“No one will notice if a few dozen blades disappear.”
The royal guard’s chest rose and fell as he stared down at the princess. “Are you telling me that you have been smuggling military weapons off the island to outlying Drathen villages?”
“I only just started.” Sorsha swallowed. “The last time we were here, Alfrigg’s troops were here on patrol.”
“I remember.”
“It . . . made me uneasy. The villagers were defenseless. Most of the able-bodied males have been conscripted to join Alfrigg’s armies, and they haven’t the coin or the skill to forge decent weapons.” She drew in a deep breath. “All it took was a few bribes to load undamaged weapons onto the ship and ensure they never made it back to the capital’s forge. These people should at least have a means to defend themselves!”
“Are you insane?”
“No,” Sorsha shot back. “But, unlikesome, I am not made of stone.”
Adriel stiffened. “It isn’t some act of kindness, princess. You plotting against the crown jeopardizeseverythingwe have worked for. If Alfrigg finds out that you’ve been arming the Drathen people, then what we witnessed tonight will just be the beginning. He could wipe the entire Drathen race off the continent before Kaden even has a chance to make his claim on the throne. For all we know, word of your humanitarian efforts has already reached the king, and that’s why he sent those soldiers here.”
Sorsha’s face paled.
My heart ached for the princess. Part of me yearned to jump to her defense, but with the tension crackling between her and the royal guard, I couldn’t bring myself to intervene.
Glancing over my shoulder, I expected to find Kaden watching as I was, but he’d disappeared.
My insides clenched, and I backed out of the alley onto the main road, where villagers were tending to the wounded or moving them indoors.
I skirted around an older female, who was wailing in despair over a dead body. A bearded male lay in the frozen muck, sobbing and shaking as he stared down at his leg, which had a broken post sticking out of it.
Devastation was everywhere I looked. Villagers were still running back and forth from the well, tossing water on blazing homes. Animals milled between the buildings, looking just as lost and confused as some of the young ones who wept in the shadows.
I scanned the faces of the injured and the dead, searching frantically for Kaden. Every charred building Ipassed without spotting him made the knot in my chest tighten more.
But then I rounded the corner to the alley that led around the back of the inn, and some of the tension inside me eased.
Kaden stood in front of the burning stable, his wings fanned out behind him. He moved one arm in a slow, hypnotic pattern, the flames ebbing toward a corner of the building before he snuffed them out completely.
Underneath the smoke was the stench of manure and the musk of animal fear. Two horses stood several feet away, pawing uneasily at the snow.
I didn’t bother to dampen my footsteps. Kaden’s shoulders twitched as I approached, and his wings sagging slightly as he caught my scent.
He didn’t turn to look at me. Though he’d already doused the flames, he kept his gaze fixed on the smoldering stable.
I drew closer, my hand coming to rest over the hilt of my witchwood blade as a tremor of anxiety went through me.
“You don’t need to fear me, little huntress,” he murmured. “At least not anymore.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Cautiously, I edged around to stand before him, relieved to see that the black had retreated to his pupils. His eyes had returned to that silvery gray I loved, though an uncharacteristic darkness lingered in his gaze.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice cracking. My fingers itched to reach for him, but for some reason, I didn’t.
Kaden sighed. “Ever since Velisara opened the sirebond, my father feels . . . closer. I sense him sometimes,” Kaden said quietly. “Like I’m the only one standing in the street in the dead of night, but someone else is awake, watching.”
I fought back a shudder, disturbed by the notion that Semphrys was somehow still present in Kaden’s mind even when he wasn’t accessing the bond.
“I wasn’t fully myself back there,” Kaden admitted. “I . . . lost control. And when those soldiers came so close to hurting you . . .” He swallowed. “Something in here —” He tapped the center of his chest. “— something that makes meme. . . turned off.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, my heart breaking both for how he’d reacted to seeing me in danger and that I was the cause of his suffering.
“It’s not safe for you to be around me,” he murmured.
“Safety has never been a big priority for me,” I said in a clumsy attempt to lighten the mood.
