“For a price and a case of sun wine, their hold is ours,” I confirmed.
Nyx pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t remind me about the wine.”
“Oh?” I rose my brows at Kol, both of us really enjoying being on the outside of the drama Nyx was living through.
Nyx dropped his arm and shook his head. “I genuinely think the duke is more pissed off about how much wine he’s losing from his cellars than the fact it’s to disguise his daughters being shipped out of the kingdom in boxes.”
“Maybe he should have thought about that before he threw a damn ball for our arrival and kept things quieter,” I muttered, knowing we all felt the same about the attack.
“No kidding,” Nyx replied.
“How do the princesses feel about it?” Kol asked.
“I’m not sure the duke would even consult them. I doubt their opinion matters to him, so why bother?” Nyx said coldly, and I couldn’t tell if his mood was directed at the duke or his brother.
“Lovely,” Kol said flatly.
I sat up straighter. “Don’t you think they should have a say?” I could have kicked myself for voicing it when the brothers exchanged a look and then both looked at me with knowingsmirks. “Oh, piss off both of you, I just mean they should know what they are in for. It doesn’t matter to me either way.”
“Uh-huh,” Kol laughed.
I held up my middle finger and then noticed Nyx watching Kol with a faint smile. He was seeing it, too. Hopefully, he’d taken my advice to heart, and in return for not coddling him, Kol wasn’t icing him out for a change. It was good to see.
Nyx turned his attention to me and was a little more serious. “Zaria is with them as we speak. She sought them out while I had the duke occupied to make sure they know and consent to the plan. I may not wish to die at the hands of Arkyn or the King for returning empty-handed, but I will not transport the betrothed to the crown against their will.”
I swallowed my sigh of relief on that front, but my other concern spilled out. “And if they say no?”
“Pft! My brother’s mate can be very persuasive, so don’t worry,” Kol said, like there was some private joke there I wasn’t privy to.
“She understands being forced into a life one didn’t choose. She’s done it with a lot of grace,” Nyx added.
“I’m not worried,” I blurted without thinking.
Fuck, was I protesting too much?
Kol and Nyx exchanged looks again, and I wanted to run from the room, but I would not give them the satisfaction. I hated all of this, but maybe they were used to it as they both had ryders.
“So when do we leave?” Nyx asked, artfully ignoring my outburst.
“Dawn tomorrow,” I informed him.
“Thank the Goddess, I could not spend another day getting my ear chewed off by that insufferable windbag,” Nyx said, sitting up fully.
“Zaria will have your hide if she hears you saying such things about her!” Kol said wide-eyed, but with mischief in his gaze.
Nyx’s head turned slowly towards his twin, and he stared for a long moment before shaking his head. “Are you drunk?” he asked sincerely.
Kol frowned. “I don’t think so, I didn’t even finish a glass before the banquet went to shit.” He looked sincerely bemused by the question.
I smiled. Nyx was toying with him, but he had such a good deadpan face, and Kol was clearly so rusty when it came to recognizing his brother’s playfulness, I felt like he needed a hint. “I think he’s joking with you,” I stage whispered to Kol. “It’s pretty hard to tell the difference between his ‘I’m deadly serious and I may crush you’ expression, and his ‘I’m only kidding and I may crush you’ expression, but I think it’s the second one.”
Kol’s lost expression broke, and a faint smile danced on his lips. “I thought he’d forgotten the second one altogether,” he stage whispered back. He squinted at his brother, tilting his head. “But I think you might be right.”
It warmed my usually stony heart to see this ray of hope between them. I could sense Kol’s relief at being treated normally for the first time since waking up from his ordeal.
“You can both fuck all the way off,” Nyx shot, but there was a definite smile behind that ‘I may crush you’ facade. “It’s almost sun-up, and if we’re leaving at dawn tomorrow, we have a day to prepare. We all need some sleep, then Kol, the duke is having his best carpenters construct two crates immediately. Can you check on them and let them know our departure time so they won’t delay us?” He was back to all business, which was fine with me. The sooner we got out of here, the sooner I could get them to the First Kingdom.
“Sure, I can do that.”
