Chapter 55 – Rowan
ROWAN
Aloud crash wakes me with a jolt, sending me scrambling backward while reaching down my thigh for my dagger.
My heart rate calms when my hand wraps around the familiar rose-carved hilt.
It takes another half a second for my eyes to adjust to the bright light pouring in from the hall, and I blink up in a dazed shock at the last person I expect to see standing in the open doorway.
Theo.
“Morning, sunshine!” The Kovari prince cocks his head to the side while giving me a wry smile. He leans one shoulder against the doorframe. “Well, well, well… isn’t this a delightful surprise?”
I can only stare back at him—my mouth agape, dagger in hand, my brain still reeling from the abrupt wake-up. I’m really not a morning person.
“Get out, Theo.” The deep, harsh growl of Ayer’s voice vibrates through me and I stiffen, realizing that in my scramble to get away from Theo, I’d pushed myself right up against Ayer. He opens his eyes, dismissing Theo as a threat before shutting them again.
Theo’s grin only widens, his eyes darting back and forth between his captain and me.
“He’s never been much of a morning person,” Theo muses, winking at me.
My cheeks burn scarlet, and I curse, vaulting my body away from Ayer and scrambling to get myself out of his bed.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, though my voice comes out more like a squeak as the cold air hits my body, making me painfully aware in the light of day just how indecently my dress is torn.
Theo raises a brow at the sight, though thankfully keeps his shadows-cursed mouth shut.
“It’s my bed,” Ayer grumbles, begrudgingly dragging himself out of sleep. “Just how hard did you hit your head last night?” He sits up, rubbing the sleep from his face.
I gape at him, memories from last night flooding back to me: the dungeon, Riggs, using Ayer’s hard chest as a pillow… My eyes drop lower at the thought; the blankets pool just over Ayer’s hips, revealing his chiseled chest and abs.
He notices me ogling him, and I spy the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Get out!” I half-shout, lifting my chin as I do.
His dark eyes, though still heavy with sleep despite Theo’s dramatic wake-up call, harden at my tone.
“Again, Princess, it’s my room.”
I sniff, my cheeks flaming bright beneath my skin. “Fine. Then I’ll go,” I huff, storming for the door.
“Stop her,” Ayer grumbles in annoyance, and Theo steps conveniently to the side, cutting off my exit with a wide smile on his face.
I glare at him, shoving a finger in his face. All of this—everything—is his fault. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, stop it,” I growl venomously before turning back to Ayer to glare at him too, crossing my arms across my chest.
He ignores me, finally climbing out of bed. His dark eyes, a little sharper than they were a moment ago, fall on Theo.
“As good as it is to see you, mate,” he drains a glass of water from beside his bed, “to what do I owe the pleasure of this exceptionally early wake-up call?”
Theo’s jolly mood takes a nosedive. An unfamiliar grim frown replaces his familiar jovial smile.
“Raiders.”
Ayer’s fully out of bed now. I flinch when I find him suddenly beside me. Gods, he can move lightning-fast when he wants to. I’m all too aware of how he’s only wearing his breeches.
“How many?”
Theo exhales. “Too many. They hit the outskirts of Lenox at dawn.”
Ayer’s moving again, throwing open a drawer and pulling out a dark tunic, yanking it on in one smooth motion. His leathers follow next, and he makes quick work of the straps.
“What’s happening?” I force out, my voice sounding stronger than I feel. Lenox is a Daekhari village close to the Sitara border.
Ayer’s mouth tightens, but he doesn’t look up from his task. “Fae raiders. If we don’t stop them, they’ll raze the village and take anyone left alive as slaves.”
I swallow hard. Last week, I wouldn’t have believed a word of it. But after the past few days, I’m having a hard time calling Ayer a liar.
He looks for his sword, hesitating after stepping forward, realizing I’m in the way. I take a slight step back, watching him swing the heavy blade across his back.
“I want to come.”
He freezes. Both Ayer and Theo’s gazes snap my way.
“I can help,” I add, lifting my chin a little higher.
“No.” Ayer’s answer is immediate. Final.
“I can have Hayes stay behind,” Theo offers.
Ayer doesn’t answer, studying me instead. Despite our brief moments of truce, I don’t trust him, and he sure as hell doesn’t trust me.
“You’re not leaving me behind,” I state flatly, looking him in the eye.
“I can’t keep my eye on you and fight off raiders.”
My jaw clenches. “Then find me some leathers. I’ll help you.” My voice drops. “Last night, you said you wouldn’t leave me again.”
Ayer’s jaw flexes, and he gives me a dark look.
“I’ll… be in the hall,” Theo murmurs, backing slowly out of the room and shutting the door behind him.
“I’m going.”
“You’re not going.” Ayer steps closer. So close, I have to tilt my head to keep his eye.
“Yes. I. Am.” I cross my arms across my chest. The fire in my blood is currently burning too hot for any fear of him to get in the way.
“The lives of innocent people hang in the balance. I can’t have you using this situation to your advantage for another one of your half-baked escape attempts.”
Something similar to hurt pricks at my chest, and I narrow my eyes.
“I’m not going to run,” I snap. “I can help. And like Theo said, you’re outnumbered.” I pause, wondering how far I can push him. “Give me a bow, and I promise, I’ll still be yours when the battle is over.”
Silence stretches, and my words hang between us. A muscle feathers in Ayer’s jaw, and there’s a new intensity in his eyes that I can’t quite decipher.
“Please.”
He stares down at me so hard I’m nearly certain he’s going to have me dragged back down to the cells, with Hayes posted outside, when he clears his throat.
“Theo?”
“Yeah?” the prince shouts back through the closed door.
“Have someone find the girl some leathers. We’ll meet you outside in ten.”
I blink. A slow, dangerous satisfaction spreads through me, and I work to keep it off my face.
“Don’t forget the bow,” I whisper, one hand half cupped around my mouth.
Ayer rolls his eyes before calling out again. “And a bow.” A look of annoyance flashes across his face before he sizes me up. “Princess sized,” he adds pointedly, and I consider flashing a fang at him.
Shaking his head, as if he already has regrets, he finishes strapping on his own leathers.
“Moons, save me. You had better behave, Rose Princess.”