Chapter Eight #2
I tightened my grip on the knife in my hand, willing myself to focus.
“So, you failed in your attempt to stop Pasnia,” Nikolai mused, his own food untouched in front of him. “Now the God of the Dead walks among us, and you have come to what? Ask for me to pledge my army in your battle against him and his daughter?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
Nikolai visibly tensed when I spoke, as if the sound of my voice took him by surprise.
He met my gaze, hazel eyes burning into mine. “Everything is more complicated than it seems when you’re involved, isn’t it, bird?”
That damn nickname.
After all this time, it still sent trails of fire burning through me.
Kent cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably as he rubbed a hand over the still-healing wounds in his chest. Camilla and Elaina both turned towards him at once.
“Your Grace, perhaps we may be excused?” Elaina asked Clay. “I should check Kent’s bandages.”
Yes, please leave and take Camilla with you.
Kent, however, looked like leaving this room was the last thing he wanted to do. “No, I’ll stay.”
“Kent, you’re hurting.” Camilla frowned. “You’re of no use to anyone if you don’t let yourself heal.”
I dropped my knife, gripped hold of my glass instead. Holding onto a weapon right now was a bad idea. It made it far too easy to launch myself across the table and stab her.
What right did Camilla have to be giving anyone instructions or advice? She was a traitor and a murderer. Kent didn’t need her permission to stay at this table.
“I’m a strategist. I will be here while we strategize,” Kent growled.
My grin was impossible to hide. At least I wasn’t the only one unable to forgive Camilla for what she’d done.
Kent turned to Clay, looking to his king for a direct order.
Clay, in return, furrowed his brow, conflict and concern clear in his features.
He still seemed uncomfortable having to set aside the role of friend for that of ruler.
Eventually, though it looked like it upset him to do so, he nodded. “Let’s strategize then.”
Nikolai barked a laugh. “I haven’t officially agreed to join this little group of yours.”
Kent shifted his weight, putting all of his strength into turning his body to meet Nikolai’s gaze and hold it. Something passed between the two of them, some level of silent understanding that left the rest of the group on the edge of our seats.
“Yes,” Kent said to him after an uncomfortably long pause. “You have.”
Nikolai’s grip tightened on the stem of his glass, the water inside swirling into a tiny cyclone.
A muscle in his jaw feathered before he inclined his head. “Very well.”
My brows lifted. I hadn’t expected him to give in that easily.
Kent’s gaze flickered to mine for the briefest of moments before flashing away again all while Rankor’s head seemed to be on a constant swivel, looking from Kent to me to Nikolai and back.
My jaw ached as I pressed my teeth together and forced more magic to hide another blush.
“Alright then,” Clay drug out the words before nodding to Nikolai. “How many men do you have?”
Nikolai’s gaze hardened, as if he didn’t quite want to disclose that information. “Three thousand on the estate and surrounding area.”
“And outside the surrounding area?” Rankor questioned.
A heavy pause. Another glance to me.
“I can gather ten thousand total,” Nikolai ground out, as if the confession pained him.
More than I expected. Less than we needed.
Rankor sighed, all humor fading away as he focused on Clay. “We have two thousand that survived the battle. It’s not enough.”
“We need allies,” Kent agreed.
Clay nodded. “I’m aware. That’s why I’m going to fly to the Republic of Inanis. The President was no friend to my father, but he’s a good man. I’m hopeful he’ll rally to our cause.”
A smart enough plan. After all, this wasn’t just an Athenian war. If we were going to defeat Hyrax, then all the Mortal Realm would need to stand with us. We would need to join forces with the other nations.
There was only one problem with that course of action, though.
“You’re the king,” Camilla said to him, once again reminding me of her unwanted presence. “You can’t be the one to go.”
“And who would go in my stead?”
“I will,” Rankor volunteered.
Clay shook his head, tucking his hands under the table to hide where the claws were emerging. “Rankor, you’re a warrior, not a politician. I need you here. I need you building an army and making sure they’re efficient.”
Well, if not Rankor then…
“Elaina and Camilla have already been tending to the injured. The people are looking to them for support. I need them managing the healers, overseeing the common folk. I need them keeping everyone calm,” Clay reasoned aloud, his eyes staring aimlessly at the ceiling above us.
Right. So, not Rankor. Not Elaina nor Camilla.
That left Kent.
He was still healing, but he was by far the most level-headed of our fledgling government.
Kent nodded his understanding, moving to stand. “I’ll begin preparing.”
“Sit,” Clay ordered, the command undeniable.
Next to me, Nikolai leaned back, draping an arm over the back of his chair and watching us in that silently assessing way he did.
“Kent’s the best choice,” I agreed, forcing myself to look away from him. “Eloquent, rational. Frankly, he’d probably be better at getting allies than you would be, Clay.”
Clay’s jaw worked as he looked down at the untouched food on his plate. When he lifted his gaze to meet mine after a moment of hesitation, the gold in his eyes was luminescent.
“I would like Kent to ensure the line of succession.”
Rankor choked, coughing intensely. “What’s that now?”
Heirs.
I hadn’t even stopped to think about that. Clay was our Dragon, our king, and he didn’t have anyone to take the throne if he was injured or Gods forbid killed.
He was unwed, though. Even if we held a ceremony for him and Elaina tonight, which Clay would never agree to anyway, they would need to get pregnant. That could take months—years if they were unlucky.
So, Clay couldn’t produce an heir just yet, which meant…
“Your sisters,” Kent realized.
Clay nodded. “They’re next in line. Which makes them a target to Hyrax or any other nation that wants to claim my crown when this is all over.”
Clay had two younger half-sisters who were attending school in Copun, at the edges of Athenia. Princess Ezmie, at seven, was the eldest of the two and Myla was only four. They were children.
And Clay was right. They were in danger.
“You and Rankor will go get them and bring them here. Gather as many men as you can while you travel.”
Kent nodded, but his face had turned contemplative—pained for some reason that had nothing to do with the healing holes in his chest.
“What is it?” Clay’s brow furrowed as he looked at his friend.
Kent’s mouth opened, then closed as he considered. He turned to Rankor, who seemed to mirror his expression.
“Our families,” Rankor said with worried eyes. “Kent’s mother and sisters. My brother.”
Clay nodded, immediately understanding and not even stopping to consider. “Get them as well. Make sure they’re safe.”
I sighed, tracking over the plan. “So, it’s settled. While we wait for Thea, Kent and Rankor will gather an army, get their families, and secure the princesses. Camilla and Elaina will maintain leadership here. Clay and I will get allies.”
There was a sense of relief in saying it out loud. All of a sudden, we weren’t just living moment to moment anymore. We weren’t just surviving. Now, we had a plan. There was something to do. Some way for each of us to fight back.
“Actually, bird,” Nikolai’s voice captured my attention. “I have need of you.”
Unintentionally, I gulped, my back going rigid as the room seemed to swiftly warm.
No.
Absolutely not.
Whatever he wanted, I would not agree with that.
“You see,” Nikolai addressed Clay directly, even as I shot daggers at him with my eyes. “Last year, I gave your lovely cousin one of the Blades of Arto, and I have a theory about where I can find more.”
The room stilled, everyone all too aware of the tension between Nikolai and I and all apparently on the edge of their seats as they waited for Clay’s response. I bit down on my lower lip, steeling myself as Clay sent another one of those apologetic head bows towards me.
Well shit.
The Blades of Arto were weapons forged by the God of War himself—magically blessed to cause destruction. Everyone at this table knew just how valuable those weapons would be in a war.
They were valuable enough to send me with Nikolai if it increased the odds of us getting our hands on them.
Nikolai shot me a smug smile.
“Very well,” Clay agreed, throwing his napkin atop his plate with an air of finality. “There’s just one last matter to consider.”
“And here I thought this was all coming together so easily,” Camilla muttered.
This witch was just begging to get stabbed.
“Funding a war doesn’t exactly come for free,” Clay said, his shoulders falling. “I obviously don’t have access to the Royal Treasury at the vault right now.”
“Hypatia Manor should have some chests,” Camilla offered. “I suppose it’s mine now.”
Elaina nodded. “I could write to my parents?”
Nikolai was staring at me. It was making it impossible to think and strategize with his eyes continuously trailing over me and his tongue darting over his lower lip and fuck did he have to be so attractive at a time like this?
“I have an idea!” I spat out the words, impressed that I didn’t sound half as flustered as I felt. With a growing grin, I turned and met his gaze head-on. “Any chance the things in my room are all still there?”
Those amber-ringed eyes sparkled. “Everything in our room is just as you left it, wife.”
My core heated, and some distant part of me registered the sound of someone coughing at his words, but I couldn’t bring myself to try to figure out who it had been.
“Good,” I breathed. “Because there are certainly enough jewels in there to get us started.”
I felt his eyes tracing over me like tiny snowflakes falling across my brow, eyes, cheeks, and lips. I forced myself to stay still under the weight of his attention and didn’t look away as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
“Do with it what you want. It’s all yours, anyway.”
All of my friends could have up and left the room in that moment, and I wouldn’t have even noticed.
“I do have one request, though,” he murmured quietly, the words meant just for me. His breath tickled my cheek as he continued leaning towards me. “There is one particular necklace I’d like to keep.”
The memory punched through me, shooting me with a spark of desire so strong I had to press my thighs together.
Nikolai’s hand grazed the skin under my collarbone, lingering there for a moment too long. “You seem to at least appreciate the jewels.”
Green eyes flecked with rings of gold stared at the ruby necklace across my chest.
“One day, I’d like to see you with these jewels and nothing else.”
“That day will never come.”
“Oh, I think it will, my darling bird. I think that day will come sooner than you’re ready to admit to yourself.”
I was so screwed.