Her lips peel back further, and she bares her fangs. I know I don’t need to say another word. She has already lost the battle between us. The general made his mind up about the female long before I ever entered his life.
Maybe it’s the sting of the truth of what she said that makes me presson.
“Tell me how it feels to know that the male you’ve spent so many years of your long life pursuing, would rather spend his days, and nights, in the company of a woman who is, as you say, ungifted and will be ravaged by time?”
She levels me with a fearsome glare and burning embers spark to life in her eyes. I should back away. I know I should. And I might, if it weren’t for the officers bracketing me on either side. Their presence emboldens me to impart one last petty jab at the female who lied to me, who tried to keep me from what ismine.
“How little you must think of yourself, to grasp at him with such desperation.”
Siserie bares her fangs at me, loosing a growl that raises the hair on my arms. Though I have no fear of the female, ice spirals down my spine as those embers burst into flame. This is not mere rage that flickers in her eyes, but true fire that ignites, licking across her irises. Every bare patch of her flesh is licked by a white heated blaze that threatens to burn.
My heart races when I hear the woosh of fire, and my eyes flick down to the churning ball of flame that appears in her palm. To my surprise, Toren is the first to act, putting out the confrontation before it truly begins. He spears out an icy hand, grasping Siserie by the throat, his frigid embrace leeching the heat from her skin, squelching her fire with a hissing steam.
The intense rage Iamaccustomed to seeing now burns in Toren’s eyes as he looks down at the wide-eyed female and growls, “Vey’ah?”
“Yes,I dare,” the female spits angrily, pointing a slender finger at me as she tears at the hand the male has latched around her neck. “Sheis nothing but a mistake.”
“The fates do not make mistakes.” His voice is deadly calm.
“They made one,” she growls through clenched teeth, thrusting her finger toward my chest, “when they boundthatto my king!”
“Treason,” Toren rumbles, his grip tightening around her throat.
White veins of ice spread across her face, popping as they engulf what little remains of her fire.
“Toren,” Riah’s voice comes in warning, “leave justice to the king.”
Siserie exhales a misty breath as the ice thaws from her skin, the male leaning forward to whisper a deadly promise into her ear.
“You’ll wish I ended you when he hears of this. Trust that he will have questions of his own, about how exactly it is you have come to know of the lady’s bond tomy liege.”
I’m hardly sure what he means, but it’s a threat the female takes to heart. The blood drains from her face. Toren pins her with a stare as he asks, “Do you still intend to release her?”
I almost forgot. Itisthe reason I came, in part, but I don’t have to think about it. As far as I’m concerned there is only one answer to give him.
“Keep her here until I’m dead. When that time comes, I pass her sentence on to you, Toren.”
So, the male does smile.
Siserie raises her chin defiantly, but there is no mistaking the fear in her eyes or the quiver of her lip. Like Riah, Toren is obviously no friend to the female. The look on her face tells me he will be happy to let her rot for a term no mortal can fathom.
The wretched wail of her anger floods the halls when we make our way back to the light of the higher barracks. I push down thoughts of the strange exchange I witnessed below and focus on why I came.
“Does everyone under your command have a room like Siserie’s?” I ask.
Despite his clear feelings on the La’tari, the male doesn’t seem concerned by my inquiry when he replies, “We build homes for our officers and help provide for their families. The small village you saw above is made up of those families, for the most part. Only the young recruits live in the small rooms of the barracks, but their rooms are far more comfortable than the cells below.
As if he can see the unspoken question lingering on my tongue he says, “How could I ask them to risk their lives for A’kori and house them like criminals?”
I remain thoughtful, considering each of Toren’s replies. He does not balk at my questions and in fact seems comfortable to disclose more than what I inquire about. I try to make sense of the world I’ve only just begun toknow, unable to make it fit with the story I’ve been told all my life about the feyn.
When we depart late in the afternoon, Toren assures me that I’m welcome any time. I can’t help but think the gift of Siserie’s confinement went a long way with the male when some of the lines adorning his face smooth and he dips his head in parting.
CHAPTER 29
THE A’KORI PALACE
Present Day
