Chapter 2
Jessiah
Iwish I could say that when Rummy walked through the doors of the study, I didn’t have a visceral reaction deep in my gut. I wish my heart didn’t race. I wish my mind would remain calm.
Unfortunately for me, none of that was true.
“You’re late.” I cleared my throat and tensed my shoulders, standing on alert as she sauntered past me.
But she simply scoffed. “Maybe you’re just early. The sun is hardly below the horizon.”
She didn’t look me in the eye, but I could see the dark shadows lurking on her features. Her hair was messy—messier than usual—and she barely bothered to tie those ridiculously worn boots before coming here. Hells, had she slept at all in the last few days?
You’re staring, Jessiah.
“I’d rather be early than miss something important,” I replied. “Whatever they wanted to meet with us about sounded serious.”
She ran a finger lazily across one of the wooden bookshelves that lined the back of the study.
Years ago, just after the war, this room was devoid of books.
But slowly, the collection blossomed. Volume by volume, piece by piece, the kingdom had grown.
And it would continue to do so. Before long, this entire damn room would be filled with books, stories, and knowledge.
When she turned and looked at me, my thoughts froze. “Tell me,” she started, “do you ever get tired of kissing so much ass? Or does it come naturally to you?”
My temper flared, heat crawling up my neck. She had a way of doing that—of creeping past the fortified walls in my mind. Of tapping on that wall over and over again until it cracked.
“There’s a difference between kissing ass and showing respect. Not like you would know much about that, though.”
She pursed her lips. “Oooh, the honorable Jessiah teaching me about respect. I guess I should be taking notes.”
She shot daggers at me with her gaze. Tempting me. Testing me.
I opened my mouth to respond but was quickly shut down by the door to the study bursting open.
“Morning.” Huntyr—Queen of Scarlata—pushed into the room. My brother Wolf—her husband—followed hot on her heels.
Instinct forced me to stand taller, shoulders back. “Morning,” I responded.
Rummy didn’t have the slightest bit of posture change at the presence of the king and queen. It wasn’t her style. Huntyr had been her best friend since childhood, and Rummy was brought to this kingdom as her advisor because of that.
Yes, Wolf was my brother, but I was raised differently. As a soldier. As a follower.
I also couldn’t deny the sheer power that rolled off the couple. The two of them waltzed forward, and Huntyr situated herself on the golden throne in the middle of the room. Wolf—his massive angel wings included—perched on the armrest.
“We have news,” Wolf started. “The conflict we’ve been hearing of from the eastern kingdoms?
It’s no longer simply a rumor.” He pulled out a folded letter, holding it in front of him.
“We received a request from Pericius—the largest of the eastern kingdoms. They’re calling upon allies to vanquish the rebellion in their streets, and they’re calling for our help. ”
Shit.
Rummy stepped forward and snatched the letter from his hands, scanning it furiously. “You aren’t actually considering this, are you?”
Huntyr ran her hands through her thick black curls—something she did often in meetings like this. “It would be impossible to keep ignoring the conflict in our neighboring kingdoms. We’ve tried to protect the peace here for long enough. If the fighting bleeds to our lands…”
“Vaehatis hasn’t been involved with the eastern kingdoms in decades. Why should we get involved now?” Rummy asked. “We fought our battles. We did our part. The turmoil brewing beyond our borders isn’t any of our concern.”
“Not our concern?” I pushed. “The eastern kingdoms are where it will begin. All it would take is a handful of power-hungry bastards to decide they want to take Scarlata, too. Especially after what happened two years ago. These lands are blessed by Era herself. If you were a king hells-bent on conquering, wouldn’t you want to stake a claim on these lands, too? ”
Rummy met my eye, hers full of fire. In the two years that we worked together here in Scarlata, we’d been at odds. That wouldn’t change today. She was a spitfire, stubborn as all hells and not afraid to speak her mind. It wasn’t always a bad thing, but she was… well, prickly.
And her primary concern was protecting Huntyr. That blinded her at times.
“We’re ready to fight,” I added. “I’ve been training our men for two years now. They can handle a simple request to provide aid.”
Wolf sighed. “The last thing I want is for our people to be hurt or killed because other kingdoms can’t work out their issues. They didn’t show up to help us when the hungry ones took over. Why should we help them?”
I took a pleading step toward my brother. “Because it’s the right thing to do!”
“Jessiah’s right,” Huntyr chimed in. “They’re asking for our help.”
“This could mean anything.” Rummy waved the message back and forth, then held it with both hands and cleared her throat.
“The death of my father,” she read, “has started great unrest in Pericius. Though we have tried our best to stifle this rebellion, our lands remain overrun. We are formally requesting aid from our nearest kingdoms and humbly ask that you send soldiers and provisions. Signed, the new King of Pericius, King Cornelius.”
My gut lurched. I knew things had gotten bad over there. But this?
“This request is vague,” Rummy said. “If we send our soldiers, we have no idea what they’ll face.
Besides, how is a kingdom full of fae going to react when we walk in there with an army of vampyres?
You can’t predict how they’ll react to hundreds of bloodsuckers infiltrating their lands.
” She turned to Wolf and Huntyr. “No offense.”
Tension clung to the air. These meetings had grown more and more intense in the recent weeks.
Two years ago, when Wolf and Huntyr were crowned and the four of us began meeting like this, our problems were simple.
We discussed food sources and which buildings to rebuild first. Our conversations were about hope and spreading positivity and protecting one another.
Now?
Dread seeped in, and with each day the unrest in the eastern kingdoms continued, it crept closer, threatening our peace.
War was coming whether we wanted to be involved or not.
“Let me go. Investigate what’s going on and bring back information,” I said. “As commander of Scarlata’s army, it’s my responsibility to collect all the information I can and prepare my soldiers before sending them to battle.”
Wolf’s nostrils flared. He was protective of me, and I understood his reasoning. He was just as protective over Huntyr, too. Rummy. Every soul in this damn kingdom. If it were up to him, he would put solid walls around it and protect us all with his life.
But it was unrealistic to believe we could be protected from every conflict.
“Let me do this,” I pushed. “Let me help our people. Let me do my job. I’ll take a few of my best soldiers with me, then return with information about what’s really going on beyond our borders.”
Mumbling unintelligibly, Rummy shook her head. I bit my tongue to keep from snapping.
“We should all take some time to think this over,” Huntyr pushed. “It’s a big decision, and we need to have clear minds before we decide to potentially risk the peace here in Scarlata. We didn’t fight this hard simply to waltz into another war without considering the consequences.”
Silence fell over the four of us.
Huntyr was right—per usual. What seemed like such a small request for aid had the potential to shake everything we’d worked so hard to build.
“Fine,” Rummy sneered. “We’ll all think about it. But let’s not forget that we have a perfectly safe and perfectly protected kingdom at peace right here.”
I straightened. “And let’s not forget that creating relationships with our neighboring kingdoms can maintain that peace for centuries to come.”
Wolf and Huntyr glanced at each other with tired eyes. I felt for them. I really did. It couldn’t be easy to hold the weight of these decisions, and I certainly did not envy them for it, even if they held that weight well.
Rummy started toward the door. “Where are you going?” I asked.
Without looking back, she answered, “I’m going to get a damn drink.”
I nodded a quick goodbye to Huntyr and Wolf before catching the door behind her.
The cool night air hit me, a welcome relief from the stuffy atmosphere of the library. I took three strides onto the street, fully expecting Rummy to turn the other way and head toward the tavern.
Instead, she spun on her heel and smacked me in the chest.
“Ow!” I rubbed at the spot over my leather jacket. “What was that for?”
“Are you trying to get us all killed?”
I huffed, incensed. “You really think that mobilizing the army I’ve been training for years in order to protect our kingdom is more dangerous than sitting around and waiting for the war to come to us?”
Her blonde hair blew in the wind as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes. I do.”
Head tipped back, I blew out a breath. “Unbelievable.”
Rummy thought I was arrogant and stuck-up, and that was fine. But to think I would actually risk this kingdom? I brushed past her, tucking my angel wings in as I bumped her shoulder.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she shouted after me.
There was only one way I was going to get everyone on board with helping Pericius, and it started with changing the mind of a prickly blonde woman. “Like you said,” I called over my shoulder, “I’m going to get a damn drink.”
Or five.
Though this place didn’t quite qualify as a real tavern, for all intents and purposes, it got the job done. And with at least forty patrons inside, talking, drinking, and dancing, it seemed they all appreciated it, too.
It was Rummy’s idea, actually. She and a friend, a woman who once ran a tavern in her hometown, opened the place after they made the journey to move to Scarlata. According to her, it was important that we all do more than just survive.
And damn it all, she was right.
These people survived so much. Many of them ran on survival instincts for years. Decades, even. To sit around and laugh, sing, dance? It had been a foreign concept to most of us.
Now, it was a nightly occurrence in Scarlata. In the center of our crumbling town was a circular clearing that became the gathering point for our people. It started after the war, with bonfires and shared meals every night. Slowly, this place became our refuge. Our beacon of hope.
And the best part? We had endless ale now.
Lanterns lined the perimeter of the clearing, accompanied by wooden benches and tables. The lights strung from trees on either side illuminated the area, causing Rummy’s tanned skin to glow as we made our way to the stone bar.
“Rummy! Commander!” The barmaid—Sophia—cheered as we took two open seats at the tall counter.
Behind her, half a dozen wooden barrels lined the back of the small outdoor structure, all filled with sweet, golden ale.
“What a pleasure to have you both here tonight. You’ve been busy, it seems.”
I laughed out loud at her comment. “I’ve been busy, yes. I can’t say the same for Rummy here.”
She elbowed me in the ribs but kept the smile plastered on her face as she looked to her friend. “Hi, Soph.”
Sophia gave her a strange look, eyebrow raised, but quickly moved on. “Two ales?”
“Two ales,” I confirmed.
With one more smirk in Rummy’s direction, she busied herself cleaning off glasses and filling our mugs to the brim.
My mouth watered at the sight.
“You know, in the two years this place has been in operation, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here drinking ale,” Rummy snarked. “You do enjoy life sometimes, don’t you, Commander?”
The words of that last sentence were barbed, the question an insult.
Per damn usual.
I took a sip of the cold liquid and licked the foam from my upper lip.
“My enjoyment typically comes from providing for my kingdom. Not that you could understand that kind of devotion. Not when your expertise lies in drinking yourself half to death and hopping into bed with the first guy who looks at you. This place—” I waved an arm, gesturing to the clearing, to the dancing patrons, to the raucous groups. “—is much more suited for you.”
Her smile dropped. “You know damn well that isn’t true.”
“Isn’t it?” Yeah, I was pushing her, but I couldn’t help it.
Rummy was easily angered, and that made riling her up all the more fun.
She spent her time antagonizing me, finding any pinch point she could.
She deserved a taste of it herself. “You come here, what, every night? Every other night? Sneaking around and getting drunk after the sun sets. Then wander in, looking like you’re wearing last night’s clothing—” I frowned at the hole in the knee of her pants.
“—and whisper to Huntyr about how we shouldn’t help our neighboring kingdoms. Sounds noble. ”
Her muscles went rigid. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“No?” I cocked a brow. “I’ve been watching you for two years, Rummy. I know a lot more than you think.”
She clenched her jaw so tightly, I worried she’d crack a tooth. “You and I are not friends.”
I shrugged, bringing my ale to my lips. “You wound me deeply, I really thought our relationship was heading to the next level.”
She stabbed a finger at me, almost knocking her mug over in the process. Face red, she puffed up, ready to lay into me. But before she could, Huntyr and Wolf appeared, my brother with his arm around his wife’s shoulders.
He threw his other arm over Rummy’s and pulled her in close. “Well, this looks friendly.”