Page 101 of Commanding Scythe and Sky

“And yet my predicament remains the same.”

“So you stay neutral to avoid cutting down your own kin in hopes of what, exactly? Coming out unaffected?” I shook my head, pouting at him. In my most saccharine tone, I drawled, “Hate to break it to you, boys, but the horsemen are coming for all of us. One way or another.”

“What is it you were hoping we’d offer to persuade you, Cadoc?” Ciaran pressed. “Clearly, you had something in mind when you came here tonight.”

“First, to thank you for bringing your forces into the square. We might have a hold on the city again.”

“Then grant us your allegiance. Fight with us. You’ll find I’m rather inclined to protect my people,” August stated flatly. But the fire in those haunted eyes said more than he intended. Desperate. My brother’s need to reach his mate—to follow her orders—had grown desperate.

“A negotiation, then. Considerations, if you will.”

“What kind of considerations does doing the right thing require?” August bit out.

“A reinstatement of our prior alliance with the Southern Paladins.”

“No,” Ciaran said firmly. “No. My daughter has found her partner. Unless she wishes otherwise, a marriage alliance is off the table.”

“I’m not sending my son off to shackle himself to a female inclined to bed women,” Cadoc laughed. His eldest son, however, rolled his eyes before sending a dry smirk in my direction. “What a miserable existence for them both.”

I glanced at my companions, finding confusion pinching Ciaran’s brow while Cyrus’ face rapidly paled.

“I think the young queen’s hand would rebalance the power between our people. Do you not?”

I lifted my chin, spine straightening as that smarmy smile cut back across his rugged features.

“You’ve lost your mind,” August snapped, stepping forward to put himself between me and our rival cousins. But his words still reached me through whatever cotton filled my ears the moment Cadoc put his demand on the table.

So. Reagan had bartered Cali’s hand to one of these manchildren, then broken the deal so she could be with Jo.

I guess she wasn’t always the equivalent of a walking yeast infection. I glanced at Cyrus, but he firmly fixed his eyes on his boots, his jaw tight.

My brother, however, was livid, lightning dancing down his veins as he scoffed. “I am not bartering my sister like property, you ancient fucking gargoyle.”

I snorted, smirking at him as sparks flickered in his eyes.

The man was two seconds from going nuclear, and Cadoc had the balls to turn his focus to me. “If reputation is to be believed, the queen is plenty capable of making those decisions for herself.”

Again, I glanced toward Cyrus. Look at me. He didn’t. Didn’t give any sign he’d heard me mind-to-mind.

“Atreus is the highest rank in our hierarchy—both in magic and skill behind a blade. He shares that… ruthlessness you’re allegedly so fond of.”

The man in question dipped his chin in my direction, a sly tug to his mouth as though he weren’t being offered up like a prized pig at the county fair.

“I don’t care if he’s the goddamn messiah. Freya’s hand is her own to give,” August snapped.

Cyrus… did nothing. Said nothing. And something inside me cracked irreparably. Well. At least now I knew.

“If you’re the kind of man who bends women to your will for some sick power play, I don’t fucking want your alliance anyway,” August continued. “But I think you’ll find me less hospitable the next time our paths cross.”

“You call this hospitable?” Cadoc scoffed.

“The age of neutrality has ended,” August ground out as my heart pounded in my ears. “Fuck your ancestry—the bastards mean to enslave all of humanity, and if you think they’ll stop there, you haven’t been paying attention. They will bring you to a knee, Hawthorne. And if you don’t stand with us now, who will be left to fight for you when they come calling?”

“I’ll consider it,” I said, holding Atreus’ gaze as his green eyes brightened in surprise, even as Cyrus’ face finally snapped up to mine.

August didn’t seem to hear me. “At this stage, you are either with us or against us, and I will not ask another time.”

“August,” I said, louder this time, drawing his weary eyes to my face. “I said I will consider it.”