"I don't understand why she didn't just heal you." Will gripes again, now that she's out of earshot. Bennett and I answer him with silence, neither of us having any explanation past the fact that I'm sure Eveera is the reason behind it.
She's the reason behind everything,my conscience adds.
I try lifting off the bed, and my limbs immediately give out, my body collapsing awkwardly against the mattress. My two men lunge forward, keeping me from falling onto the floor.
"You move too quickly." Murph chirps. "Need more time to rest."
"I'd rather —oof —rest in my own bed."
"You'd rather rest with the Queen of Serpents, but she pays no favor to you."
I scoff bitterly,no, she fucking doesn't.
"Murph." Bennett cuts in, "what are you doing in here?"
The older man looks over at us, his face still cheery as he scrutinizes our group from behind his pair of thick-rimmed glasses. "The Lady in Black is very knowledgeable." He replies simply, as if that answer should be enough.
"She's sadistic." I grit out. He ignores the jab at his mentor and rattles on to my men about his time spent here with Marjorie. They listen intently as he details all the work he’s doing while my head lolls to the right, looking over at the doors.
I long to be walking through them, instead of sitting in here waiting to be well enough to move.
"You justhadto fucking stab me."I send the words through the seal, hoping she hears me.
When we reunited in Suram, I'd felt so much relief. So much so that I'd allowed myself to believe for a few hours that once she found out about our nuptials, we would be fine.
What a ridiculous thing to believe.
"Ahem." Our heads swivel towards the voice to find Felix standing in the entrance, his face grim. He scans his eyes over my bandaged self quickly and shakes his head subtly, “there's a discussion to be had." He says curtly, his lilted accent sounding thicker than normal.
Scooting myself to the edge of the mattress, Bennett offers me an arm. I wave him off, not wanting to be escorted into any room that could have Eveera present. She already knows she bested me — I don't need her gloating more than she already will be.
We wave our goodbyes to Murph and try to keep pace with Felix.
"What's this about?" Will calls out.
"There's been a development with Rorin’s father," Felix answers, and my blood chills.
Fan-fucking-tastic. Because we needed more bloody issues.
He leads us out onto the balcony overlooking the army’s training yards, and I can see Matthis' head bobbing between his lines of soldiers, shouting orders.
"Armond, you are walking too… quick-ly…" Her voice dies down as she steps out of the arched hallway. The heat of her gaze sends shockwaves underneath my skin as she drags her golden eyes down my torso, surveying the bandages.
"Admiring your handiwork?" I snark, and her expression smooths out.
Eveera moves haughtily through us to stand against the railing. She grabs onto the edge of the railing, both of her hands going white-knuckled when she takes in the ranks, "we lost—"
"More than we would have liked." Armond finishes for her.
She rolls her shoulders back, straightening her spine, and releasing a long sigh, "did the—"
"Each clan received a death toll, and as previously discussed, they are willing to continue the arrangement. More of their soldiers are set to arrive on the pretense that they confirm you're… alive."
"I'm alive, alright." She grumbles before turning back to face us, her hand dropping to scratch at her wrist, "anything else?"
Armond gives her a long look, "you know that there is, Highness." I make a conscious effort not to let my eyebrows hit my hairline at his blunt tone. Any of the times I've been around him, never have I seen him so casual and almostparentalwith Eveera.
Her left eye twitches, and the scratching becomes more obvious when she snaps, "so speak."
