“There was an attempt on my life this morning.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
“They were stopped,” he continued, voice low, steady. His gaze lingered on her face, searching, as though looking for something he could not name. “You tried to warn me.”
She swallowed hard, forcing the words past the tightness in her throat. “I—I heard whispers. I thought if I came here…”
“They told me you came to the gates.” Something like regret shadowed his features then, faint but unmistakable. “My guards serve me, and so their actions were mine. And I turned you away.”
She shook her head quickly. “Your guards did what they thought was right.” Her voice was so quiet, carefully minding her words as instructed. At last, Val-Theris stepped closer, his movements smooth and deliberate, until the faint glow of the windows cast him in warm, fractured light. The feathers of his wings shifted gently, catching particles of dust in their wake.
“You could have done nothing,” he said. “You could have let whatever was coming find me. Instead, you tried to stop it. For that, I owe you a debt.”
Jesenia blinked, startled. “I didn’t do it for a reward.”
“I know,” he said, a faint ghost of softness touching his mouth. Not quite a smile, not quite sorrow. He studied her for a long moment, and then said simply: “One favor, Lady Jesenia. Anything within my power to give is yours.”
The words landed like stones in still water, rippling outward. A thousand desperate thoughts surged through her head: jobs for her people, safety for the quarter, passage away from Solmiris entirely. She thought of the murmurs in dark alleys, the angry citizens sharpening knives in silence, the refugees’ unrest always one spark away from being set ablaze.
And yet, when she finally found her voice, she heard herself say, softly: “I would ask only for a warm meal for my people.”
Val-Theris’s brow furrowed faintly, as though he wasn’t certain he’d heard her correctly. “A warm meal?” She nodded, forcing herself to meet his gaze. He continued to look at her, stunned. “You could have asked for anything. Wealth. Jewels. Property. Yet you ask for a meal.”
Jesenia averted her gaze, humiliation staining her cheeks red. “I meant no offense.”
For a moment, he said nothing. The silence stretched, quiet but sharp, and Jesenia felt the weight of his attention in every shallow breath. Then Val-Theris inclined his head once, solemnly, as though she’d asked for something vast and sacred rather than simple and small.
“Done,” he said softly.
Her throat ached with words she couldn’t find, gratitude burning hot beneath her ribs. She wanted to thank him, but as quickly she had been summoned, Rohannes led her out of the room, and Val-Theris turned his back to her.
Outside, the city’s unrest lingered, but in the weight of the king’s promise, Jesenia felt the faintest shift in her, that maybe he hadn’t abandoned her people entirely.
SIX
Val-Theris sat at his desk.The ink on the parchment across the table had dried hours ago, unread and forgotten. The reports from the council were stacked high: trade disputes, unrest in the markets, whispers of resentment festering among the people since the refugees’ arrival.
And yet, his thoughts returned again and again to the woman from Lunareth—the one who had shouted his name at the gates, the one who had warned him of a blade meant for his throat.
In truth, Val-Theris and his loyal men had already heard the same whispers and were prepared for any strike in his direction.
She could have chosen silence. But instead, she selflessly tried to warn him.
He lifted his head from his fingers slightly when the door opened and the Angelicus Prime stepped in, the sound of his boots muted by the fine rug.
“My king,” the captain said, bowing his head.
“Rohannes,” Val-Theris began, his voice low, thoughtful. “The foreign girl who was arrested just last night, Jesenia of Lunareth. You recall her?”
“I do.”
“I would have you watch her.”
Rohannes blinked, not expecting the order. “Watch her, sir?”
Val-Theris’s gaze lifted from the papers, the faint light from the brazier catching in his eyes. “Yes. Follow her movements for a few days. Be discreet about it. I would like to know if she is what she appears to be, or if she hides sharper edges beneath all that grace.”
Rohannes hesitated. “You believe her to be dangerous?”
