“If I was… your responsibility.”
His expression grew serious. “I didn’t need to, Bren. We were already connected. There was no question.”
“But—”
“No, hear me,” he said, all hint of teasing gone. “You’re here for a reason. AkhaneChoseyou. You passed the trials. You found your mate. And you areuniquelyequipped. There’s no question in my mind, Bren. I didn’t have to volunteer, but I would have.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly, my cheeks heating.
He held my gaze and nodded. “Tell me the proudest moment so far,” he said quietly.
“What?”
“I just told you all the things you’ve done that prove you were supposed to be here. Now, you tell me, what’s your proudest moment so far? Let’s remember that and try to beat it.”
I thought on that for a moment, all kind of memories and fears and triumphs swirling in my head. Then I remembered that very first day, and Voski and my other squad brothers there, pushing me, showing me that I couldfly,and…
I swallowed hard, then leaned in close to whisper. “I never shit myself.”
Voski threw back his head andlaughed.
5. Machinations
~ DONAVYN ~
Alexi an’ Del Rei, the King of Vosgaarde and ruler over the Emberquell Academy, sat in a plush chair framed by the soaring, polished wood walls and purple curtains of his personal chambers, glaring at me over a goblet in his fist.
“You know this about me, Donavyn,” he muttered. His silvering hair had grown long enough to fall almost into his eyes, and it drifted around his ears as he took a swig from the cup. “I do not likesitting.”
“It’s strategic,” I returned firmly. “Showing up in Fyrehold a week after taking down a spy camp would onlyscreamthat we know. If they truly are our enemies, we’ve taken their forward guard. They hope we don’t know it’s theirs. If we show up so soon, they’ll be certain that we know. It makes senseto wait.”
“While they devise a new attack?”
“Consider that if it were our spies who’d been routed, not only would we be waiting for retribution, we’d also be reticent tosend another foray in until we knew exactly how they planned to deal with it.”
“If they’re suspicious that we know, they’ll remain suspicious in a month.”
“Not if we divert attention elsewhere and make them believe thatwebelieve their subterfuge.”
The king’s jaw rolled. “Go on.”
I was sweating, praying he’d see my vision and give me more damn time—with Bren, to train her, to figure out a way to avert this fucking war.
Just days ago—I could barely believe it had only been a little over a week—Bren had received orders for her final test as Flameborne. The “mission”that should have allowed us to assess her suitability to become a Furyknight.
Instead, the king had secretly sent her to sniff out an enemy camp. A small army he suspected were parked just outside our borders. It was only by the grace of God that Kgosi, knowing Akhane was his mate, though they hadn’t completed the bond, had been able to locate the girls. And in that process, Bren and I discovered we, too, were divinely appointed mates.
But then I’d learned that during her foray outside our borders, Bren had uncovered avery realenemy camp. Not a test. Not a ploy. An army of men from an unknown kingdom, advancing on our border.
We’d since taken the men into custody, and ourinterrogatorsstill worked to identify from whence they came. Except, Alexi was certain he already knew. And determined to send us after them.
I cleared my throat and held the king’s penetrating gaze. He never trusted a man who didn’t. “I gave some thought to how we’d react if we believed this ploy and assumed the hidden troops were from Draeventhall.”
“And?”
“We’d patrol the borders more closely to avert infiltration as we have, but we’d move onto the offense quietly. Only maintain strained communications with Draeventhall. Send Emissaries into Sierral accompanied by troops that we position along their border, but never step over. An unspoken threat. We’d publicly declare the visit to be political—something benign, but an obvious subtext of warning. All parties would know we were actually positioning menforDraeventhall.
“They’d assign all available resources to ensure we remain behind their borders and scramble to open communication.
