A female had never smelled sofuckinggood to me. Not once. Not ever.
Trepidation bloomed like spilled ink in my mind, spreading. Spreading. Consuming.
“Nothing,” I rasped, taking a long swig of my wine. But it tasted like ash in my mouth, lifeless. “It was nothing.”
Thaine’s watchful green eyes looked so much like our mother’s—and like Aina’s—that I had to look away. Green eyes were the mark of House Sorn. Those green eyes had haunted me for years. It was likely why Father could barely look at Thaine.
Thinking that, I made an effort to meet my brother’s eyes and hold them. It wasn’t his fault he’d inherited so much of our mother.
“What do you think of Lyris?” I asked them then.
“Does it matter what we think?” Thaine asked, frowning.No,I thought, my hand clenching around the goblet. “You’ve already made up your mind.”
“Azur won’t be happy,” Kaldur told me. “Kalia won’t either.”
“There are plenty of arranged marriages within the Kaalium, especially among the noble Houses,” I scoffed. “Don’t act like this is anything new. Our own parents, for example.”
“Lyris is certainly beautiful,” Thaine said. “But everyone knows that she’s as bland asbaanye. She would bore you within a month—I guarantee it. War will not last forever, Kythel. But I know you. You wouldn’t dispel the marriage after a war. You would stick to your vows even if they ate you up inside for the rest of your life.”
There was a pressure pushing at the bones of my chest from the inside out. I knew that Thaine spoke the truth. It wasn’t anything that I hadn’t thought myself.
“The Kaalium comes first,” I finally said, my voice quiet. I hoped they didn’t hear the bitterness I felt dripping off my tongue. “Always.”
Kaldur huffed. Thaine took a swig of the wine that he hated.
“Have you told Father?” Kaldur wondered.
My jaw tightened. “No.”
“Will you?”
“Eventually,” I said, meeting his silver gaze, giving him a hard look that had him sinking back in his chair.
“When will you announce the union?” Thaine asked after a tense silence.
“After the moon winds,” I said.
In less than two weeks’ time.
* * *
I didn’t seethe human woman—Millie, she’d said her name was—again for the rest of the night, though I was frustrated to realize that I’d been looking for her. Every time the door to the lounge opened, my eyes flicked to it, my legs tensing.
But it was Lesana who served us for the remainder of the evening, bringing us our drinks andloreand addicting little tarts from the kitchen, steam curling from them, perfuming the air withkannospice.
I had inherited my mother’s and Aina’s appreciation for food. Something disappointingly rare among the Kylorr, I’d found.
“These were delicious,” Kaldur complimented with a wide grin, gesturing to the empty tray when Lesana came around to check on us. He was in a much better mood at the night’s end, having had his fill of brew andlore. “Give Draan our compliments.”
Lesana gave us a small smile, her expression unreadable.
“I will,” she said, watching us rise from our seats. Most of the lounge’s occupants when we’d arrived were still here, with the exception of Sena and Jerr of House Kraan. She told my brothers, “I hope you will join us again before you both return to your territories.”
Kaldur was all charm tonight as he said, “RaanaDyaanhas always been my favoritedyaan. Not even the ones in the South can compete.”
Lesana’s eyes sparkled with pleasure. Kaldur might’ve been in a better mood—Thaine too, judging by his relaxed wings—but I only felt more tension building the longer the night went on. I nodded at Hanno of House Arada as we passed him on the way out of the lounge, trailing Lesana as she chatted with Kaldur about the brew they imported from his territory.
“I will see you at the moon winds celebration,Kyzaire,” Hanno murmured to me when I paused close to his group. “My brother told me you accepted his invitation just this morning.”
