“No,” he cut her off. “Not as your captor, king, or ally.”
She knew what he wanted, and it was far too difficult to say. The words were lodged in her throat, but she managed to choke out, “Husband, will you help my sister?”
A shudder ran through his body. “I will,wife.” There was something almost sinister in the way he said wife, his accent thickening around the human word. “Flyka.”
The Haunt whistled, and her compatriots materialized from the dark like the ghosts they were named after.
“Send anonnaeto the village and accompany him. If the giantess can be moved, she will be brought to the camp and cared for. Understood?” Neve ordered. “Send Remiche.”
Lia’s eyebrows rose. He was sending the royal healer?
The Haunts moved into action immediately, leaving them alone once again.
“Jiaell vei,” she murmured, bowing as much as she could while holding onto Cosmos.
The king turned his attention to Cos, who straightened slightly. Her brother didn’t flinch when the Frost King grabbed Cosmos’ chin and turned it to the side to inspect his swollen black eye.
Neve whistled. “You humans bruise so easily, and it’s ugly, but you’ll heal.” He released Cosmos, his eyes sliding to Lia. “Thevalloscan walk by himself. He will not break. He is a strong lad.”
She felt more than saw her brother perk up at the compliment. Lia slowly released her brother’s gangly form and stepped aside.
Neve held his hand out toward the camp, and the burning fire in the distance. “Let’s get you something to eat and warmed up.”
Cos peeked at her from beneath his lashes, and she nodded, feeling completely at a loss as the Frost King swept her brother away toward the camp. She stared after them, a bit off-kilter, catching a glimpse of Serenity soaring in the sky. Ever her protector.
That had not gone the way she’d expected. Lia craned her neck to stare at the town of Mizar. Godsteeth, she prayed Loshika was okay.
“I can see your mind working,Reilleve,” Flyka commented.
Lia shrugged. “Nothing has gone the way I thought it would in the last few days.” The Loriians would have both her weaknesses within their grasp.
That’s not true. You have three.
“Thereillovappreciates family. Did you really think he would strike down your own flesh and blood?”
“I didn’t know what he would do,” she responded, trailing after the pair. Everything had become too murky.
“The one in which I love you.”
She slammed the door on the memory.
Dahlia couldn’t afford to think of such things. If it was true, how could she ever allow such a thing after what she had done? Neve could and would find better. And if it was a game, her heart wouldn’t recover.
Flyka matched her pace. “But you expected the worst. It seems your prejudices have been making many decisions for you as of late.”
She wrinkled her nose, little white puffs of breath fogging the chilly air. Could the Haunt be right? The thought sickened her. She’d thought she was past such things. Had she been in survival mode for so long that she didn’t realize when she was being completely unfair and irrational?
But her caution had kept them alive.
“Expect the worst, and you’ll never be disappointed or hurt.”
The Haunt hummed. “But you’re not living either. Just surviving.”
“Sometimes that’s all life is.” Just putting one foot in front of the other and soldiering on. There was no other choice.
Flyka frowned, eyeing Lia. “When you say things like that, despite everything, it makes me happy we pulled you from the Asteran court. Life must have been grim to form such a deep-seated sentiment inside you.”
Lia snickered, a little lighter despite all the uncertainty in her life. “Allium has that effect on people.”
