The windows are only one storey up. I’ll take a quick lookto satisfy my curiosity, and then I’ll be done. I’ll go back to Jonas, the sensible choice to spend my evening with.
I find a foothold and shift myself up, discovering I couldn’t have picked a better window. It offers a clear view into the centre of the temple with only the far end obscured. Whatever Kyor is doing in here, I should be able to see it.
I crane my neck, finally spotting a figure standing in the shadows. Only it’s not Kyor. It’s Zelle.
‘What are you doing, Commander?’ I murmur.
There’s something about the way Zelle is standing and the way his gaze is constantly flickering around that makes me think he shouldn’t be here. But why? I’ve seen him use this very temple for prayer before. What could the pair be meeting about that they’d be desperate to keep hidden?
A chill runs through me as the answer strikes.
Zelle said he didn’t know what the trials would be. But what if that wasn’t true? What if he’s meeting Kyor here to tell him what the second trial will entail? Or when it’s going to take place? What if the entire reason for this rendezvous is for the commander to give the man he thinks of as a son an advantage in the trials?
A mixture of annoyance and something else flares through me. I’d expect this from the prince, but I feel genuinely disappointed in Zelle as I’ve actually got no small amount of affection for the man.
‘Zelle … what is this?’ As he steps out of the shadows, Kyor’s voice cuts through the silence with an edge I don’t recognise. Concern? ‘Where have you been? Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?’
‘I thought you needed a little pick-me-up,’ the old man replies.
‘Me? What do you mean?’
‘I mean, I saw the way you were struggling without her, and I decided to do something about it.’
‘Oh, Zelle …’ Kyor’s voice drops. ‘Tell me you didn’t. The rules …’
‘I know what you’re going to say but hear me out?—’
‘There are other knights in the barracks. My knights. This isn’t fair to them.’ The tightness in Kyor’s voice is nothing like I’ve ever heard from him before. Actual anguish? Surely not.
And yet Zelle seems to have relaxed now that they’re together. He waves a hand dismissively at Kyor’s concerns. ‘This was entirely my choice, and if it comes to it, I’ll own up. But don’t worry. No one’s seen her. We got her in just fine. Now, are you going to spend your time chastising me, or is there someone else you’d rather be talking to?’
A woman. Zelle has snuck in a woman for Kyor?
The image of another woman on the altar with Kyor rips through my imagination and I find myself unaccountably furious at the thought. He flirts with me at every session – just a little, a touch here or there, but it’s not insignificant – and the whole time he’s had a woman who he cares enough about for Zelle to smuggle her in?
I’m hurt, I realise, and that is more than a little ridiculous. Kyor and Ihateeach other. We’re enemies. Foes. And the thought of him trailing his hands up another woman’s arm, the way he does mine when he corrects my hold on a sword, is absolutelyfine.
I’m so lost in my internal diatribe that it takes me several long moments before I realise it’s not a woman at all.
Zelle has brought Kyor his dire wolf.
And she is magnificent.
She is pressing herself happily against Kyor, leaving another wolf standing alone.Zelle’s,I realise with shock as the other wolf goes to nuzzle the old man. To train the Rettlings, Zelle’s also been giving up time with his wolf. Knowing that, I appreciate his early training sessions with me all the more. He has been leaving his wolf stationed somewhere else so as not to rub Kyor’s and the other knights’ faces in their loss. And itisa loss I realise, as I watch Zelle and his wolf together, their eyes alight with joy as they fuss over each other.
I tear my eyes from Zelle to study Kyor and his wolf. Her fur is jet-black across her face and back, fading to deep grey over her hindquarters, and then lighter still down her legs until her paws, which are almost white.
It’s not that I haven’t seen dire wolves before – the knights stationed atthe gates here still have theirs; it’s that there’s something different about Kyor’s wolf. And not just because she’shuge. She’s not here patrolling, ready to attack anyone who breaks the king’s rule. She’s here for him. For Kyor. Who no longer looks like the prince I know. It takes me a heartbeat to understand what’s different.
He’s smiling.
It’s not a smirk or a sneer. No, this smile is broad, and it brightens his entire face. Even his icy eyes are transformed into something warm. Something full of love. He kneels beside the phenomenal beast, rubbing her fur like she’s nothing more than a lapdog.
‘Gods, I have missed you, El. How’s it been, my beautiful Elska?’
She responds with a bound, placing her feet on his shoulders as she nuzzles him. Jaws like hers could crunch his skull in a heartbeat, and yet there’s zero fear in his face. Instead, he wraps his arms around her like the two of them are about to dance.
With his hands still deep in the animal’s fur, he looks at Zelle, a weak attempt at a scowl gracing his face.
