Ciar’s judgment meant I could raise concerns about this squad without telling Alexi what had happened to Bren. Andthatmeant we could suspend this farce of aspymission for Bren and go after these fuckers instead. I had no doubt they had the answers we needed.
As soon as I was certain Bren was safe in my quarters, I’d attend the king.
Resolute, anger still churning in my chest, but now tamped tight by determination, I marched into the stable, whistling to one of the stableboys nodding off on a stool at the intersection of aisles.
I was distracted for a blink by the boy’s face. It took a moment to remember he was the youth who’d questioned Bren the day she was Chosen.Benji.
“Benji. Wake up. ” The lad startled and leaped to his feet. I ignored the fact that he’d been sleeping. “I need a messenger, right away. One with knowledge of the palace. Tell them to find me in Kgosi’s stable. Go.”
The boy's eyes widened, but he darted away without another word.
Since I was passing the tack room anyway, I diverted for a moment to check that Kgosi’s travel harness had been oiled recently, and the saddlebags were empty and clean. I nodded when I found them as they should be, and jogged back out of the room and up the aisle towards my dragon’s stable that he shared with Akhane, where I prayed my mate would be.
But the moment I slid the massive stable door back to find Akhane curled up in the straw, and no sign of Bren, the sound of pattering bare feet on stone reached me.
“Sir! Sir! He was on the grounds outside, Sir!” Benji called to me as he ran. “And he knows the king’s runners.”
Where the fuck was Bren?
Grinding my teeth with unease and impatience, I turned to face the two boys sprinting towards me and waited for them to arrive, panting. The runner slid to a halt, his narrow chest heaving, but he straightened his blonde head and stood to attention. Benji, inches shorter than him, though apparently older than his stature would suggest, mimicked the messenger’sposture, but eyed him from the side as if he wasn’t sure he was doing it correctly.
“I can carry a message, Sir,” the messenger said, his voice cracking.
“Very good. At ease, both of you,” I said wryly. Both boys relaxed and glanced at each other, then to me. I focused on the messenger. “I need you to carry a very important message to the palace, and it canonlybe delivered to the king’s man. Do you know who that is?”
“Yes, sir,” the messenger said, awed. “But to reach him I have to enter the royal wing and the guards—”
“I’ll send Benji with you, and you’re both telling them that I sent this message through you because the need was dire, and that on my authority you should be escorted to the king and given a return message with instructions immediately. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, sir!” they chimed in unison.
I nodded. “Very good. Benji, your responsibility in this is very simple. When the guard questions if our friend here is truly on a mission to the king, you tell them that he is sent byKgosi, and that you were personally tasked by me to tell them that, do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. Then you, son, when you’re escorted to the king, you’ll tell him that I believe the time has come to call Conclave. That I am present with Kgosi, but will attend him at the time of his choosing. And that I request he send a return message with you to inform me of that time. Now please, repeat that back to me.”
The boy swallowed audibly. “The message for the king is that you, the Battle Commander, are calling for Conclave, and that you request the king’s return message with the time you should attend.”
“Yes. Don’t forget to tell him that I am present with Kgosi, but will leave to attend his Majesty.”
Kgosiwas merely a code word to let the king know that I placed my highest authority behind these words, though the boys wouldn’t know that. It was why I sent a messenger. An adult Furyknight or guard might deduce which part of the message was code. The boys would simply believe that my dragon’s name opened doors no one else could.
The boy nodded and repeated the message, including the critical quote about Kgosi, and then I sent them on their way. But the moment they were gone, feet slapping on the stones as they sprinted through the stable building, I was reminded of my burden for my mate, and everything that had happened. Everything thatwouldsoon happen.
Akhane was curled like a cottage-sized cat in the straw at the center of the stable, her wings draped over her sides like blankets to keep the heat of her body in. Head down and nose touching her tail, she appeared to be asleep.
Rubbing my forehead, I stepped into the stable, reaching for Kgosi with apologies, but asking him to question Akhane for me. I needed to find Brenimmediately.Before the boys brought back a message from the king.
Except, I was only halfway through the sending when Akhane lifted her head and one wing to reveal Bren, tucked safely into the crook of her bonded dragon’s leg.
My heart ached at the sight of my mate. Curled up against her dragon’s side, eyes red, and hair nearly as bedraggled as the moment I’d first seen her, I was reminded of those moments when she’d seemed like nothing more than a broken child.
Oh, how wrong I had been. As I stepped forward, Bren raised her bloodshot eyes, and the air displaced by Akhane’s wing made strands of hair flutter around her cheeks and stick to the tears there.
“Bren,” I breathed and rushed towards her.
But to my shock, Akhane hissed and slapped her wing down over Bren, opening her mouth and snaking her head, warning me.
