Chapter 28 Afterglow
SOUNDTRACK: On the Run by Katie Garfield
~ YILAN ~
We took more time than we should have, washing in the pools afterwards.
But I couldn’t bring myself to care. My body thrummed with spent pleasure.
The heat of the pools made my muscles loose.
I was languid and half-relaxed for the first time in weeks.
Melek clearly felt the same. When we got out of the hot water, we were both steaming.
He laid out his cloak, and we lay out for a time to cool off.
As we lay there on the ground, my head on Melek’s shoulder, his arm around me, I sighed.
“What is it?” he asked in that low rumble that vibrated under my ear and made my heart swell.
I swallowed. “I know I should be grateful, but… Why do you think I’m not pregnant yet? Diadre is, and apparently Istral as well. The midwife Diadre saw said you’re all very… fertile,” I said with a twist to my lips, to hide the sudden pinch of fear in my chest.
Melek’s great chest rose and fell under my hand. He turned his head, and kissed my hair before he spoke.
“I don’t know,” he admitted gruffly. “But frankly, I’m glad. I’m not sure I could bear the weight of another precious life that might be lost through my decisions.” He hesitated, then added. “Like Jann. He’s tormented right now.”
I knew he didn’t want to question Jann, but I was growing more and more uneasy. “Jann is a—”
“Jann is terrified,” he said bluntly, cutting me off.
“All the more reason we should at least consider that he might be swayed.”
Melek shook his head. “My brother would never betray me. I know it.”
“How can you know it?”
He grunted. “Do you think Diadre could ever betray you?”
“Of course not! She’s not a yellow-eyed Neph though!”
Melek frowned, but a moment later he shook his head again. “No. If I can’t trust Jann, I can’t trust anyone.”
“You can always trust me.”
He turned his head enough to look at me from the corner of his eye. “You’re a part of me. That’s different.”
We stared at each other, and my chest tightened. I wished there were no other demands on our time or energy. That we could just lay there together until we wanted to leave. Then fall into bed in the palace, and love each other again and…
“Remind me why we’re doing this?” I sighed. “Why we don’t just fly away and let the Neph submit to Lucifer and—?”
“Because as long as that evil walks the world, and we have a way to fight it, we couldn’t forgive ourselves if we abandoned others to them,” he growled.
I nodded, but hugged his chest harder.
Melek gripped my hair, and pulled my head back to force me to meet his eyes. “Also remember this: No matter what, no matter who, no matter how… I will always protect you over any other. You are my mate. My wife. My queen.”
My heart fluttered with a mild panic. I couldn’t resist. I pushed up on his chest and straddled him, pulling his face up and kissing him deeply, then staring deep into his beautiful emerald eyes.
“I think you meant I’ll protect you,” I murmured. “Because you are very, very good at looking after others, my love, but your self-preservation is for shit.”
Melek huffed and I grinned, though my heart sank because it was true, and we both knew it.
~ MELEK ~
Two hours later, I had to ask myself if that little interlude in the forest had been a dream.
We were deep in the caverns again, surrounded by the growing troops that our Neph allies flew over the Raven Peaks in shifts. But, those trips grew further and further apart, as every Neph warrior had taken more than one traverse now, and they were worn out.
The path through the Raven Peaks on the northern end was easier—the weather not quite so brutal.
The flight out of the mountains was longer, and complicated by working in teams and carrying slings between them.
We couldn’t send more than a handful through at a time.
Neph made regular trips to Meyrath for slaves or trade, and a group or two of Neph carrying burdens back from the human nation wouldn’t be remarked upon. But if entire legions flew together?
In short, while our army grew, so our risk was heightened.
We needed to get the last of the allies across the pass and into Ebonreach, then let them all rest until we could find the right opportunity to overwhelm the city.
As Yilan and I met leaders, negotiated with allies from other kingdoms, and shared our vision with the new fighters, it all became something of a blur.
By the time we headed for our camp in the tunnels, it was very late and we’d only have a few hours sleep before that meeting. Then I caught sight of Hever arriving in the early hours near the tunnel mouth, and pushed aside my discomfort long enough to pull him aside and ask him a question.
“Are there any plans for Solstice? Events we might make use of to enter the city unnoticed? Have you heard anything?”
Hever’s unnerving eyes drifted from me to the tunnel behind me. He was an incredibly still man, who only moved with purpose. “There are whispers that the Fallen will bless the King, but nothing concrete. Do you want an idea planted?”
“No,” I said hurriedly. I was still on the fence about whether to trust Hever with details, though I suspected we could. And Jann was convinced.
Hever’s lips thinned. “Then, I can only affirm what you’ve likely already considered: the Solstice ritual power is of great use to the Fallen.
Lucifer will likely glut himself in dark worship—probably involving Gall.
Add to that, most of the Neph will get drunk…
the picture becomes clear that many of Ebonreach’s powerful males will be distracted on that day, and those leading to it. ”
I nodded, but didn’t add to his summary.
Hever waited a moment, meeting my gaze, but when I didn’t speak further, he sighed. “I will assist when you have plans. Whatever you’re willing to share. In the meantime, if I hear of any firm plans, I’ll make sure you’re informed.”
“Thank you,” I said, then bid him farewell and beckoned Yilan to follow me into the tunnel.
She waited until we were much deeper into the dark, before checking over her shoulder. “That male gives me the heebies.”
I grunted. “The question is whether he’s just mysterious, or actually dark.
Either way, we can use him. He has a unique position with the Fallen, and a great deal more freedom than other Neph.
He already knows we’re gathering an army, and that hasn’t been revealed yet.
Do you think I should trust him with other details? ”
“Do you want to?”
I walked on for a long moment before I answered. “That’s the problem. I don’t know.”
“Well, you decide, my king,” Yilan said with a half-smile and a sly look from the corner of her eye. “I’ll follow your lead.”
I snorted. “I thought we weren’t lying to each other anymore.”
She slapped my arm and I pulled her to me, wishing we could be back outside in the mineral pools and away from… well, all of this.
She obviously felt the same, because she leaned into my side as we walked, and when we reached the camp and our furs, she never strayed out of reach.
Both of us were comforted by each other’s presence.
As we settled into the furs for sleep, I did consider what my mate would do if Hever were revealed as a spy. How she might take her revenge.
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, or shudder.
“What’s wrong?” she said, sensing my tension as we curled up together.
“I was just thinking about what you’re capable of, and glad you’re my mate and ally, and not my enemy.”
“Not your enemy anymore,” she reminded me with a slow smile.
I kissed that smile away, then later cursed the echo in the tunnels that forced me to love her quietly, or announce to the entire army how stimulating she was.