“The Thalir control it?”
“Yes. It was a human port city once, centuries ago. Built on trade between the realms. Then the Thalir decided it belonged to them. They flooded the streets and dragged the ruins to the bottom of the sea.”
“That’s horrible.”
“They needed a foothold between the northern andsouthern territories. The humans who survived were given a choice—serve the depths or drown.”
“And now they host summits.” I shook my head. “Nothing says ‘let’s make peace’ quite like meeting in a mass grave.”
He grunted.
His hand shifted on my waist like he was adjusting his grip. Then his fingers flexed and he pulled back, leaving only the minimum contact necessary to keep me from falling.
It felt like a rejection. He’d been so cold all day. Was he pulling back because he didn’t trust me? My stomach knotted with another unpleasant twist.
“How many rulers will there be?”
“Skaldir, of course. Vaeris.” His body tensed.
I’d see him again after he’d let me die, and I’d be sitting beside Kairos. Touching him. Pretending to be his. Would Vaeris care? Did I want him to? I didn’t know anymore.
“The ruling house of Lunir will attend,” Kairos continued, “and the Skyborn as well.”
“So that makes four?”
“Five, including the Thalir.”
Every shift of the horse rocked me against him. An awkward silence stretched, filled only by the mairen’s rhythmic movement.
“Measures are in place to prevent violence at the summit,” he said in a low voice. “There’s a rune that prohibits anyone from attacking another, and they’re linked across the rooms. I’ll offer blood at the threshold, and the moment we step through, the binding takes hold.”
A rune that forced peace. Gods, I wanted to see it. My fingers itched with the need to study that kind of runework.
“Don’t get complacent,” he warned. “Some of us havebeen feuding since before humans crawled out of caves. Betrayals, broken bargains, slights…none of it is forgotten.”
“I’m about to walk into a palace of rulers who want to kill each other?”
“The others want peace.” His mouth curved darkly. “I’m the violent bastard who spent a century with a blade in my hand instead of sitting at negotiation tables. I don’t have the patience for their politics.”
I shifted, and pain lanced through me. The dark veins had spread past my ribs this morning. Whatever was going on with this damned rune, I was running out of time.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
“Fine. Just nervous.”
His chest rumbled with a deep sound. “Once we arrive, you’ll be sharing my chambers.”
I froze. “What?”
“It’s expected. Nobody brings a war prize and sticks her in another room.”
My heart jolted.
Sharing a room. With him. After I’d straddled him and kissed him like I was starving. This was a terrible idea.
“What about the bed?” I blurted.
His lips brushed my ear. “What about it?”
