Vander’s laugh echoed in the dark corridor of Mount Telum as he threw his head back, and I felt it in my very bones. No wonder Lyvia was so close to him.
“What can I possibly do to make it up to you?” he asked, pausing and turning toward me as we reached the door to the Grand Council chamber. A flush tingled up my neck as his eyes landed on me, and I shrugged before shaking my head.
“I’ll think of something,” he murmured.
I moved to open the door.
“Until then, consider me in your debt.”
His grin widened, and butterflies chased in my belly. I pushed the chamber door open. My eyes lingered on his a moment longer. Ronan stood at the head of the table in his usual place, arms crossed as he stared down a tall, domineering man standing across the room. Ronan’s face shot to where we stood, his light brows narrowed as they landed on Vander, still standing in the hall.
“Van.” He nodded at him.
Vander adjusted himself and nodded in return before dipping into a soldier’s bow. He straightened and winked at me before the door slowly closed. I smoothed the wrinkles on my teal tunic as I strode to the table. My gaze slid to the older man.
A grimace stretched across the soldier’s weathered, olive face. Wavy, salt and pepper hair gathered at his shoulders above a dark gray formal jacket. He turned toward me, and my eyes caught on the silver pin displayed above his heart—two crossed spears encased in a circle of waves.
“Evony Hunt,” Ronan gestured toward me before pulling a seat out. “Evony, this is Lord Jon Pavel, Commander of the Khasimir Fleet.”
I blinked, snapping my face in the direction of the powerful lord once more. Lyvia had told me about Lord Pavel. She’d grown up with him, her father’s confidant. His forces were absent when we camped at Khasimir last year before taking Aedrialis because they’d sailed north to intercept Dark King Daimos at Stynguard. He’d saved the university city.
“A pleasure, my lady,” Lord Pavel murmured. “But I’m afraid I need a word in private with the high steward?—”
“Evony is my ward,” Ronan cut in, his sapphire eyes sparking in the dim room. “She stays.”
Lord Pavel held Ronan’s gaze without flinching before nodding to me once more.
“Then let’s begin.”
Ronan adjusted the satin sheet covering the orb in the center of the table, eyeing it with distrust.
“There’s no need,” Lord Pavel murmured as he took a seat and crossed one leg over the other.
Ronan paused, narrowing his eyes at the lord.
“The orb won’t work,” Lord Pavel explained. “With the rubelline activated in Mount Telum, the queen across the sea cannot spy.”
My brows hiked to the ceiling, and I let out a tight breath.Well, damn.
A muscle ticked in Ronan’s jaw as he stared at Lord Pavel.
“All right,” Ronan murmured before clearing his throat. “What else do you know?”
Lord Pavel tilted his head as he surveyed the ex-queensguard. “I know you are not who you say you are.”
Lightning flashed in Ronan’s eyes, and a sharp defensiveness tightened his features.
Pavel waved his hand. “It’s my business to know,” he murmured, “And I care not. I’ve sworn allegiance to Prince Owyn.”
Ronan stilled as the name left Pavel’s lips, and the bags beneath his eyes seemed to darken.
“As far as Mount Telum goes,” Pavel continued, “I assume you’ve come to learn Saros created a magic nullifying device by constructing the castle out of Larimer stone?”
Ronan’s jaw twitched, but he nodded.
“Good,” Pavel continued without waiting. “You killed Saros, which, I might add, was a mistake. You could have easily caged him with a rubelline cuff or collar.”
Ronan’s face remained passive, but his knuckles whitened.
