“The King and I were forced to separate temporarily,” I said smoothly. A bit of creamed potatoes. “We are united in mind and purpose.” A bite of sweet glazed carrot.
A crash drew our eyes back to the fight in front of us. The terrestrial had wrapped her powerful body around one of the fuath’s claws and was attempting to squeeze it off with the ever-constricting pressure of her coils. It wasn’t going to work.
I kept my eyes on the spectacle as I spoke, underlaying the boredom with command. “I wish to inspect the amorite mines. I am given to believe they are nearby?”
Elayne blinked. At her side, Pant sank back in his chair, huffing out a chuckle that was half sigh.
“Nearness is relative, I suppose,” Elayne said, brow creasing. “They lay to the west, where the Split Sea yields to the Northern Way.” She wanted to ask why I was interested in them. I had not decided yet what I would tell her. When—because the eventuality of the succubus was inevitable.
Eyes still fixed, I withdrew the dagger from the jeweled scabbard on my hip. “How many days’ journey?”
Pant shifted in his seat. To make the sword that hung at his side easier to grasp, I’d imagine. It was treason to pull it on hisqueen, but Arran had told me of the love between his mother and father. I knew firsthand how that particular emotion did not play by the rules.
Meanwhile, Elayne lifted both of her hands to the tabletop and placed them palm-up. Showing she was unarmed. A gesture of submission. “It would depend whether you travel alone or with your human guests.”
“Prisoners,” I corrected. “Would you like to hear how I acquired them?”
An elegantly inclined head.
I stroked my thumb over the pommel, tracing the familiar grooves of the wolf carved there. Another piece of the puzzle that I had not yet unraveled—Arthur had gifted me daggers carved with white wolves… only for me to mate a terrestrial male whose beast form matched my prized blades.
No time for mulling over Arthur.
Or Arran.
Everyone I love suffers.
Find the ice. Bathe in it. Let it seep into your soul.
“One of them slid a knife into my golden knight’s back,” I said, my voice cold. “The other used her feeble magic to lure me into the clutches of my lifelong enemy.”
No one moved. Not even a shuffle of Cyara’s wings.
“And yet you keep them alive,” Elayne said softly.
The battle had reached its zenith. Both serpent and fuath were bloodied. The former had gotten in a few jabs into the tender flesh that was mostly protected by the fuath’s shell, but not enough to inflict fatal damage. The serpent was in worse shape—missing her tapered tail, green and black scales awash with blood that did not seem to clot. Some strange magic of the fuath, no doubt.
But there was still plenty of fight left in the serpent’s dark eyes. Wrath, and a desire to win that went beyond the sentience in the monster she faced.
I already knew how it would end.
I pricked my finger with the tip of the dagger. Lifted it to my mouth. Painted my lips with my own blood. “The King taught me many things about punishing one’s enemies.”
They scented it. Elongated canines emerged, so much more prominent in the terrestrials, revealed as their lips pulled back and their noses lifted to trace the scent on the air. Primal power. That was what they could scent in my blood.
The tick in Elayne’s cheek moved furiously. Enough, she pretended to tuck back an invisible hair to cover the tell.
I doubted the scent of my power was what unnerved her. No, it was Arran—his blood had twined with mine at the Joining. Even now, it ran through my veins. Sat on my lips, red and vibrant and with a power all its own.
“Yule is only a few days away. After, we will send you with an escort to the mines,” Elayne said. To her credit, the strain was barely noticeable.
“After we’ve recovered from the celebrations,” Pant chuckled, clapping his wife on the shoulder, attempting to lighten the moment.
I drained my third glass of wine.
“I look forward to it.” Punishment, Yule, the mines. Let them sort out what I meant.
I leaned back in my chair and watched with mild interest as the fuath ate what remained of the terrestrial serpent.
