Chapter 81
The king raised his arm, silencing me with a sharp shh. “Dinner is served,” he added flatly.
And then the whole ambience shifted.
Leannon leaned closer to Yanik. He laughed, showing interest in whatever she was whispering in his ear.
Amani cackled, hitting Ryvar’s shoulder as she shared a cheeky story about Oscar. Faern was asking Eldric about Emika’s well-being.
The sudden mood change surprised me. It had me looking at each one of them in confusion. Aegir leaned in. “We don’t scheme during dinner. We have meetings for that. During dinner, we eat as a family.”
Family.
I nodded, feeling a sense of respect for their customs. It was nice to have dinner like this.
Everyone was engaged in conversations, eating, cheering, and laughing as if there was no wrong in the world.
My curiosity about the term others did not leave me be, though.
Aegir seemed to have noticed as he leaned in once more.
“I’ll show you after dinner. I have something planned. ”
I couldn’t not smile at him. “Thank you.”
“So, Wildheart, will you tell me how my horses fare?” Semuel asked, placing a chunk of sauce-drenched meat in his mouth. A small smile appeared on my face, yet my heart ached for her. “God, I wished I could have written to you, to my mother.” He ended his mumbled sentence, glaring at Ryvar.
I wished that, too. “Oh, they’re all right. All at the main stable…except for…Cinnamon. She’s at the orphanage with Linda.”
His brow lifted. “How so?”
“We journeyed west, and I asked Selmira to take care of her until I returned. I didn’t want to risk her in case I got caught.” The mere reminder of my encounter with the Naaris made it hard to swallow my food.
“I see you still ride her, then. And I’m curious, how did you manage to take her from the main stables? Did Ismail sneak her out for you?” I did not like the cheeky tone used for the latter question.
“No…Semuel…Cinnamon was injured.”
“Injured? What happened?”
“She tore a ligament during training and weeks later was scheduled to be put down. But I took her from the main stables and hid her in yours. She’s all right now. Healed.”
“You saved her life,” he said proudly. “You have no idea how many times Faern and I contemplated bringing you here. But we didn’t want to put you in danger, and I was sure that my horses would be safer in your hands. Turns out I was right. You saved my mare.”
“We did,” I replied, giving a proud smile to my soulbound. Then I looked at Semuel and said, “And by the way, she’s my mare.” Semuel barked out a laugh.
“She had always been kind of yours anyway. So, will you tell me how you two met and all?”
I gave him a small smile. “I was also his servant.”
Leannon cut in. “A servant queen. Well, that’s ironic.” She ended her comment with a giggle.
Aegir let out a low chuckle. “Oh, don’t be fooled. She still acted like a queen. Bargained like one, too.” Then he looked at Semuel and said, “I tried to put out some flame once and she almost took my head off. Asked me to change rooms if it bothered me.”
Shit. That.
“You lodged in my room?” Semuel asked, raising a brow at Aegir. “Wait, did you two do it—”
I ignored Semuel’s question and in a low voice said, “Uh, Semuel, I—I took the flame, but I swear it was a lifesaver. I was never once in the dark. I’m sorry…but it’s here, I’ll give it back.”
“That flame burned for the people of Ilma and you are their queen. Keep it, Wildheart, you deserve it.”
I gave him a heartfelt smile. “So…you two have been here all along?” I asked.
“We have. Faern and Leannon are longtime friends. We had mutual ideas on many aspects regarding this cause, and she asked us to join her. I won’t say I was surprised to find that it was Hydrans who led it.”
I turned towards Aegir. “And you—you didn’t tell me you knew Semuel.”
“Well, I couldn’t tell you about any of this back then. I was planning on telling you when we came here, though. I knew you would have agreed to it even if you didn’t yet remember who you were. Cordelia Wildheart fights for others.”
I reached for his knee.
“I still can’t believe you’re all here. We’re all here.” I wished Cinnamon, Sabi, and Nadya were here, too.
“Tell me about it,” Marshen agreed, clinking his glass with mine. “I’m only alive because of her,” he told Semuel.
“I heard about the execution quarrel. You didn’t climb the ladder, Sir Deucane; you high-jumped from condemned to royal advisor. As did you, Wildheart. Leaping from servant to queen.”
“Who better than an apex predator of the sea to advise on the protection of Ilma?” I replied, clinking my glass with Marshen’s.
“Very impressive. And the balls to defect from your king like that.” I could feel Ryvar’s eyes piercing our way, but Amani saved the day.
“Oh! Aegir, I almost forgot.” She threw something at him, then another. It was impressive, the way he caught them midair, no distinction in dominance between his left and right hands. “I knew it couldn’t just be the wine,” Amani added.
Aegir handed them both to me. They were the size of large dates and fit my palms perfectly.
I blinked in surprise as I brushed their material with my thumbs.
Their texture was similar to rock, but their transparency resembled that of glass.
And embedded inside both was a hexagonal piece of metal with small inscriptions on each of its six sides.
“They’re intriguing. What are they?” I asked.
“They’re thermal talismans.” He took one of them from my hand. “Carrying one of these would keep you warm. It takes a while to kick in when you first wear it, but once it adjusts, there’s no way you’ll feel cold. I’ve had Amani make them for you.”
I gave him a puzzled look. “When? I was with her all day.”
Amani barked out half a laugh. “Bah. You think I can make those in one day? Girl, it took me one week to get them both ready. Oh, and to answer your question, I believe he sent me the letter around…three months ago, was it?” My head snapped towards Aegir and…did he just blush?
“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of—”
Amani’s burst of laughter had my attention. “Oh, poor Aegee is flushing.”
“It’s because I was holding the talisman,” he snapped, replacing it in my free palm. I found my lips to have curved upwards.
Leannon gave Amani a piercing look. “So you’re telling me that you’ve had the solution to my freezing ass all this time and you kept it from me. My birthday is a week from today, I’d better be receiving one of those.”
“How did you think the castle’s kept warm, Lee?” Amani replied flatly.
“Why two?” I asked Aegir. Were they fragile?
“One for you and one for Cinnamon.”
My eyes tingled. I wished we were alone; I would have kissed him if we were.
Ten servants entered the room like an army of ants and made every plate disappear. They returned, placing a piece of the best lemon cheesecake in front of us.
“It’s rather late. Meeting’s adjourned to a week from today, same time,” Ryvar announced. “Don’t be late,” he added, looking my way. Then he showed us his stiffened spine and with a trailing green cloak, exited the meeting room.
“Happy birthday to me,” Leannon grumbled beneath her breath.
Chairs groaned as the revolutionaries rose around the table, one by one.
Eldric passed by me and I turned his way. “Hey, I w—” My face fell. He did not look my way. He just left. Left, just as I had done.
Aegir placed his palm on the small of my back. “He’ll come around.” I gave him a small nod, doubting his comforting words.
“We’re going out for a drink—you guys want to hang?” Faern asked.
“You have to come,” Semuel said. “There’s a nice spot near—”
“Yes! You have to,” Amani boomed, wrapping an arm around mine.
“Not tonight,” I said. I wished to know what Aegir had planned for us. “But tomorrow, the three of us can spend the whole day together, like the old times,” I added, giving a warm smile to Semuel and Faern.
“Then tomorrow I’ll take Oscar and Stormy out for a hunt,” Aegir said. Amani frowned. “You can come too,” Aegir added, looking at his sister.
“Of course I’ll come, I don’t need your permission.” Amani crossed her arms.
“Who’s Stormy?” I asked.
“Oscar’s shadow.” I raised a brow. “His dog.”
“Oh! Why don’t you take Marshen with you as well?” I suggested.
I think Marshen was finding the right words to kindly decline, but Aegir beat him to it. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”
“I’m more of a fishing kind of guy,” Marshen mumbled.
“Well, tomorrow you’ll be a hunting kind of guy. It’ll give us time to go over that bargain we left unsettled.”
“Seems like plans are set then,” Amani said, placing her arms around Semuel’s and Faern’s necks. She made them follow Yanik and Leannon. Marshen trailed behind, then closed the door behind him, giving us the privacy I was craving.