Chapter Two #2
“If the North decides not to answer, we have to assume Prince Dimitri—or possibly King Dimitri at this point—is going to continue on his father’s work,” said Quinn, who threw me a sideways glance as she spoke, but I couldn’t be upset at the general. She was right, after all.
Though that didn’t dim the bitter taste of disappointment left on my tongue at her statement.
“Right. We can’t assume they will be peaceful if they won’t answer a simple message,” Callum agreed, nodding in Quinn’s direction.
The room broke out in quiet conversation, with even Byn leaning over to ask Laurence a question behind me.
“I can go,” a voice called out.
Teagan’s voice.
“No way,” I said in the same moment Byn stated, “Not a chance.”
Even Callum threw a concerned glance towards Byn and me.
Teagan pinched the bridge of her nose before defending her case.
“I’m our Northern Ambassador—this is quite literally my job and role to fulfill.
I’ll head to the border and deliver a message myself, since the North has deemed themselves too good to receive our corvids,” she said, her voice unwavering.
Byn opened his mouth to argue further when Rayven cut in. “She’s right,” he said, his voice husky and deep.
All eyes shifted to him as he carried on.
“This is her duty. Plus, if anybody were to cause any trouble at the border, she can defend herself. But she won’t let it get that far, I’m sure of it.
She’ll play it smart, like she always does.
It’s not as though this would be her first time stepping foot into enemy territory. ”
“Exactly. I can handle myself. It’s just a message delivery, after all,” Teagan added, nodding her thanks to Rayven, which he returned with a slight dip of his head.
I supposed as the oldest two members of the Valwain—aside from Laurence now—they had to have each other’s backs at times.
Byn glanced my way, and I knew he was looking to me for the reassurance he needed. After losing his parents late last year, he’d become very protective of those he cared about—his sisters especially. Teagan and Margo would forever hold a special place in his heart.
I reached out towards him through our bond—our emotions—and could feel his inner turmoil.
Hesitation, doubt, and anxiety churned in his chest. In response, I sent a wave of calmness over them, like a hand covering the light of a flame.
The flame didn’t go out, but its radiating light dimmed just enough for Byn to see through his fog of emotions clearly.
Byn smiled at me slightly, and I knew it was a sign of thanks as he turned back towards Teagan. “Alright,” he breathed, “but you’re required to bring soldiers and guards with you. A small procession, led by you and Lychen.”
Lychen, Teagan’s Titan Wolf, would be happy to be back in action—even if it was just a trip to the border. The wolves’ den seemed to be a little restless lately—Eden included.
“Deal!” Teagan exclaimed, and I could tell she was simply happy to have a mission to spearhead once again. She hadn’t been given a true diplomatic mission to lead since she went to the North to try to bring peace to the entire continent.
“You and Quinn can hammer down the details of who will accompany you on this journey. But in the meantime, the rest of us need to prepare for our upcoming scouting missions, just in case Dimitri decides to not be as helpful as we hope,” Byn said, his voice carrying the authority of the king he was.
“Right, so we’re still planning to scout out Acrynd, Jackton, and Neokell?” asked Callum.
Byn nodded. “Correct, just as we discussed in our last meeting.”
The day I’d met Matea was the same day we discovered our people were being kidnapped and taken prisoner, right out from under our noses, during battles.
When we were trying to hammer down where, exactly, all of the missing fae were being held, we narrowed it to those three Northern cities: Acrynd, Jackton, or Neokell.
Each one was on the east side of the Salic Mountains, and were mostly located on or near the flatlands.
We concluded that these locations were most likely where our missing fae were, due to the warmer climate compared to the snow-capped mountains.
Along with that, transporting so many prisoners through the mountains against their will would likely be too difficult, and the cold would require more resources to keep them all alive.
Therefore, we had those three cities to scout—if Dimitri wouldn’t simply undo the wrong our father did by taking them all in the first place, that was. I was hopeful that Teagan would be able to make progress with my twin on her mission—or at least figure out why they’d killed our corvids.
“When will Teagan leave?” Caelia asked.
“Tomorrow morning,” Byn responded. When Caelia raised an eyebrow in question, I added, “It’ll be a bit of a trek to make it to the border.”
“Regarding preparations for the scouting missions, I’ll be supplying everybody with an emergency healing pack to include in their bags,” Chester, whom everybody called Chess, added. Always thinking like a trokav, it seemed.
Byn nodded his thanks to Chess, then looked to Teagan once again. “You have the rest of the afternoon and evening to prepare, sister. Come dawn, we’ll see you off.”
***
“You’re worried about Teagan,” I stated, scooping up a bite of pie and bringing it to my lips.
Byn nodded, then paused a moment. “I think I always will be. I understand she’s the oldest, and she bears a heavy weight on her shoulders because of it—there was always a certain level of pressure on her from our parents.
But being the only male, and the heir at that…
it’s a privilege, but also a burden at times. I simply wish to keep my sisters safe.”
I hummed in response, allowing him time to add to his statement if he wanted to.
“Not to mention Teagan never shows or talks about how she truly feels. Sometimes I wish I could feel what she feels, just so I could better understand her.” He sighed and laid his fork down, seeming to lose his appetite as he spoke.
Byn had requested a private dinner for just the two of us in our chambers tonight.
We had a simple yet tasty dinner of some sort of small bird, fresh bread, wine, cheese, and now a small pie for dessert, and we were both content at this point into our meal.
We talked about what we each needed to prepare for the possibility of scouting missions, and who would gather what.
We decided to divide our tasks so only one of us—me—had to go into town tomorrow.
Byn staying here at The Haven also allowed him to be easily accessible in the case that Teagan sent word early for any reason.
We talked about this morning, and how I felt a little better after flying with Matea and Eden, but that my heart remained heavy.
That led to a discussion about Matea, and how much I had come to trust her in such a short amount of time.
I explained how I felt around her—like I did when I was younger with Dimitri.
Safe.
Byn, on the other hand, expressed that he was wary of my half-sister.
He explained that from his point of view, she had technically defied him by sneaking over the border and traveling into the North on her own.
Even if her discoveries did end up helping us in the end, it still seemed to have left a bad taste in his mouth.
“I think Teagan feels as though she has to take care of everybody around her—Margo especially. She probably feels like her own emotions aren’t as important because of it,” I offered gently.
Byn sighed again “I wouldn’t be surprised, but I wish it didn’t have to be that way.”
He glanced out of the stained-glass window next to the balcony, and I followed his line of sight, my gaze snagging on the crescent moon in the sky.
An arrow of pain shot through my heart as I thought about my twin brother, Dimitri.
I couldn’t help but remember who he was before our father began corrupting him.
How the day I left my homeland, he told me any time I looked to the sky and saw the moon, that we’d be connected by it, as he would be gazing upon it, too.
That I would always be a child of the sky, no matter how far from home I was.
Little did I know at the time, that I hadn’t even found my true home yet.
“You miss him,” Byn said softly, and I realized he’d been watching me as I stared at the moon.
“Every single day,” I murmured. I was unsure if that ache in my heart would ever fully resolve.
“Let’s get you ready for bed,” he said as he stood from his chair and rounded the small table until he reached my side. Then, he held out his hand for me.
Always waiting, doing things on my terms.
Stars, I love him, I couldn’t help but think.
Slipping my hand into his, he led me to our shared washroom. He gathered up my favorite sleeping attire—an oversized shirt of his and some silk pants he no longer wore—and placed them on the edge of the sink before us.
“May I?” he asked, gesturing between my current leather outfit and the clothes he’d just brought over.
My heart clenched at his offer. He wanted to help dress me for bed, even though I knew he had other things he should have been doing. Simply because he understood that sometimes the most mundane of tasks could be the most difficult.
“Please,” he added softly before I could even object, and I knew I couldn’t refuse him.
This was just one of the many ways he showed me he cared.
I nodded, my heart already beating quicker than before.
As soft as a feather, he unlatched each small clasp down the front of my torso that held my leather tunic closed.
His breath hitched as he unhooked the last one and slid the two halves away from each other.
He bent his head to place a light kiss on my chest, right above my pounding heart.
Using his calloused fingers to push the tunic down my shoulders, he reached behind me and slipped the buttons on my upper back out of place, allowing the tunic to fall to the ground without snagging on my wings.
Now without a top, the cool night air nipped at my skin in an almost thrilling way.
Byn lightly took hold of my chin and tilted my face up to meet his gaze. His eyes were so deep and full of love, I felt as though I was melting into their pool of forest green. He planted a whisper of a kiss on my forehead, then dropped to his knees before me.
The King of the South.
Kneeling before me.
Not only that, but the warm love and adoration I felt in my chest radiating from him was a lifeline I clung to with my entire being.
I’d never felt so seen before meeting him.
He reached towards my waist, placing a hand on each hip, and pressing another kiss on my stomach. My hands began to shake slightly, so I intertwined them into his chocolate-colored hair, wrapping the waves around my fingers.
Soon enough he had undone the buttons on my leather pants, and I fear he had undone me, too.
Once the trousers were at my ankles, he carefully helped me step out of them.
He reached up and grabbed the black silk pants on the lip of the sink, slowly helping me step into them and tying them into place at my waist. His fingertips grazed my skin, and it felt like every fiber of my being was lit on fire at the contact.
Rising from the floor, he slid the muted purple cotton shirt over my head.
He paused to kiss the tip of my nose before the shirt was fully on, and I couldn’t help but grin.
He guided me in turning me around, so he could button up the top of my shirt where the holes in the fabric were for my wings to poke through.
Coming around my right side to stand before me, he pulled me to him and wrapped me in his embrace. He rested his chin atop my head, and I buried my face in the tunic covering his sculpted chest.
“I thank the Stars for you daily, Avi,” he murmured, using the dead Northern language only him and I know, to say my love. His grip on me tightened ever so slightly as he spoke.
I pulled back to gaze up at him. “As do I.”
Standing on my tiptoes, I grazed my lips against his in a feather-soft kiss.
“Your turn, my love,” I said, heading into the wardrobe to gather his sleep clothes.
He didn’t object, and the rest of the night was full of tender love and stolen kisses, until I drifted off to sleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat and the steady feel of his chest rising and falling beneath my head.