Chapter Twenty-Eight
KADEESHA DIDN’T SEE MALACHI THE DAY AFTER the challenge.
He didn’t seek her out and she woke up feeling and looking wretched, so she stayed in her rooms to avoid being glimpsed in a haggard state.
She attributed the exhaustion that lingered throughout the day to having burned through too much magic without eating properly during or after the challenge feast. Once she regained some vibrancy about her, Kadeesha emerged from her rooms a day later.
She still didn’t cross paths with Malachi that next day or in the subsequent few days that followed.
Nor did she complain when a handful of days turned into a full seven.
She took it as a boon from the Celestials because despite her intentions to stay close enough to Malachi to have access to eventually kill him, she also greatly needed a few days of distance so she could quash the hazardous, conflicting feelings he stirred and make sure their dreadful Markings didn’t become a problem.
According to court chatter, Malachi’s blessed absence was due to the Apollyon king spending most of his time carrying out a full-scale inquisition against fae of several cardinal bloodlines, sparing only those whom a truth rune revealed harbored no ill will toward his reign.
As for those he judged guilty, she imagined he added to the blood splatter that already drenched the throne room’s colorful flowers by holding public executions.
Kadeesha hadn’t been surprised when she’d heard that tidbit float from a group of courtiers she passed one day in the palace halls.
Of course Malachi wouldn’t pass up the chance of turning the complete annihilation of his enemies into a grand affair open to the masses.
She also wasn’t surprised by the other task she’d heard the Apollyon king had been devoting his time to with ruthless focus—he’d cranked up his efforts to hunt down those who remained within the Cleric’s Rebellion.
Even today, an execution was set to start in under half an hour and a flurry of courtiers swept past her, walking in the direction of the throne room and guessing among one another who else from the Niyarre, Tareek, Uma, Windemyr, and Liander bloodlines had been found guilty of treason.
“They are like ravening wolves,” Rassa said, the horror clear in her voice.
The younger female had grown up insulated from the most brutal aspects of court politics.
Her parents were servants in Sylas’s manor house, which was far removed from court and that he’d visit whenever he needed a respite.
Kadeesha had taken to doing the same occasionally, which was how she’d met Rassa, who’d wanted more out of life than to pass an eternity trapped in the monotony of the kingdom’s hinterlands.
However, Rassa’s sequestered upbringing sometimes caused her to forget certain vital truths that were essential to survival.
“Brutality runs deep among fae of any court, ours included,” Kadeesha said.
“The only difference between southern and northern fae is that we southern courts let our savageries play out more quietly and we typically do not make spectacles out of violence.” Although there were exceptions, such as her wedding.
“Right.” A flush colored Rassa’s tan cheeks at needing to be reminded.
“It’s okay. You’re still learning and there’s a lot of knowledge to accrue,” Kadeesha said soothingly.
“I’ve sat in on a couple days’ worth of executions,” Leisha said without a hint of remorse for those whom Malachi was offering up to Nyaxia.
“Everyone who faces execution is a part of the cabal that tried to kill our princess twice and hurt Samira. The swift deaths Malachi and his Cadre are doling out aren’t nearly enough penance in my book. ”
Kadeesha swallowed down the bloodthirsty inclination that she shared with Leisha.
She had let that aspect of her run loose more than enough before and after the challenge.
While it was necessary to go there at times, she was cautious not to make it an ever-present routine response, unlike Malachi who was completely comfortable with it being his default response.
And yet you yearn for him every time he’s near and even in his absence, so what does that say about you?
asked a miserable voice. Kadeesha would’ve liked to shove it and any cursed thoughts of Malachi aside, yet it was an impossible task while she walked among his palace.
Even when Malachi was nowhere around, his very energy seemed to saturate the place.
Or maybe he’d become that extensively lodged into her psyche.
Kadeesha scowled at the latter prospect as she and her Nkita approached one of Malachi’s Cadre.
Since Malachi was preoccupied, he hadn’t been playing escort to Kadeesha and her squadron during training sessions with their kongamatos.
For the last six days, he’d sent one of his inner circle in his stead.
First, it’d been Trystin. The court’s grand duke had stood in the palace’s main entry hall after a servant had delivered a note from Malachi to Kadeesha’s room that informed her of the meeting spot.
She could freely admit that Trystin’s more affable manner while collecting the kongamatos from the aerie and then in the arena wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as ruffling Malachi’s feathers with Zahzah.
Next, it’d been the raven-haired Shionne—the female who bore a blade-sharp beauty and as lethal a bearing hadn’t been unpleasant, but she’d been mostly silent and aloof.
So had the slate-eyed, hulking male with the short golden hair named Dedrick when he’d played escort the next day.
And … once again neither individual was as rousing as having Malachi around; it was a revelation that needled Kadeesha to no end.
On the fourth and fifth days, Nychelle had been downright intimidating as an escort.
The entire time in her presence, Kadeesha hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of needing to impress the regal Ancient fae, and it had been nerve-wracking enough to make her uncharacteristically nauseous during bouts of flying.
She was relieved to see that Jakobi waited for them in the entry hall today.
Leisha, however, had the opposite reaction.
She made a sound of annoyance when beholding the handsome male with chiseled features, locs accented with a silver filigree, and a surliness that made Leisha bristle whenever the two came into contact.
“I would’ve taken anyone but him,” Leisha spat without bothering to lower her voice. In fact, she made sure it carried across to where Jakobi leaned against a tapestry hanging from the wall, hands shoved into the pockets of his dark blue tunic.
He winked at Leisha as they approached. “Too bad nobody gives a shit about what you want around here.”
Leisha palmed the naked battle axes hanging at her sides. When they stood before Jakobi, she took an additional step toward the male and told him, “I look forward to the day when I have an excuse to split you open like a boar.”
Jakobi’s broad, dimpled grin had Leisha working her jaw in a visible effort not to unhook her axes. “Only in your dreams. I am flattered that I take up so much space in your thoughts.” He raked a lascivious look down the length of Leisha that was meant to unsettle her.
Kadeesha assumed he thought he’d induce some appalled or abashed response, and she chuckled as Leisha returned an utterly unperturbed expression and said, “My dreams aren’t wasted on males with an overinflated sense of self that’s surely compensating for them severely lacking in other areas.
” Leisha flicked a pointed glance at his crotch.
Jakobi swiped a thumb across his bottom lip, gray eyes darkening with fury. Leisha flicked her auburn braid over her shoulder as if suddenly bored. “We have someplace to be, so please get on with escorting us there,” she said succinctly.
The Apollyon lord’s lips curled at being ordered about.
However, Leisha had handled him well because he could do nothing except adhere to her command since it was the very reason he’d been awaiting their arrival.
“I have a message from Malachi,” Jakobi said gruffly to Kadeesha.
“He has declared war on the Six Kingdoms instead of waiting for Rishaud to be the initiator. Soon after the solstice, Malachi will lead Apollyon armies in an invasion of the Hyperion palace to kill Rishaud and claim the title of high king, so be sure that you and your squadron are ready to uphold the oath you swore to fight alongside Apollyon forces with your war serpents.”
Jakobi’s announcement wiped any previously held humor from Kadeesha.
“I DID NOT AGREE to launching an assault against southern fae and helping to carry out an invasion against southern lands!” Kadeesha seethed at Malachi when he finally deigned to show up in the study that Jakobi had grudgingly taken her to when she demanded to speak with Malachi himself.
Perhaps a more sensible individual would’ve stopped and taken stock of the deadly air clinging to Malachi as he’d stalked into the room, as if he just barely leashed his most vicious instincts and that restraint would snap at the slightest provocation.
However, Kadeesha had never been intimidated by Malachi and she was too pissed to give a damn about his baleful temper or the fact that it was coming on the heels of him having unleashed his hellish magic to execute today’s crop of fae who’d accrued death sentences.