When he doesn’t answer, I ask Agrippina who’s only too happy to convey his words:He just asked Lorcan whether he should really be putting his general on loan considering the other is on the run. Seaweed’s got bigger balls than I gave him credit for.
Agrippina,I chide her.
What? He does. And that’s a good thing.Her eyes roll over my crown.Fucking queen, Day. Your dream came true.
It wasn’t my dream.
Right.She slides her lips together.You didn’t get your memories back?
I didn’t ask the Mahananda for them.
Will you?
I side-eye the Crow muttering something to Lorcan.I don’t know that I want to remember all that I lost.
Maybe it can give youeverythingback?
He has a new mate, Agrippina.
She frowns.Says who?
He told me himself.
Her frown deepens.And Fallon confirmed it?
I’m not going to ask my daughter for confirmation. Besides, why would he invent a mate?
Because bruised egos make idiots out of men. And women,she adds.
“This decision concerns only my parents,” Fallon suddenly says. “How about we let them decide whether they want to work together?” And then she’s looping her arm through Agrippina’s and tugging her away.
When I glance across the Mahananda, I find Enzo following in their steps.Enzo, are you all right? My mother told me she stunned you.
Without glancing over his shoulder, he gives me a thumb’s up and though I’ve never been on the receiving end of a middle finger, it feels a little like one.
It’s not,he says.
“Daya, if you need anything, you know where I lurk.” Lorcan inclines his head before breaking into his five crows and swirling to the heavens.
Though Cathal and I aren’t alone in the courtyard, his magnetic stare makes me feel like we’re the only two people left in the world.
“Do you want—do you want my counsel?” Though his tone’s flat and the lines of his body as rigid as ever, his fractured speech betrays his nonchalance.
“I’d be glad for your guidance.” I add a smile that I hope will relax him. “Can the Siorkahd spare you until I constitute a new Akwale?”
His vambraces creak as the knot of his folded arms tautens. “Yes.”
“Even if it takes months?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll provide accommodations for you and your mate.”
He suddenly switches to Crow to mutter, “Cruaih.”
My nails bite into my palms. “If you think it’ll make her miserable to move to Shabbe, then maybe you should reconsider?—”
“That’s her name.Cruaih.”
