Chapter 30
I kneel in front of her. “What’s your name, Sweetheart?”
“Sasha.”
“Sasha, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Kinsley.”
A woman walks up behind her. “Sasha, step away from her.”
I look up at the woman. “She’s not bothering me.”
The woman seems to soften at my words. “Well, I’m sure you have things to do. Thank you for talking to her.” With that she takes Sasha’s hand and pulls her to her feet.
“Bye, Angel,” the little girl whispers and waves. I feel a presence beside me as I watch them leave. I know without looking that it’s Kaldar.
I suddenly remember that he wasn’t too happy with me just a little bit ago. “Are you over being mad at me?”
He blows out a breath. “I want to stay mad at you; but I have a feeling I’m going to find that it’s impossible to do so.” His words are quiet, so that only I can hear.
“Why?” I ask curiously.
He looks down at me. “I don’t know, Angel. Maybe because you’re too nice.”
I can’t help my smile. “Well, we all know I’m no angel.”
“I don’t know, Kinsley.” I expect him to smile, but he doesn’t. Jorren interrupts us then, and Kaldar talks to him for a moment before turning back to me.
“Duty calls?” I ask before he can say anything.
“Yeah.”
He doesn’t look happy about it. “It’s okay, Kaldar. You're a king; I get it.”
“Your Highness.”
Kaldar turns away as two men in long jade robes approach him and talk to him. Jorren steps behind him, putting him near me. “Reika told me what you did,” he surprises me by saying. I look up at him, but he’s not looking at me. He’s watching the interaction between Kaldar and the two men in robes.
“It was nothing; I didn’t even really do anything.”
At this, Jorren turns to face me. His face is so intense, I want to look away, but I force myself to hold his gaze. “My mate and our daughter were in here. It’s not nothing to me.”
I suck in a breath and don’t know what to say to that.
Taren saves me by jumping in. “I don’t know, Kinsley.
First, you saved our king’s life on the way here; and now you saved the lives of the most defenseless of our people.
I’d say Kaldar needs to be careful, or he’s going to lose his place as number one in the kingdom. ”
I scoff, even as Jorren corrects him. “Number one in the kingdom only to some.”
My smile fades, and I look between the two of them. “What are you talking about?”
Taren glances over at Kaldar and then back at me. “Did he tell you what happened to his parents?”
“That they were murdered? Yes.” My voice is equally soft.
“Taren,” Jorren says in a warning voice, but Taren ignores him.
“Our kingdom is a little divided with Kaldar at the helm.”
“Why?” I ask. “He’s a good man.”
Taren nods. “The best, but he’s young. He’s the youngest king our kingdom has ever had.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” I say looking between the two of them.
“It’s not,” Taren’s quick to say. “But for a kingdom that is steeped in customs and the past, it’s difficult. There was already unrest before his parents were killed. That was just the icing on the cake.”
“And now there are people that don’t want to follow Kaldar?” I ask.
They both nod. “There are those who don’t want him to be king.”
“Well, that’s just stupid. Kaldar’s the best person in this kingdom,” I blurt out, causing Taren to smile.
“Spoken like a true mate,” he says with a grin.
“I’m not just saying that as his mate. I mean it.”
Taren nods, his face serious now. “I know, and I agree.”
I lower my voice to a whisper. “If they don’t think he should lead, who do they think should lead?”
Jorren gives Taren a look. When neither of them say anything, I put my hands on my hips. “I’ll just ask Kaldar.” Taren grimaces.
“You’ll ask Kaldar what?” Reika asks, appearing out of nowhere and scaring me to death.
“Good grief, you people move so quietly.”
Reika smirks. “It’s a strength we pull from our spirit jags.”
“Really? I want to learn that.”
Reika scoffs. “With the racket you were making out there, I don’t think it will help.” I frown at her. “What was it you want to ask Kaldar?” I stare at her, confused. “What?” she snaps.
“I don’t know. You just usually act like you hate me.”
She scowls, and Taren and Jorren both grin. “She hates everybody, Kinsley,” Taren fills me in. “Don’t take it personally.” Jorren snorts out a laugh.
“Well, I hate both of you; that’s for sure,” Reika responds without a smile.
When she looks at me expectantly, I try to remember what it was we were talking about. “Oh, I was asking the guys who your people think should be king if it’s not him who they want as king.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “It’s only a small group of people that don’t want him as king.”
I hold up my hands in surrender because I’m not the one that doesn’t think he should be king. “So, who do they think should be?”
“Evren.”
I stare at Reika in shock. “Evren?” When she nods, I look at Taren and Jorren for confirmation. Jorren doesn’t look at me, but Taren gives me a brief nod. “Why?” I sputter. “And why in the world is he on Kaldar’s security team?”
“Ah. Such good questions,” Taren says, drawing out the words. I look between the three of them.
“You all don’t think he should be.”
Jorren just levels a look at me, and I put my hands up. “Okay. Got it.”
“Why is he on the team then?”
Reika rolls her eyes. “You ask too many questions.” She’s gone a moment later.
“Well, that was fast.” I watch her leave, not really sad to see her go. I turn back to Taren. “So why is Evren on Kaldar’s security team? And why do people think he’d make a better king?”
“Because he’s my cousin.” I jump at the sound of Kaldar right behind me. “And his father believes he’s the better choice.”
I turn to face him. He looks between Taren and Jorren. “It’s not their fault. I begged them for answers.” He looks down at me, and I can’t tell if he’s upset or not.
“We were just filling her in on some of the politics at play,” Taren says evenly.
Kaldar looks down at me. “If you have questions, you can ask me. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Why do you allow Evren to be on your security team if he wants to take your place as king?”
He stares down at me. “Because I don’t get a choice.” Then he steps back and cocks his head towards the door. “Come on. We can talk about this later.” He starts towards the door, and I hurry to catch up with him.
“Will we?” I ask when I catch up to him.
“Will we what?” He holds the door for me as we step outside.
“Will we talk about this? And will you please slow down? I can’t keep up with your long legs.”
He immediately slows down. “Sorry.” But he doesn’t look at me when he says it.
He keeps moving forward. I don’t say anything as we walk on the wooden planks past all the homes I saw earlier.
We make it back to the water and onto the wooden walkway.
Several people stop him along the way, but we finally make it back to his house.
He doesn’t say a word when we step inside.
He surprises me by putting his hand on my lower back and gently pushing me towards the bedroom.
As soon as we’re inside, he closes and locks the door. My eyebrows rise in surprise.
“Kaldar?” He turns back to me, radiating an intensity I don’t know what to do with. “Are you okay?”
He continues to stare at me, and I don’t know what to make of it. “Why didn’t you stay inside?”
“We’re back to this?”
His intensity ratchets up another notch. “Yes, we’re back to this.”
“I don’t get it. What are you so upset about? Nothing happened.”
He swallows so hard, I can see his Adam’s apple working overtime. He closes his eyes a moment. When he opens them, his green eyes are more intense than ever. “I heard you scream.”
I frown. “I didn’t scream.” At least, I didn’t think I had. It was possible in the midst of the insanity maybe I had.
“I heard you scream, and I was nowhere near you and couldn’t get to you.”
Oh. Ohh. “That’s what you’re upset about?”
“I heard you scream, and I wasn’t there. When I did get there,” his eyes darken. “You were just about to get burned alive.”
His words paint a picture that is not exactly warm and fuzzy. “I wasn’t going to—”
“The guivre opened its mouth right at your back.”
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
Finally, I ask, “Is that why you shoved me to the ground?” He nods.
“I, I didn’t know.” I think about how the ground in front of us burst into flames, and it all suddenly paints a picture.
A very terrible picture. I’d almost been burned alive.
If not for Kaldar, I would have been. I stare up at him, suddenly feeling like I’m going to throw up.
“That. That right there is how I felt.” He tugs me into his arms and against his firm chest. I close my eyes and listen to his steady heartbeat.
“Thank you,” I whisper against his chest.
His large hand comes up to cradle the back of my head. “You took years off my life today, Angel.”
I’m still trying to recover from the shock of what almost happened today to call him on the endearment. “I didn’t mean to.”
He sighs, and I can feel it in his entire body. His body is so tense, but the longer he holds me, the more I feel his muscles begin to ease and maybe even begin to relax. “Why didn’t you just stay inside?” His voice is quiet.
“I couldn’t. The guivre was coming towards the Grove.
Some of the little ones couldn’t be quiet, and they were leading it right towards us.
If it had blown its dragonfire, it would have consumed the doors and then who knows how many people would have gotten hurt.
” His arms tighten around me, and I feel his body tense again.
“There were children in there, Kaldar,” I say softly.
“I couldn’t let that happen.” I listen to the beating of his heart for a few moments.
“And just so you know, Reika really did try to stop me. And I wasn’t reckless.
All I did was get on the other side of it and yell to draw its attention away from the door.
Oh.” The thought hits me suddenly. “That’s probably what you heard. ”
He blows out a breath, and I can feel it on the top of my head. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He pulls back and looks down at me. “But please. No more heroics. I need you alive.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Says the man who carves out the hearts of guivres.”