“You have been summoned to see the king,” Blake said, ignoring my words entirely, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. Worry crawled down my spine. A flash of Princess Malissa’s face, her father’s anger—all of it rushing back.
“Because Flame—”
Blake held a finger up to his lips, eyes intent as he waited in silence while the maids placed trays of food and drink on the table before the fireplace and finished in the adjoining bathing room. It was only after they’d exited completely and Blake locked the door that he spoke again.
“Flame was already exhibiting Bonding behavior toward youlast night,” he started, dropping his voice lower as he stepped toward me and sat beside me on the bed. “You are an Azure. Tygers tend to react badly to Azures, though worst with shifters. It’s some sort of competitive primal energy. And yins are generally forbidden from Bonding, although, as you can see from the case of Malissa, it can happen.”
“She’s royalty! So, you put me in there knowing there was a strong chance I’d be slaughtered, because you—what? Had a feeling?”
You’ll have to trust that I know what I’m doing.But hedidn’tknow.
“You allowed the tygress queen to escape,” I said, voice catching as the realization rolled over me. My eyes grew wide. “You could have killed me.” My words were practically a snarl.
“And yet I made you the first ever tygress rider,” he replied coolly. “You’re welcome.”
My frustration ticked higher. “I didn’t ask for that. And Flame is the one who chose me. I just want to go home, to Edith. To my life—this isn’t—I didn’t—”
“You belong to the dominion. You are under my jurisdiction,” he repeated, as if the words meant anything to me.
I pushed myself upright, breath shaking. “I don’t belong to you.”
“Yes, you do,” he snapped, jaw tightening as he leaned forward. “You’re inmycommand. You’ll train withmywarriors. You followmyorders.”
Heat flared in my chest as I sat up further. “Make me.”
We were too close. He noticed first, pulling back from our stare-off. He stood, straightening himself back into the cold, buttoned-up intensity of the Ambush Master. The king’s Twin Blade.
“You will bathe, eat, and prepare yourself to meet the king. You will stay quiet and be polite. You will be presented before theroyal court, where judgment will be made on whether they will allow the Bond with Flame.”
Another rush of heat, like it came from outside my body—from my Bond with the tygress. “Flame is mine and I am hers. What is there to decide?”
“I don’t think you understand what is happening here, Azure. Tygers can re-Bond,” he snapped. “If the king rejects you, you may still be executed tomorrow. His Majesty may decide you are ineligible because of your crime, your lack of rank and magical ability, and, most importantly, because you are not a Silver. You must appear before him as a worthy rider of the tygress queen.”
“And how am I meant to do that?”
He huffed a low breath. “Just keep it together if you want out of this palace alive. Stop thinking about your life before, the tavern, the hut you call your home. You’re not going back.” Every word felt like a slap. “With your Bond to Flame, they’ll never let you go alive.”
He stepped away then, toward the door, before pausing and turning back to me. He pulled something from a pocket within his cloak and set it on the bed just near my thigh. His eyes stayed downturned.
“A symbol of good faith,” he said, his voice careful and quiet, still laced with a slight threat. “Don’t make me regret this, Rubi.”
He stepped away again, and my eyes took in the gleam of my ribbons. My heart ached with joy. He must have sent someone to retrieve them and had them repaired.
There was athank youon the tip of my tongue, but I managed to swallow it back. He didn’t deserve my gratitude. Everything that had happened, all the misfortune and fear I now faced, could be traced back to him.
“Nelly will be here to attend you in an hour.”
“Who’s Nelly?”
“And make sure to do something about that.” Blake made a sweeping gesture around his head as he strode toward the doorway.
“My hair?” I called to his back, incredulous. “You’re insulting my hair now?” A thought occurred to me and my voice rose. “Or my face?!”
The door shut behind him with a heavythud.
I let loose a scream of anger into my pillow.
I dragged myself out of bed, pushing through the throb of my muscles.
