And yet ...
Blood and bone. Was he fantasizing about courting Helspira? Was that allowed? “I’m too fucking old for this,” he muttered, head dropping back, as he stared skyward. Gods, it felt as if he walked the same thin sheet of ice as the Red Sentinels.
The flap of an opening tent spiked excitement in him. “Good morning,” he blurted mid-spin and far too abruptly to be considered normal.
A flash of bones emerged, and Benjamin adjusted his red scarf and cloak. “Uh, thank you?”
“Oh, Benjamin, it’s you.” Sikras freed a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “How did—is Helspira still—did she, uh, did she sleep well?”
“The way you’re looking at me makes me feel like I should know the answer to that, but I haven’t seen her since last night.”
“What?” Sikras’s head flinched back. “No, that can't be right. I took her to bed last night.”
“Really?” Benjamin stretched the single word into a long insinuating beat and nudged Sikras with his elbow. “I knew there was something between—”
“To sleep.”
If Benjamin had a face, surely it would’ve fallen. “Oh. In that case, I relinquish my playful elbow nudge. Pretend I’m replacing it with a chastising look of disapproval.”
Too concerned to bat back a witty retort, Sikras stepped past Benjamin and peered into the tent. It was tight quarters, certainly nowhere to escape being seen.
She was gone.
“Hold this for me, would you?” Sikras shoved the bowl into Benjamin’s hands and searched for the banneret.
There was probably a perfectly good reason Helspira wasn’t in that tent. Something totally normal and definitely not concerning, or nerve-racking, or anything that made him question all his life choices in the last ten hours.
The banneret’s baritone voice cut through a cold wind, and Sikras snapped his attention toward him. Rowan paced between two trees, hands behind his back, discussing battle strategy with one of his surviving advisors.
“We don’t know the limit of the arcane protections he’s placed around that village, nor do we know how many living and undead soldiers are inside,” the advisor said. “I say we return to Vinepool, gather explosives of our own, and use our catapults to light up the place from a distance.”
Rowan shook his head. “I don’t delight in the slaughter of those under his spell. It was sickening enough killing those who attacked us outside the gate. We’ll return to Vinepool, yes, but let’s discuss other options along the way. I’d like to spare as many citizens as we can.”
Sikras stopped beside the two. “Rowan. A word?”
Dark eyes scanned Sikras with cautious scrutiny. “Catseye. What do you want?”
Holding up his hands in the universal symbol of surrender, Sikras smirked. “Ease up on that paranoia, Banneret. In a generous act of mercy that Benjamin forced upon me, I’ve decided not to kill you. Say, speaking of paranoia, where’s Helspira? Tell me you didn’t assign her to any scouting. Demons may be resilient, but she’s still recovering from a severe injury.”
Rowan’s chainmail rattled when a scoff shook his chest. “A generous act of mercy? As if you could kill me in your condition.”
“I love you, too. Now, answer my question.”
Rowan’s fingers curled into fists, and he crossed his arms. “The demon is no longer a member of the Red Sentinel.”
Sikras blinked once, twice. “I beg your fucking pardon?”
With a wave of his hand, Rowan dismissed his advisor. The man skirted Sikras’s gaze, as if it would turn him to stone, and he slunk off like a fearful hound. “I thought this news would please you given your discovery,” Rowan murmured. “Or did you forget she was going to give Sentinel Champion Reese a fake scroll?”
“Didyouforget you were standing behind the same rock?” Sikras arched a brow. “You were both in on it, and honestly, the fact that you still want Benjamin dead when he’s the only reason you’re alive speaks loudly. If he hadn’t stayed my hand, I’d be hanging you from a tree with your own entrails right now.”
A low rumble vibrated from Rowan’s throat. “Good. Then you’d rot for tax evasionandmurder.”
“Where’s Helspira?” Sikras repeated with force.
“We have bigger problems.” Rowan narrowed his eyes. “For the last time, focus on your kingdom’s wellbeing.”
Slow steps closed the distance between him and Rowan. “Right now, I’m more invested in Helspira’s wellbeing. This may come as a surprise, but abandoning someone to the mercy of woodland predators when they were recently eviscerated by a halberd isnotgood for someone’s health, Banneret.”
