Surprise makes me falter again. Darrius must trust her implicitly to let her speak on his behalf to another king or be a representative to his subjects. I love that, especially because she’s a woman. In Oryndhr, women are valued only for breeding and marriage. It’s inspiring to see one in a position of influence.
“War serves no one,” he says, and I feel his gaze brush over me. “Stall Acharia if you can. Until we have all the information about the matter in question, I refuse to concede to his demands. What of the basilisk attack?” he asks her.
I perk up with interest, recalling the farmer who had asked for help. “It’s gone,” Ani says. “The men hunted for hours. No sign of it.”
Darrius scrubs his jaw. “I’m not convinced it’s gone for good.”
She nods. “Me, either. They’re territorial and don’t give up that easily, even if they’re sick. Maybe we’re lucky and it’s dead somewhere, but we can’t take that chance.”
“Agree. Set up a patrol.”
With a wink, Ani cants her head in automatic deference. “One step ahead of you, brother.”
His smile is fond... and genuine. Sands on fire, I nearly swoon at the unexpected sight and what it does to that austere face. “You always are. Very well, keep me informed of any developments.”
“Of course, Dare.”
The entire conversation and the obvious use of a nickname imply that they’re closer than I realized. If I had to guess, I would say that Ani is the official hand of the king, and who better to act in his stead than his own sister? It makes me grudgingly admire him more. Some men are threatened by women in power, but clearly not this monarch.
As if feeling my shifting esteem, the king turns and glances in my direction. “Change of plans then, since you and my marauding sister don’t take orders from your sovereign seriously.”
Faced with a full-frontal view of that rock-hard abdomen, I can’t even pretend to have a snappy comeback. I’m too busy keeping my fingers from reaching out to touch every ridge. “Don’t you have a shirt?” I mumble.
A corner of his lips curls. “Too much to handle?”
“Hardly,” I manage, but my ears feel like they’re melting off the sides of my head.
With a low chuckle, the king waves his hand and a portal forms. I still can’t get over how easily magic is wielded here.Hismagic in particular. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“Razulek has recovered.”
My heart races at the thought of seeing the mystical creature from my memories in actuality, and I very eagerly follow the king through the portal. Swiveling, I roll my eyes at a smirking Ani, who pretends to be wiping her chin of drool behind her brother’s back. What an imp!
We emerge on the cliffside of a mountain, and I can see the rise of higher crests beyond. The portal winks out of existence. “Are these the Barrin Mountains?”
“Yes. We’re in the Bone Forest, the hunting grounds of oviparous azdahas,” he says. “Their main colony is to the northwest.” I swallow as I glance around nervously, half expecting one of the enormous creatures to fly at me out of nowhere in a protective rage over its eggs. A few graceful shadows that look like specks, though I know they are massive, soar high in the sky. I wonder how fast they can fly—they’d be lethal in battle. Or while hunting.
The king snorts when I unconsciously take a step closer to him. “Don’t worry. They lay eggs in the depths of Deadman’s Canyon at the hottest part of the realm’s core. That’s where their younglings hatch and where they’re the most territorial.”
“That man from the throne room. Lord Donnan. He said he was hunting the eggs?”
The king’s stern face tightens. “They’re very valuable. They’re rare and getting rarer. Azdahas live long lives, but their fertility rates are low. It’s against our laws to steal the eggs.”
“Razulek told me he has a mate,” I murmur without thinking.
The king inhales sharply. “He did, did he?”
“Why? Was that wrong?”
He shakes his head. “Azdahas rarely speak to others unless they’re bonded via akasha.”
“Well, he spoke to me.” I worry my lip with my teeth. “He knew I was no danger to him.”
King Darrius doesn’t answer, both of us distracted by the thunderous whoosh of incoming massive wings. I let out a small shriek when a huge shape sucks up the remaining light and thumps to the ground in front of me, sending a small landslide of rocks cascading down the cliff.
It’s an azdaha, one even bigger than Razulek, with deep bloodred scales. It looks monstrous but regal with a crown of enormous pointed horns and fangs as long as my forearm. A huge crimson-scaled chest rises and falls with its breaths, deadly talons dig into the earth at the end of thick hindquarters, and a long, spined tail with a plume at the end curls lazily behind its immense body. Massive wings flare when its forelimbs crash down.
With an involuntary scream, I fall onto my ass and scuttle backward like a crab, wanting to search for the king but afraid to tear my gaze away from the very large predator in front of me.
