“You can’t expect me to trust you. Not after my last visit,” Savine growled. “Is that the sort of hospitality you are showing to Avery? If so, I will inflict twice the pain on your king as your torturers inflicted on me.”
“She is well cared for. Selene is seeing to all her needs. Rylo wishes to put the past behind us, and welcome you as the new king to Latiah.”
Savine showed no reaction to what she said, but inside a torrent of emotions hit him. Selene was with Avery. Thinking of her touching Avery, harming her like she had him, made him want to destroy the entire kingdom to get back to Avery. Beside him, he noticed Jay shift ever so slightly, war axe still at the ready.
“Unless my father has been killed since I left Bayberry, I am no king and continue to be an outlaw in my own lands and in Nephel. Also, Rylo is still guilty of taking something precious from me.”
“Yet, here you stand on Nephel soil, wearing one of the crowns of Latiah. Refusing our hospitality. It is almost as if youwere trying to sneak into the towers of Nephel. An impossible task, even for your chameleon of an emissary.”
“How do you believe I escaped the first time?” Savine growled out the words, showing his teeth.
A hand reached out and touched Savine on his forearm. Savine tensed at the touch and looked at Raikin’s serious expression.
“As interesting as this pissing match between you two has been to watch, may I make a suggestion?” Raikin asked.
The heated anger in his blood diminished slightly by Raikin’s words and touch. A touch that only months ago would have caused his rage to cascade.
“Of course, Raikin,” Savine replied.
“Let’s go peacefully to Nephel. Perhaps this whole misunderstanding is Rylo’s way of looking to ally with you. In his own perverse way, of course.”
That was the most Goddess-damned stupid idea he’d ever heard. Savine was ready to explode in fury. Internally, he was a raging fury of tangled thorns. But he hid that rage. His voice was smoother than he expected. “Misunderstanding? You mean stealing Avery from me was a misunderstanding? Or perhaps butchering my people? Another misunderstanding?”
If Raikin raged, he kept it locked tight, too. Revealing nothing, he replied in a voice that was pure ice. “Highness, accept the unusual invitation. Bring the antlers and share your dominance over King Jasper.”
The guard looked at both Latians with a cool assessment. The other guards stood nearby, waiting for an attack.
But Raikin was right. This could absolutely be a trap. It could be the worst move he could make, but it got him to Avery. And it got him to her fast.
Savine nodded his head. “We’ll join you. Prepare two of your Nepheli to bring our elks to the river stables.”
The guard nodded her head in agreement. “We fly in five minutes. You will each ride eagans with two of our aerial warriors.”
Savine pulled his pack and Jasper’s antlers off Jari, giving him a sugared apple. Jari nuzzled his warm nose into Savine’s neck. Jari’s tension coursed through him. He was expecting a fight. He’d always been very attuned to Savine’s movements and preparations for battle. Their bond, tethering Jari to Savine’s long life, had been one of the longest relationships in his life.
It had been Jari who he rode as he fled from Nephel’s towers all those years ago. And now Savine was leaving Jari with this enemy, entrusting his elk to those who hurt him, who stole Avery from him. If Jari were killed, he would never forgive himself.
The elk made a high-pitched bark. He knew Savine was about to leave him. He’d be bugling in protest before long. Savine stroked Jari’s black coat. “I’ll see you soon. If it gets ugly, use those antlers to get away.”
Jari’s intelligent eyes shimmered in understanding. He snorted and nudged Savine in the shoulder with his massive antlers. Then Savine turned and walked toward the eagan, waiting in the distance.
As expected, Jari bugled as Savine soared airborne on the back of the eagan. His shrill cry echoed across the open meadow. The sound of his elk’s terror at seeing Savine on the back of an eagan sent a shiver down Savine’s spine. He prayed to Althea that he wasn’t making a terrible mistake and prayed that he could get Avery out safely. But putting his trust in the Nephel King felt like the biggest risk of his life.
As the eagan took flight, Savine felt the sense of dread in his heart. How could he trust his enemy when he’d already proven how easily he could hurt Savine?
Chapter forty-nine
Avery
“Avery Hollis of Montana. What a pleasure to have your presence in Nephel. And how stunning you look! Like a water lily plucked from muddy waters, you have emerged from the chaos of battle with grace. We have adorned you in the finest silks and jewels, so that you may bloom again in all your beauty!” Rylo’s smirk deepened as he spoke. His words were a double-edge sword if his people were ignorant of the conditions in which he brought her here. Or maybe they expected his word games? Rylo was a master of twisting his words and meanings. Surely his people knew this by now?
“If by ‘emerged from the chaos of battle’ you mean forcibly taken from a battle you had no place at, then sure? And now I see this is the part where I am paraded around like a trophy. But you’re going to pretend that I came here willingly? What’s the point?”
Rylo’s mouth curled into a devious grin. “Oh, I look forward to the coming days. This may be the most interesting week I’ve had in a century. Come, let’s go for tea in my private rooms. Selene, see that I am not disturbed.”
Avery seethed at the reply. He was fishing for reactions, and she was not interested in giving him some sort of emotional public display beyond what she already said. Rylo was looking directly into her eyes as she rolled them in the only way she could react without the rumbling crowd becoming positively feral.
Rylo lept from the chair and tucked her arm in his. Like all the fae, he was huge, especially next to her slight frame. She felt her arm tugged at an angle as he linked them by the elbow
