Perhaps that was a good thing.
Evelyn let out a startled laugh, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Well,” she said slowly, “I suppose it’s a good thing, Lady Hale, that your heart truly lies with Vallenna. Because with that power...” She shook her head and placed a hand over her heart. “I would rather stand beside you than face you across a battlefield.”
Kara lowered her palms and smiled faintly. “That is why we are here.”
Elias stepped closer. “We were fools to ever doubt it.”
“Please, sit,” Tobias said, gesturing to two empty seats that had been prepared near him.
Kara and Sebastian exchanged a glance, and his reluctance surged through her chest. Her hand sparked ice-white as she sent a thought to him.
We should. Your father asked us.
A growl came back.I don’t give a fuck, these people tried to–
I know, but I don’t want them to see us as enemies.
She moved without another word to the seat Tobias had gestured to. Sebastian sat beside her, hand on his sword. The threat clear. Pure hate emanated from him. Kaelen and Serena stayed standing, apparently perfectly comfortable. The conversation began again, stilted at first, edged, the undercurrent of tension too strong for anything else. Cupsof mead were placed in front of them that neither touched. But soon, Tobias and Galen managed to pull Sebastian into their conversation – Caldris were excellent strategists. Kara listened attentively as they talked of formations, where best to hold ground, what this Dracanth could be capable of, how they might be able to counter it. Sebastian told them, briefly, what he had seen in his vision. What might be coming. Henry did not speak once, didn’t even meet her eye, and Kara was glad of it. On the other side of the table, Kara could hear Simone speaking quietly with Evelyn about supply for her ships as a Navyrian messenger slipped into the tent, whispering low. Simone raised her voice, it carrying over the table.
“Word from one of my scouts,” she announced gravely. “They’ll land the day after tomorrow. The tide slowed them.”
“That’s good news, Simone,” Galen blustered. “We have more arriving tomorrow. We’ll have the numbers.”
Kara wished she could feel as confident, but her fear of Sebastian falling–
No.
They had each other. Had given themselves the best chance. She had to hold onto that.
A servant slipped between them, kneeling by the brazier in the centre of the tent. “Shall I bring more logs, my lords?”
Merrick leaned back, red-faced, his mug sloshing in his hand. His mouth twisted into a sneer. “No need. Lady Hale could do it. She knows all about firewood.”
Silence fell.
“W–What?” Kara stuttered.
Merrick grinned, mean-spirited. “Or perhaps not. She is known to run from the flames.”
The words landed like ice over her. One of Merrick’s sons gave an ugly guffaw. The pyre, the smoke, the rope – all flashed violently in her mind before the bond flooded with Sebastian’s rage, the fierceness of it pulling her back before she lost herself. The casual cruelty of it had her frozen in place – she couldn’t bring herself to move, or speak. Galen shifted uncomfortably as Evelyn stared at Merrick, and Elias looked horrified. But none of them said anything.
Sebastian stood slowly, towering over them, crimson spilling over his hands. “If anyone speaks to my bondmate like that again,” he snarled, low and terrible, “I will kill them where they sit.”
Merrick’s sons sobered instantly, their smirks vanishing. Even Merrick himself blanched, but he forced a brittle laugh, lifting his hands as though to wave it away.
“Gods, Thorne, it was only a jest. Poorly chosen, perhaps–”
A jest?
“It was a disgrace,” Tobias interrupted angrily. “You ought to hold your tongue.”
“This was my fault,” Sebastian said, fury rolling off him in waves. “I started this. The Arcanth called and I answered. I took the Shards. Navyrians dead by my hand. Thorne soldiers killed by my blade. All of it on me.”
No. Don’t say that. You did it to save us all.
Merrick’s voice shook when he spoke. “Exactly. Dead by your hand. And we–” his chin lifted stubbornly, “–we allow you here.”
Sebastian barked a humourless laugh. Crimson flared more violently across his skin. “Allow me?” he repeated, his voice deadly. “I do not care what you allow. Without us, you would be ash under Draknor’s fire.”
