I tensed. He felt it too.
Forcing myself to relax, I nodded. “All right.”
Because I could say nothing else.
CHAPTER34
KYTHEL
Ihadn’t seen Zyre since we’d been children, but I remembered him accompanying his father into our keep during the war, to negotiate a treaty of peace with House Kaalium. I remembered the legion of soldiers they’d brought with them, stationed outside the keep’s gates.
I remembered my mother’s pinched face. Aina’s calm demeanor. Azur had tracked Zyre with his eyes, but it was me who’d spoken to the other young Kylorr boy first.
Just as I did now, on the border between our lands, marked by nothing but a thick line of trees—the beginning of the Kaazor’s forest—that looked out onto the open meadow of Kaalium land. I always hated meeting here because it was difficult to determine how many Kaazor Zyre had brought with him. How many Kaazor were lying in wait in the darkness of the forest?
“Zyre,” I greeted, stepping past my twin’s imposing form, his wings spread wide whereas mine were tucked.
The king of the Kaazor was not like how I remembered. Back when we’d been children, there had been something weak about him. He’d been lanky, though his wings had been large. As such, he’d been a clumsy child, not having yet grown into his wings. His legs had been like sticks, making me wonder if the Kaazor had been starving their children, as had been whispered through the keep, and his eyes had held a feral wildness that made me wary.
But I remembered him being quiet.Politeeven, which had struck me as strange.
The Kylorr male before me now was not the boy I remembered.
The areas around his eyes were darkened with black ash, making his vibrant gray eyes appear even more luminous and chilling in the evening light. His indigo-blue hair was gathered and tied back with a silver clasp. Gone was the clumsy, lanky boy. In his place was a male who appeared even larger than Kaldur.
Overhead, akyrivroared, the rider on his wide back making circles over the small legion of solders we’d brought, some from each of our territories. We had made a small base camp nearby but well hidden, with even more soldiers lying in wait should the meeting turn ugly.
But I didn’t think it would.
“We agreed on nokyriv,” Azur growled at Zyre.
“Did we?” Zyre asked, cocking his head to the side. “I don’t remember that. I’ll have the rider land.”
Bringing his fingers to his lips, he let out a shrill whistle that made my ears twitch and the inner drums throb. A moment later, thekyrivcircled down, landing with a heavy thump to our right, making the earth shake. I could smell the beast’s musk. I could hear its rough pants. It felt restless.
I thought of Millie, asking me if I would be in danger here. I’d assured her I wouldn’t be. And yet…
“You put us in a difficult position, Zyre,” I said, hardening my voice. “We aren’t fools. Yourkyrivcould take us all out with a single breath of fire.”
“You don’t know much aboutkyriv, do you,Kyzaire?” Zyre asked, tilting his chin down, though his eyes never left mine. “If you did, you’d know this one has no such ability.”
My jaw tightened.
“Get rid of him,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Or this meeting is over.”
“Her,” Zyre corrected, giving me a grin that revealed elongated incisors. “Thekyrivis a female.”
“Get rid of her,” Lucen said. Zyre’s gaze turned to my younger brother, narrowing on him. My brothers made a long line, the soldiers at our sides and backs. “And stop playing games. We came to this meeting of good faith, at your request. Every moment you delay makes our patience grow even thinner.”
Zyre stared at Lucen before flicking his eyes down the line of my brothers. Azur, myself, Kaldur to my right, then Lucen, and Thaine at the end. We’d thought it best to keep Kalia back in Laras, though Zyre had requested all the heirs of the Kaalium. We wouldn’t unnecessarily endanger our only sister. She was much too precious to us all.
Another sharp whistle sounded. Azur was glaring at Zyre, and I reached out to bump his wing. He shot me a sharp look, but I merely raised my brow. He settled, likely thinking that once he got this meeting over with, he could return to his wife.
At the beckoning of Zyre’s whistle, thekyrivtook flight again, the gust of wind stinging my eyes, before it circled overhead and rode high above the Kaazor’s forest, flying north. Flying back to its home.
Zyre spread his arms wide. He had no weapons. No gauntlets, no blades. And oddly enough, I could see no soldiers present with him, despite thekyrivand its rider. It made us look like fools, a line of Kaalium heirs with a legion of soldiers at our backs. Or cowards, standing down a single Kylorr male, even if he was an enemy.
Kaldur’s order mirrored my own thoughts when he gruffly told the soldiers to fall back. Without hesitation, the guards sheathed their blades, the synchronized thuds of their boots falling on the compact earth as they retreated too.
