“Yes,” the Master Informer replies quietly.
I stumble on a step as my eyes go wide in realization…
Keane doesn’t have any weapons on him because the whole damn earth is his weapon.
My legs give way at the thought. I start to tumble again but a new pair of hands, strong hands,hishands, catch me in my fall. Keane lifts me up from behind and twists me in his arms, his steady hands guiding my legs around his hips as I bury myself deep into his neck.
“Have the men escort Tadeo to the gate with his belongings,” Keane says to Desmond as he walks us up the stairs, “and send Golem up. Nothing changes, brother. We leave tomorrow morning.”
The Prince grips me tight and moves us into a dimly lit hall. I feel his hand flick to something behind my back and a moment later we’re entering a cool room, Stormfall quickly pushing off my shoulder to fly away.
“I’ll alert the Knowledge crew.”
“Thank you.”
I hear the soft closing of a door behind us and grip his tunic tighter, fighting back the exhaustion of the night that is coming to claim my emotions.
“You,” I rasp against his chest.
It all makes sense now... the look of awe on Clair’s face before we left Red Falls, Alanna’s mention ofthe boysthe first night in the Bulwark Plains… the damn Ancients woman in Marybeth’s tavern who laughed at me as she sat on Keane’s lap. He’s been using his summoning this whole time.
“Can you stand?”
“You,” I ball my fists and pound them into his chest.
Why hasn’t he said anything? Why has he kept it hidden? He’s always diverted whenever I asked about his summoning!
But the Shadow Oak ishis.
The boulders from the Plains werehisjust as much as they were Daniel’s.
And by the look on Clair’s face before we left, I know without a doubt that he created something in that library to help bring me down the mountain.
Keane’s grip around my waist tightens again, his hands pressing against my lower back and flushing my chest into his. He walks us to somewhere in the room and flicks a hand again, the feel of strong flames suddenly licking across the backs of my legs as the musky scent of burning wood fills my heavy lungs. He holds me there, in front of a fire, and lets the flames warm my cold skin until my breathing calms with every inhale I take on his shoulder. I breath him in, reveling in the smell of fire and pine and something else, something spicy, the mixture a perfect combination of campfire and cool, green woods.
“Can you stand?” he asks again, softer this time.
I lift my head slightly from his shoulder and look around for the first time. We’re in a dark room of black and green, the granite walls sparkling around us from the firelight at my back. The walls jut sharply for the sky above just as they do in the room used for court, the black masses opening up to the clear night sky with the moons shining brightly above. A single massive pine stands proudly in each corner of the room, their limbs climbing up the walls as their heights disappear into the open darkness above. A rich mahogany table sits in one corner directly to my left, the chairs surrounding it enough to seat our full traveling crew and then some. A map of the Kingdom of Disce and its lands are etched into the full top of that table, every outline of a city complete with mahogany forests and rivers that run through all three Courts. I can see the Greenstone Mountain of Bardot in one of the corners of that table, the wood hosting intricate carvings on top that perfectly resemble the Palisades above it.
Behind the table and carved into the black granite walls are shelves upon shelves hosting books that all have their spines broken and look well-read. The bottom branches of one of the pines in that corner cuts across those shelves and weaves between the texts, adding a beautiful deep brown against the formidable black rock. My eyes travel to the right, to a large four-poster bed made of more deep mahogany that sits under the clearing of the sky above us. The bed is luxurious, fit for a King, and has black satin sheets and pillows mixed with a large emerald green blanket that’s thrown across the end of it. It’s an intimidatingly beautiful bed, but it almost looks desolate and unused, just resting there in its loneliness.
To the right of the bed and following along the wall is a large opening in the room in which the black granite cuts out and forms a massive balcony. The city below looks breathtaking from this view, the shimmering lights from all the fires in the roads sparking against my heart.
Next to the balcony and moving slightly away from the room is what I can only guess is the bathing area. That portion is sectioned off by an arch that is cut into the stone and leads to another hidden section of the room. Next to that arch is a large armoire and dresser, also made of mahogany, both pieces complimented by a towering mirror that rests on top and reflects the dark bed directly across from it. Following along the wall is where we stand now, the large roaring fire behind me embedded into the black granite. The smoke rises through the stone and fans out into the open sky above, the cozy area complete with a settee and chair around it with multiple green and black blankets strewn across.
This is a man’s room.
A Warrior’s room.
Keane’sroom.
I bite my lip and slowly pull back in his arms, catching his gaze on mine.
Keane watches me with an intense stare, noting my small reactions as I finally stop taking in his room. His arms shift under my thighs justslightly, his grip still holding on tight as I wrap my legs more firmly around his waist.
Ancients, he belongs here.
He belongseverywherein Warrior.
