forest. A stillness settled his insides, invincible power dripping at his fingertips that he hadn't anticipated.
The Infi dropped to their knees.
Dorian didn't blink away from Bala, but he felt the Infis' surrender. Felt as they succumbed to the weight of the deal and bind. It swelled within him a moment as they held, and he closed his eyes to breathe it in, his body shuddering.
Eyes flashing back, he opened them, and he pushed out a long breath, an audible restriction in the back of his throat. "Get up," he finally demanded over the air. He glanced around again, seeing the yellow eyes go in and out of the forms some of them were trying to hide. "In your true forms. No more hiding. You are what you are. Prove your worth by helping out this kingdom if you want to stay in it and not be imprisoned to the Bryn like the rest of them."
Infis stood, and forms shifted. Bones cracked. Bodies morphing.
"What the fuck happened up there?" Bala asked him.
