“I do my best. We’re going to kill the king after he claims Brenna.”
“What?”
“It’s the only time he’ll be distracted. Claiming is one of the few true drains on a fae lord or lady’s power.”
“Won’t he have his dragon with him as protection?”
He traced his fingertips across the back of his neck. “If Madrood is with him, I’ll stand between you and the beast’s wrath.”
7
TEMPEST
Icouldn’t believe I was seriously contemplating accepting Vexxion’s deal.
But what choice did I truly have? I couldn’t train myself.
As much as the thought scalded everything inside me, I still needed Vexxion for that and to help me protect my friends.
But when this was over . . . Well, I’d figure out what I’d do when this was over.
With a sigh, I jutted my hand toward him. “We have a truce with one goal only.” I huffed. “I’ll let you keep training me.”
He took my fingers but didn’t release them. “We’ll have to train here and only sporadically. If I’m gone long, the king will notice.”
“How will I kill him if I don’t train more than sporadically? I’m still not prepared.” I was honest enough to admit it.
“You’ll be ready. We have seven days.”
“Seven fucking days isn’t enough time,” I growled. Had Ireally just discovered this morning that I had only a week to finish the training I’d need to kill the king? It felt like a lifetime had passed since we left his mother’s estate.
“It will be. Trust me in this.”
I ground my teeth and yanked my hand away from his. “Trust needs to be earned.”
“I deserve that.” There was that sorrow clouding his eyes again, making my knees shake and my hand start to lift as if I could stroke his pain away. I placed my hand at my side.
“The king also wants you to serve as Brenna’s lady-in-waiting,” he said.
“I’m a rider. A dragon trainer. I killed dregs for a living. I have no idea how to be a lady’s maid. Will I have to wear frilly dresses like she does?”
His lips curled up. “If you do, will you promise to carry knives beneath them?”
I could picture him tugging them from the sheaths with his teeth, something he’d done more than once when things between us overheated in the training room.
I shut that image down.
“It’s a job,” I said. “I’ll figure it out. In addition, I’ll behave, though you need to know right now that I’ll find this part of the deal tough.”
“You wouldn’t be who you are if you didn’t.”
I didn’t like that our conversation contained a teasing tone that lit my veins on fire. “It appears I’m the one who has to sacrifice the most in this deal.”
“You have no idea what I’ll be sacrificing for you,” he drawled.
In that, he was right, but mostly because he wouldn’t tell me if I asked.
“If anyone’s around, I’ll try to do what you ask without question,” I said.
