“I can hear when they come this way.”
Of course he can. “Could you let me up?”
He doesn’t move.
“Or by all means,” I add, “make yourself comfortable.”
Nakiis seems to lean even closer. “I understand thatyouare now the one in a cage.” A cold wind swirls around us, full of his magic.
“No. I’m not.” But I think of everything that happened, and sudden emotion fills my throat. I press my fingers into my face and swallow, and I hate that my eyes feel damp. “Nakiis, please.”
“Do you wish to flee? I could help you.”
I lower my hands. “What?”
“I can see and hear the guards. I can draw their attention and mask the sounds of your departure.”
My heart skips hard. I imagine it, fetching Mercy in the dead of night, sneaking past the guard station.
But I can’t.
“No,” I say.
“Why?”
“Because . . . because it’streason.” I blink away my emotion. “We can’t all fly away when we need to. I wish I could.”
His wings flare, snapping wide to catch the wind, and his weight suddenly vanishes from my chest. I think he’s going to prove my point and lose himself to the night, but he lands beside me, settling in the grass.
I sit up to face him, drawing my legs up to sit cross-legged. He’s on his knees again, sitting back on his heels, his wings folded tightly. This might be the closest he’s ever been without claws and fangs bared. Even when I healed his wounds, he was wound up tighter than a spring, ready to attack if I threatened him.
Now that he’s not on top of me, I can see that he’s wearing calfskin trousers, with a dagger belt wound around his waist, and a short blade at his left hip. A longer one is strapped to his right thigh.
“You’re armed,” I say in surprise. I’ve never seen him wear a weapon. He hardly needs them.
His eyes hold mine. “Iishellasan steel,” he says evenly.
Meaning those weapons can cause injuries that can’t be healed with magic.
“Anyone who’s ever truly harmedmehas been a magesmith,” he adds.
I frown, remembering the way he usually keeps his distance. “I’m sorry. In Briarlock, when we shot you, I swear, I didn’t know—”
“Tycho. I am not armed because ofyou.”
I let out a breath. “Are you armed because of the king?”
He says nothing—but that says enough.
If Grey isn’t happy about Nakiis being here, Iknowhe wouldn’t be happy about him having weapons like this. When the Truthbringers attacked in Briarlock, Grey locked away all the Iishellasan steel that we were able to find. I wonder how much more there is.
“Grey won’t hurt you,” I say. “I’ve told you that before.”
“If you draw me into battle with him, I am certain he would prove you wrong.”
“You really don’t have to risk yourself defending me.”
“So I am to watch you fall as you call magic with little skill or practice? Your vow to me goes unfulfilled because you were reckless?”
