Page 86

Eravic stood beside her, a Vaelor carrying blood he did not yet understand, and made the same promise.

They would protect me.

They would find me when the time came.

They would give me what had been preserved.

They would do it because they owed her that.

Because Ryaran had saved their people.

Because Vaelors do not lie.

Plans and Princesses

SEVRIN

Sevrin opened his eyes. A wave of irritation moved through him. He was still in bed, still at Kelsey Castle, still without strength.

He smelled her immediately. He had started to grow accustomed to that scent. He was not sure how he had not detected it before. It was specific, neither quite Yorali nor quite feeder. And there was something strangely familiar about it he could not place.

She sat in the same chair as before and looked at him with the same expression and he looked back at her with the same patience he applied to most things that had not yet resolved themselves.

"You are better," she said.

"Marginally."

She rolled her eyes. “You are a king, it is just a scratch. A scratch that would be long since healed if you would fucking go to the Bloodhaven.”

His mouth twitched. “I was stabbed through the chest. It was a little more than a scratch.”

“A scratch nonetheless.”

He looked at her. Her gown was a deep purple satin, her neck smooth. Like Asharin's, he thought.

Without wanting to, he noted her beauty. And her curves. As his eyes moved down her neck to her chest, everything in him went cold.

There it was. A mark he had only ever seen on one other person. A wing of gold etched into her collarbone, the lines curving toward her left shoulder, gleaming against her skin.

The Mark of Forizan.

"There was no point in covering it here," she said simply.

He could not hide his surprise. His shock. So many questions moved through him. How had she hidden this? Why had she hidden it? Did her father know?

Likely the King of Yorali did not know, or he would have certainly used it as a bargaining tactic.

No, this princess of Yorali was many things. Interesting was certainly one of them.

He nodded. "I am not stupid, Ivanoxa. You have clearly let me see it intentionally. Just as you clearly have something in mind, tending to me each day like this. Speak plainly."

She gave a small smirk. "Do not flatter yourself, weak king. I am here in Briavar to strengthen myself so that I can take what I want. The only castle available for such a thing is Kelsey Castle because it connects directly to the Bloodhaven and because it is always where—" She stopped herself. Then continued. "It is where Axar has always permitted me to stay." A pause. "But it is a Rathmor castle. So we must share it."

Sevrin said nothing. She spoke as though Axar were king of Morrath and not him. A different problem for a different day.

"And what are you after? No one here told you to tend to me like a common servant."

She smiled. "To get to know you, Majesty. I looked at your cock while you were sleeping. It is barely acceptable but sufficient enough.”