‘You’re staring,’ Peter said under his breath. Aidon gaped at his friend, who merely continued to track the argument between Avis and Will.
‘Am not,’ he muttered.
Peter sighed as he ran a hand through his thick hair. ‘If I remind you that playing with fire isdangerous, Aidon, would you refrain from doing so?’
Aidon at least gave his friend the courtesy of pretending to think it over. ‘Probably not.’
‘I figured.’
But Aidon wasn’t a fool. He knew better than to chase after a woman who likely had more steel strapped to her than he did. Althoughwhereshe would be hiding it beneath that thin shirt and matching white pants that hugged her curves, he had no idea.
He merely found Aya a challenge. This was the woman who served as third in command to the Queen of the Original Kingdom. They said she could move like liquid night, could infiltrate any court, could silence any source who became a detriment to their cause.
Gods, she likely had eyes in his own city. Maybe even in this damn room.
It would be foolish to look at the woman sitting across from him and see anything but a potential threat to his kingdom.
But Aidon had to admit … he loved a challenge.
Aya let out a long breath as the Council finally broke for the day, her fingers massaging her temples while the councilors filed out of the room.
They were getting nowhere.
While the Council had been genuine in their regret over the two tradesmen, they were all too happy to use the situation to their advantage to argue the pending deals. It was telling, Aya realized, that while Dominic was reluctant to see Kakos as a true threat, the Merchant Council was all too willing to capitalize on the potential instability of war to negotiate better terms.
When Aya and Will weren’t in Council meetings, they had been in town, meeting with merchants in bars and markets and wherever else their conversations wouldn’t seem conspicuous or under the ever-present gaze of Enzo. Still, she didn’t dare touch her persuasion – not after the temple. Not with the dreams that hauled her from sleep.
The healer had visited her again, this time in the temple.
‘These are the gods you worship?’ she’d asked. ‘Why don’t they help you?’
She hadn’t had an answer.
Will claimed he felt no trace of deceit from those they questioned. And while Aya had been reluctant to believe a word that came out of his mouth … she hadn’t been able to disagree. She saw the merchants for herself; identified their tells quickly over their conversations through planted questions and known lies.
Those they’d questioned had been truthful. They knew nothing of the deal the rogue tradesmen had enacted, or the supplier.
Aya had been so desperate for a different answer, she’d hardly felt relief.
It wasn’t as if shewantedTrahir to be involved. She’d much rather have them as an ally. But their innocence meant another dead end; another day Tova spent locked away in prison and dishonored in the eyes of their kingdom.
It meant more waiting. For news from Lena, whose scouts were searching the Midlands and attempting to reach the southern border in search of the supplier. For Natali, who had yet to respond.
It meant more unanswered questions about Will. If hewasinvolved with Kakos, would it not make more sense to cover his tracks? To make Aya think Trahirdidhave information on the supplier, so she’d be caught up in a fruitless chase that kept her occupied and her focus away from him?
This helpless feeling … it felt like drowning.
‘That was excruciating,’ Will sighed. He leaned against the doorframe of the empty room, his fingers tugging on the collar of his white shirt as he unbuttoned it. ‘Avis Lavigne is a particular form of torture, isn’t he? He could do with some reminding of his place.’ He jerked his head toward the busy street. ‘I need a drink. Care to join?’
Aya lifted her head from her hands, her voice weary as she said, ‘Is there someone else we’re questioning?’
He frowned. ‘No.’
‘Then no.’ Her limbs ached as she pushed herself out of the chair, her body sore from so many hours of sitting on the rough wood.
Will’s frown deepened as he took a step back into the room. ‘It’s a fucking drink, Aya.’
Her anger simmered. It wasn’t just afuckingdrink, and he knew it. She would tolerate his presence when it was warranted. She’d do what she needed to for her kingdom. But anything beyond it …
