“Tiernan, are you alright?” I asked.
Raza's hand clenched around my arm.
“I'm fine,” Tiernan said. “Now that I know you'll live.”
“He took an arrow for you,” Raza's jaw clenched. “My Guard prevented me from going to your aid or I would have been there.”
“It's alright, Raza,” I laid my hand over his. “I remember now. I saw you trying to get back to me.” Then I looked to Tiernan. “But I didn't see you take an arrow. Thank you.”
“It's my job,” Tiernan looked away uncomfortably.
“Well, you did it better than the rest of us,” Conri growled. “Half of us couldn't get through that door in time to be of any use. I'm sorry, Princess, we failed you.”
“No, you didn't,” I said firmly. “You work as a team, and Tiernan is part of that team. He saved me, so you all saved me.”
“Princess Seren is right,” Tiernan agreed. “Any of you would have done the same.”
“But it wasn't any of them,” Raza sighed. “It was you. Thank you for saving the woman we love.”
Raza's words hung in the air between them, some kind of strange flag of truce. Maybe even more than that. I didn't know exactly what it was, but it held everyone in the room enthralled. We just froze, staring at the men as they stared at each other.
“You're welcome,” Tiernan finally broke the tension.
“Anyone else deeply uncomfortable?” Conri asked.
“Shut up, you ass,” Gradh punched Conri in the shoulder. “We're all relieved you're recovering, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Gradh,” I frowned as the obvious occurred to me. “So, Moire wants me dead.”
“It's not that surprising,” Bress huffed. “I just wish I knew what her plans were. Why bother killing you? I know she hates you, but my mother never wastes resources on something so base as hatred. To send the elves out to attack you and their king isn't an action she'd take lightly.”
“Seriously?” I lifted a brow at him. “I don't think it would bother her so much.”
“No, I mean that she wouldn't want to strain her relationship with the dark elves by making them side so openly with her, so soon, just to kill you out of spite. She would need a reason to take such a risk.”
“She's clever,” Raza agreed. “And it does seem like a bad move on her part. She's shown her hand and risked mutiny with her new army. I'll be heading back to Unseelie to confront the dark elves, something I may not have done so urgently if she had not acted.”
“If any elves remain there,” Bress grimaced.
“You think all of the dark elves have abandoned Raza?” I asked.
“Probably,” Bress said. “They're a close group. They don't separate often. A war would be the worst time to do so. They'd want to remain together.”
“This is true,” Raza shook his head angrily, growled with frustration, and stood.
“Where are your guards?” I asked him.
“Outside,” Raza nodded to a window, “guarding. They set up camp with the men we left here to look after the horses.”
“You're mad at them,” I noted in surprise.
“Livid,” he growled. “They kept me from you. No one does that!”
“To save your life, Raza,” I said gently.
“I'm their king, they should obey me,” Raza snapped.
“Andprotect you, even against yourself,” I added. “Since it's the job you gave them.”
