So different, worlds different, from how he looked when they played music together.Kai gritted his teeth and banished the memory, scorned it.Ione had wanted an exorcism, but little did she know, he’d needed one, too.
Queen Ione’s icy veneer melted, leaving her suddenly bereft of speech.She clasped her hands behind her back, glanced up at Kai as though this was his job, and then settled on, “Well – Iwouldlike my seleneschal to be the first to know.”Wordlessly she held out her hand, let River peer at the pearl ring.
He said nothing for what felt like hours, his expression running the gamut from confused to furious to heartbroken.And then, with one last disgusted look towards Kai, River pivoted and began down a narrow side path.
“Oh,wait.”Ione lunged, grabbing his arm and dragging him back.“Don’t be like that.I want you to understand.”
He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.“Ione,” he murmured, pained, “I know you’re upset that Lina left.And you’re hurt.And you’re afraid, and you feel helpless because Menon still hasn’t – ”
“You’re describing how I’m feeling well enough,” Ione said dumbly, tilting her head; she was, Kai registered, trying to make River smile.“And yet, you are still mad at me.”
“It’s a political marriage,” Kai said, and why he thought that’d help, he had no idea.
“Don’t speak to me,” was all River had to say back.He leaned the tray against a flowerbed and clasped Ione’s arms, held her in front of him like he was scolding a puppy.Ione, that is a bad man.“Ione – ”
“Look, this was her idea,” Kai threw in, and River visibly seethed.“We made a deal.”
“Donot– ”
“Stop, stop.”Ione wrested herself from his grasp.“Listen.River.I’ve made my decision, and as the warde – as Kai said, it was my idea.”She squeezed his hands, released them, stepped back.“I’m tired, my head is pounding, and don’t want to deal with an argument.So I’m going to disappear for three minutes – ” She held up three fingers in case they needed help.“ – and when I return, I want both of you alive, not bleeding, and past this.”
She left before River could complain, striding off towards a fountain bubbling beneath a trellis of vines dripping with pink flowers.
Kai’s gaze flitted to River’s rapier.“She said aliveandnot bleeding, now.”
“Shut up, Kai,” River hissed back, his tone tinged with remorse.“This is no time to be making jokes.She…” He pressed his fingertips against his eyelids, groaning.“Of all the things you could’ve done…”
Some heady concoction of rage and hurt fluttered in his stomach, and Kai swallowed back a defensiveThis wasn’t even my idea.“Oh, no, did you think this had anything whatsoever to do with you?Did you forget, by chance, why I arrived on Oseidos to begin with?”He stepped around River, a slow circle.Easy, callous; the person Kai had aimed to be.“A marriage contract was… a surprise, I admit.A pleasant one.Mutually beneficial, you’ll see.”
He paused, ensuring River’s sword was still sheathed.“We’ll sail south soon,” Kai went on, “See what money and men can be inspired to help our cause.”Movement made his heart stutter, River’s fingers twitching beside the hilt of his sword, contemplating.“Don’t worry,” Kai said, coming back around to stand before him.“Ione will still need her loyal seleneschals at her side.”
“Oh.”A wrinkle formed beside his mouth, perhaps a grimace, contemptuous.“I’m invited, am I?”
“Unless you want my men guarding her.”Kai grinned, light-headed.“Or, hell, what if I really am the monster you think I am?What if I – what was it you said about me?– use her as a plaything?”
River huffed out a humourless laugh, his fists clenching.“If you think I’ve thought about you for asecondsince that day – ”
“Oh, Iknowyou have.”Kai tilted his head, daring River to unsheathe his sword, to raise his fist, to make the first move.“But don’t worry.You’ll be with her – with us, sorry – every step of the way.”He edged closer, closer, well within range.“Standing off to the side.Pouring tea.Watching.”
A hint of a smile, although there was nothing happy about it.“And waiting.And whispering, advising, when you’re not around.”River’s eyes flashed.“And judging, which goes without saying.You’re really going to let your fiancé walk around wearing a ring Cynthia and I gave her for her birthday?”
Kai reddened, and worse, River’s hands relaxed, fingers unfurling.
Now River stepped closer, almost chest-to-chest with Kai.This close Kai could see the faint but rapid pulse at the base of River’s throat, taste the scathing, bone-deep loathing.Adrenaline thundered through Kai’s veins, giving him that dizzying, out-of-body thrill he associated with fighting, and for a split second he envisioned some alternate universe where he’d lost it, grabbed River by the neck, shoved his tongue into his mouth.
The moment passed, reality winding him.
“Use her, then,” River said, the edge in his voice softer, but no less deadly, “as you use everyone.But you’re right on one account: I’m not going anywhere.”His lips curled into a fleeting, vindicated smile.“Endurance is my middle fucking name, Kai.I will wait, and I will watch, and the moment Ione wants you gone – and she will – I will make you regret ever stepping foot on this island.”
Kai choked on a response that did not come, and River shouldered past him, silent save for a curt, “We’re through here, Holiness,” to Ione as she ambled back towards them.
“Oh, good job,” Ione murmured, coming to stand beside Kai.“He’s mad at both of us now.”
Seeing her calmed him, brought him back down – and that had to mean something, right?“I’ll buy you a real ring later.”
She rolled her eyes.“Is that all you got out of this?I’ve enough jewellery.”She slipped her arm through his and pulled him with her.“Come, we have one more battle to win and then I need a nap.”
Kai looked behind them, but River had already disappeared, the tray he’d been carrying abandoned on the side of the path.“D’you still feel unwell?”
