The way he says that is interesting, and I frown. “Yes.”
“For how long?”
“For … years.”
He mutters something that sounds like a swear, then flicks disdainful eyes at Grey. An ice-cold wind swirls through the clearing to make me shiver. “As I said,” he growls. “Foolish magesmith.”
“Why? Why does it matter how long I wore them?”
He studies me again. “Why should I help you?”
“I don’t know. Why are you?”
He says nothing.
“You could have killed us both and hadtwohearts,” I add.
He curls his lip, baring his fangs. He licks a drop of blood off a claw. “As if I have any taste for a magesmith’s heart.”
I think of little Sinna being at his mercy, and I have to suppress a shudder. But she wasn’t afraid. She seemed eager to see him again. I can’t seem to make that match up in my head either. Then again, I was barely more than a boy and I was never afraid of Iisak, no matter what terrible things I saw him do.
One of the tiniest pieces of meat is beginning to brown on the rocks, so I pull it free, shoving it into my mouth, heedless of the pain when it burns my tongue. I’m too hungry to care. I wash it down with another pull from the water skin, then grab another that’s still a bit raw.
Nakiis watches this, his eyes glittering in the firelight. Eventually, he finishes the heart, but he doesn’t return to his spot in the tree. He doesn’t attack me either.
By the time I move to shove a third piece of meat in my mouth, I have the patience to let it cool first. He stares at me across the flames, and I can’t read anything from his expression.
I hold his gaze. “Why did you kidnap the princess?”
“Kidnap!” he growls. His wings flare, and the bare edge of his fangs flash in the light. “The king surrounds his child with humans who mean her harm, and you accusemeof kidnapping?”
“You lured her away from the palace.”
“I lured her away from potential captors.”
I turn that thought around in my head. “Who?”
“I keep my distance from the palace. I do not know the names of everyone at court.”
“How did you know she was in danger, then?”
“I can hear much, from the air. So many whispers. So many secrets.”
That’s right. I forgot about that. The scravers have magic of their own, but it comes from the wind and sky. Iisak used to be able to hear at a good distance—and he could keep himself from being heard as well.
Nakiis adds, “There are many who conspire against your king.”
“In the palace?”
He nods, and a chill wraps itself around my spine. One of the only reasons Grey felt safe leaving Lia Mara and Sinna was because they’d be surrounded by guards.
“Manyin the palace conspire against him,” he says. “Are you among them?”
“No!”
His fangs glisten in the light again. “Because you have magic in your blood, yet you sparenoneto save him.”
“I am not a magesmith!” I snap.
