My slap rang in the room like a gong had been rung.
I trembled from head to toe, all the strength and certainty I’d felt just minutes ago doing its best to drain out of my toes, but I refused to let it go.
Donavyn stared at me, shocked, and trembling.
“You don’t trust me,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “You want me to fail! You want me to—”
He took one short half-step to my toe and leaned down, his nose almost touching mine. “No, Bren.” He hissed. “I want yousafe.I refuse to approve any plan that ends in me holding you while you weep because another man has hurt you when I could have stopped it.Again.”
I jerked back.“Again?What do you mean?”
He grimaced and rolled his jaw, the redness beginning to spread on his cheek where I’d slapped him to match the fury burning in his eyes. But I also felt him retreating in the bond.Hidingsomething. “I only meant that men under my command have proven not to—”
“Bullshit!” I hissed, and almost stamped my foot. I’d forgotten who I spoke to. Forgotten why I was here. He was mylover, and my mate. MyOne.“All this talk of empowering me, all this talk of believing in me, and you seeone thingyou don’t like and order me from it as if I’m a child overstepping her father’s authority.”
“I amnotyour father.”
“You sound a whole fucking lot like him,” I snapped.
Donavyn’s head snapped back and he took a step away.
My heart thundered in my chest and tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to give in to them. He loved me. I knew that. He would protect me. Icountedon it. But I wasn’t working this hard to let him reprimand me like a child simply because it made him uncomfortable.
“Bren—” he sighed, scratching the back of his neck. But I shook my head.
“You can discipline me as the General if you wish,” I muttered. “I will take it because that’s my job. When we’re on mission, you can order me to do anything, and I will give it every fucking ounce of my ability. But that’spreciselywhy I’m training right now—so I can be an effective tool foryouto employ against potential enemies. I’m learning everything I can to make certain I never have to weep because another man made me question myself so he could take my power from me. Ever. Not even you, Donavyn.Especiallynot you.”
He stared at me for so long without responding, and I was so fucking furious, I cursed and stormed out of the office.
It was wrong of me. If he’d spoken to me as the General, I had noright to walk away until I was dismissed.
But he didn’t call me back.
He didn’t fucking order me back, which was entirely in his right.
Why didn’t he call me back?
35. Time to Talk
~ DONAVYN ~
Watching Bren storm out of my office with her chin in the air—without being dismissed—was the strangest combination of pride and fury I’d ever felt. I had to wrestle with it.
On the one hand, seeing her confident, sure of herself and her purpose, was a joy. And a relief. It was about fucking time she started to see herself and her capability clearly.
Butnow?On this point? When she was under the tutelage of a woman who’d already proven she would erode the bond between us if given half a chance?
I’d knownsending her to Diaan was a mistake.
Ironically, under any other circumstances, I would have said the queen was the perfect person to prepare her for what we’d meet in Fyrehold. But I didn’t trust her—and that meant Bren shouldn’t either.
My mate’s confidence might be growing, but her measure of herself against someone like Diaan was still grossly underestimated.
On other hand, she’dslappedme. She really believed I’dlooked down on her? It was true, I could have chosen my words more carefully. But I wasn’t belittling Bren or herallure.Quite the opposite—I was protecting her. She had no ideawhat she faced when surrounded by bored, powerful, rich nobles accustomed to plucking whatever fruit they desired, whether they owned the tree or not. Wealth and influence made the entire continent accessible to these people. They wouldn’t think twice about taking if they believed an offer was so much as implied.
Hell, some of them didn’t need an offer at all.
She thought I demeaned her? Not in the slightest. I knew the men she’d face and how they thought. And I would do anything to keep her safe from them.
