He smiled the entire time he watched her, sending little twists of his verbal knife. She stabbed back with words just as sharp, each time.
His blood heated.
His heart thumped and his very soul roared in victory.
It was an effort not to laugh as Six herself threw a few punches. It was mostly in the form of shifting weight, or wings in Ezer’s face or, most disrespectfully, a pile of fresh waste upon Ezer’s boots.
The raphon was just as bold as Ezer, and Kinlear burst into laughter.
“Stop laughing,” Ezer growled at him. “Neither she nor I were prepared for this today.”
He crossed his arms and peered at her through the bars. “It’s clear you’ve never saddled a beast before. You don’t prepare a war mount. You simplydo.You haven’t even tied her down.”
Ezer gasped.
Oops.
“I will do no such thing.”
And then...to his surprise, she turned and demanded that he give her one of his rings.
He was about to object, when he noticed, suddenly...thatallthe gifts he’d sent to her, while he was healing?
They were piled in the corner of the raphon’s cell. Beautiful, precious heirlooms from Lordach’s past, all covered in dusty shavings. Treasures he’d wrapped with a silken black bow, his hands trembling, his hope coiled in his heart as he’d passed them off to Izill to deliver.
She’d given them all, every single gift...toSix.
Well.
That one hurt a bit.
Kinlear blinkedat her. “What in the Ehver happened while I was gone?”
“A mutual understanding,” Ezer said through the bars. “Ring, please.”
It ached him, cut him to the core, as he placed a fat emerald ring into her palm. She gave it to the raphon like an offering, and picked up the saddle once more.
He tried to guide her again with his words. He only wanted to help, but each time he spoke, or uttered, “Wrong,” she stiffened and released a frustrated sigh. The raphon hated the saddle. She refused to cooperate, no matter what Ezer tried...
“Wrong again,” Kinlear sighed.
“Out!” Ezer yelped.
She spun towards him as Six skittered away, saddle flying from her back. It slammed against the bars with a loudclang.
And things only got worse when Six justquit.The raphon, fierce as she was, scurried to the corner of the cell andhidbehind her wings.
Kinlear didn’t even know raphons could do such a thing.
“Out,please,”Ezer said, breathing deeply. “And don’t come back until you’re called.”
He felt like he’d been slapped. A little dark shadow rose within him. “It’s unwise to speak to a prince as if he is a dog,” he said, through gritted teeth.
“I don’t particularly care what iswise,” Ezer said, and this time, when she looked at him? He could see true fury on her face. He could see a deep and seething rage that twisted her scars and turned her beauty into brutality. “Youplaced me in here,youput me in charge. When we work, we are silent. And that, Your Highness, is something you cannot seem to be.”
He stared at her, open-mouthed.
By the gods. His feelings...
