Chapter 14 Heal Quickly #2
“If I ever hear you speak about her in that manner again, I will remove your rank and return you to Vosgaarde via the dungeons, which I will personally lock and invite the torturers to have their way with you until you admit your practices to the king himself. Now, I am an honorable man, Ruin, and your Commanding Officer. Either you speak and make me very certain that you aren’t our mole, or we will have a very, very big problem. ”
Ruin’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head.
“Honorable? You’ve tangled a woman with the dragons just so you can keep her close.
You’re whoring her out to Hanson—don’t think he doesn’t talk to me about what he thinks is happening—and you’d kill me as soon as look at me, even though I’m one of your own men. Honorable, you say? I call bullshit.”
There was a tiny niggle of conscience in the back of my mind. But to my surprise it was Kgosi, rumbling soothing reassurance in my head. ‘He baits you. Do not rise to it.’
I leaned in until my nose almost touched Ruin’s and shook my head. “There’s the arrogant little fuck I’ve always known. Nice to see you again, Ruin.”
He rolled his eyes, and used the opportunity to lean slightly away from me. But I wasn’t done.
“You’re not dealing with petty nobles, or enamored women anymore, Ruin. You’re dealing with me. And let’s be clear: I don’t buy your bullshit. I also don’t take advice on character from a man who forces himself—and his friends—on a woman.”
Ruin’s eyes flashed and he went still.
I nodded grimly. “Everything, is the answer to that question. She’s told me everything. Now the real question is, does your dragon know?”
“My dragon isn’t here. We couldn’t have that many battle dragons in the kingdom. As soon as I realized Akhane was here, I sent Carnage to the border. It’s partly why it took me so long to arrive.”
He met my eyes at that. I measured him but saw no hesitation. “Tell me who you’re hunting, and why here in Fyrehold or—”
“No. And before you threaten me… does the king know you’ve trained a woman?
That you’re giving her power in the eyes of Fyrehold?
Does he know you’re fucking her? Does he know you tied me up—me, a loyal Furyknight and vowed—over her?
Because, and I see you, General. I never would have believed it if someone told me, but…
you’re enthralled.” His tone gave the suggestion as he plowed on.
“Does our king know you’re playing the gentleman and leading her into high society?
Does he know you don’t even pretend she’s not in your bed?
Is he aware that you’ve put the fate of the entire kingdom in the hands of a farmgirl?
Because when Hanson told me you were here with a chit at your side, I didn’t believe him.
Not the great General Donavyn Arsen with all his talk of integrity and example.
He’d never do something so selfish. And yet…
here she is in the king’s ballroom, in a fine gown from the Fyrehold queen, and making nobles dance to her tune—not just you.
” He shook his head and his posture shifted.
“I get it. She had me obsessed for a time. But when it was time for me to do my fucking job, I cut her off because our king doesn’t strike me as the kind of ruler who takes kindly to divided loyalties.
I know where my loyalties lie… Do you, sir? ”
I stared at him, pretending I didn’t want to answer those questions, assessing him for a scheme and waiting to see how he’d respond if he thought I was as fucked up in my priorities as him.
Of course, he smiled. “Seems like we’ve both got secrets to hide—but just like you, what I play with on the side is for me, and it doesn’t stop me being effective. So, we’re both on the same mission, right? You go skull-fuck your little farmgirl and I’ll uncover our mole, and then we both—”
White-hot rage. Searing. And under control. “You’ve healed remarkably well in such a short time since our last meeting—not even a bruise. I was certain I’d broken your nose.”
Ruin’s smile tightened. “Carnage’s power has grown.”
“Good.”
I plowed a fist straight into his nose, satisfied by the crack, even if my knuckles sang with pain. As Ruin shouted, hissing and pitched away, holding his nose—and bleeding—I shook my hand out to try and ease the pain, flexing the fingers, pretending I hadn’t touched him.
‘Donavyn.’
‘It was discipline, not revenge. That was for the disrespect to Bren. Not me.’
Kgosi huffed in my head, but I took his warning and stepped back so I wouldn’t be tempted to lay further hands on Ruin, who’d straightened and now held his nose with one hand while he searched for a handkerchief in his pockets with the other.
“That was a very pretty speech, Ruin,” I said calmly. “I know you can’t smell it right now, but you left the whole room stinking with that pile of bullshit.”
He shook out the white cloth and stuffed it to his nose, glaring at me over it, the bruising already beginning to spread under his eyes.
I had to fight a smile. “Listen very carefully: I am here at the order of the king. To make certain he, and the citizens of Vosgaarde, are safe from anyone who might undermine us. If that is your goal as well, then stop the bleeding because we have work to do. But if I discover that you have other motives, make no mistake, I have been given the authority and will personally slit your throat and drop your head at the king’s feet.
Let him choose who gets to skull-fuck you.
And I would do so without an ounce of concern.
” I raised my chin. “No, the king won’t stomach divided loyalties, but he also knows I have none.
Because he knows me. You? You’re a shiny toy he enjoyed playing with.
But guess whose word he’s going to listen to when we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of him? ”
Ruin’s jaw tightened.
“My advice—which you better take as an order—is that if you’re true to Vosgaarde, you toe the line and do your job, and then get the fuck out of here, praying that I believe you.
Because if I don’t, or if I discover you’re a traitor to the crown, it will be my pleasure to take nothing but your rotting carcass back to the king. ”
Ruin, furiously working to stop his nose bleeding, glared at me over the handkerchief, eyes blazing. “There is no one more loyal to the Vosgaarde throne than me. I serve it before I serve you.”
“Prove it.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”