Chapter 9 Amarhuk （Rook）
AMARHUK (ROOK)
I ground my teeth as the announcement faded.
Fuck.
This was bad.
As much as I’d hoped to distance myself from Izzy… I didn’t want her to die! In fact, the thought of losing her was physically painful, a knife to my heart. Which illustrated to me all the more why I needed to keep away from her. My heart shouldn’t be involved at all.
She was elven royalty for fuck’s sake!
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself in any relationship, let alone with an elf, and certainly not with a royal!
And Izzy being of mixed-blood made the whole thing even more complicated.
I couldn’t imagine many elves would want her on the throne, and yet — given the plans the people around her were making — that’s where she was headed.
I couldn’t see that happening without violence, probably war.
I’d fought wars in Urval and knew how brutal they could be.
I didn’t want to get mixed up in another life-or-death conflict.
Even if I already was.
I’d found Elnori, the dryad who provided my master — the dwarf Svokol — with much of his intelligence on the goings on around campus and in Seial.
She’d been surprised that Safir had sent me.
She admitted she’d been working with the old tiger shifter — who’d been pulling strings behind the scenes — for nearly ten years.
They were part of a cabal of “lesser” races searching for a true royal to put on the throne and depose the tyrant Valnea.
We’d been on our way to talk to Svokol and convince him to join that cause when we’d heard the announcement.
I’d been wondering what Saldrea would do after finding out Izzy was a half-blood elf.
This situation had two likely outcomes: Izzy’s banishment or her death.
The chances of her winning a dominion match against Saldrea were slim.
Even if I had a sinking feeling that’s exactly what Izzy would attempt to do.
And she’d probably pull me into it.
I sent a quick text to Izzy to let her know, in case Myel was tied up, then had to focus on the task ahead of me as Elnori and I entered my master’s office.
Svokol looked up, saw the two of us together and raised his dark brows.
Elnori closed and locked the door. She closed her eyes, murmuring something, then looked up. “The wood will not hear us,” she whispered.
Svokol did something similar, some spell, before replying with, “The stone has been silenced”
This must be some ritual between the two of them, some little spell they both cast to ensure no one would overhear what they said.
Dryads were experts with wood and dwarves with stone and metal, so between the two of them — if they had the right abilities — they could ensure no one outside might listen in.
A common saying in Seial was: the trees have ears.
Long ago the dryads had been the ultimate spies and gossips, since they could use trees to listen in on conversations miles away.
The elves had not liked that power and had killed most the dryads who possessed such abilities, but it was rumored some still existed, serving the elves as spies.
And Elnori might be one, though what she’d done just now had been to block such listening…
so I honestly had no clue if she could do the opposite and listen in on others.
Yet given the information she often provided to my master, I assumed she could.
“Why is he here?” Svokol said immediately, indicating me with a nod. “What’s happened?”
Elnori turned to me. “That is his story to tell.”
I grimaced at them both. I didn’t want to be mixed up in this.
Safir had said I needed to work with Elnori to find a way to tell Svokol about Izzy and sway him to her side. The hope being that if Svokol — an influential dwarf — joined Izzy, other dwarves might follow.
Yet despite concubi being a very persuasive race in nearly any circumstance, I had no clue what to say.
Luckily, my master was a blunt man and liked things straight.
So, I told him everything. He already knew I’d slept with Izzy and roomed next to her.
I didn’t go into sordid details of our times together, but I explained Izzy’s hopes to change this world and the truth of who she was: a half-blood elven princess of the true royal line.
“Fuck me,” Svokol muttered, not looking happy.
He put his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands, sighing.
“If she’d been anyone else, anyone who’d been quietly flying under the radar, she might have had a chance…
but…” He looked up at us. “You heard the announcement, Izzy’s doomed.
I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to save her.
” He sat back. “I certainly can’t get involved, that would jeopardize all the work I’ve done to get in good with the elves and elevate my position. ”
Dwarves had once been elves, long ago, but they’d been considered “low” elves with no power over life and creation.
They’d split off from the elves to live secluded lives underground.
To elves they were considered lesser, like pretty much every other race, but still “acceptable company,” having elven blood in their veins.
He sighed. “What is it you hope to gain by coming to me?”
I didn’t really know.
Elnori piped up. “Nothing yet. But… if you support Izzy… in secret and slowly get the word out to other dwarves that if she becomes queen, they might once again be equal to elves… it would help our cause immensely.”
The dwarf grumbled, “I still can’t believe you were with them the whole time.” It seemed he wasn’t a fan of Elnori’s extracurricular activities.
He shook his head. “I can’t help her win this dominion match, I certainly can’t participate, but if she manages to field a team and — by some miracle — win… I’ll start spreading the word about her.”
As far as I was concerned, that was the best possible outcome.
Elnori nodded. “I have others I need to inform.” Then she excused herself.
“And you,” Svokol asked me after the dryad had left, “you’re taken with the woman? That’s not like you.”
It wasn’t.
I didn’t really want to go into the complexities of my feelings. The feelings I shouldn’t have for Izzy.
“She’s a good fuck,” I said with a shrug. It was a lie. She was far more than that. And my master was shrewd enough to see right through me.
“No… she’s more. What is she to you?” A faint smile caught his lips, a rare occurrence. “And why do I get the feeling she means more to you than I do?” His tone was light, but those words hit home hard.
Svokol had been good to me, taken me from a life of pain in the Urval military, elevating me to a position of relative privilege as one of his aids.
He’d seen potential in me, as a warrior, as a spy, as a strong and capable man.
And over the years I’d become something of his confidante.
I could never repay him for the kindness and generosity he’d shown me.
For him to think anyone in this world meant more to me than him… stung my soul.
Even if he was right.
Izzy meant so very much to me, even if I’d only known her a few days. I couldn’t explain it. I didn’t want to explain it, to admit how quickly she’d grown close, a friend and lover and… more.
“She’s…” Fuck! How could I say this. I didn’t want to admit anything. “She’s intriguing in a way I’ve never encountered before,” I said, and that was honest at least. “She’s… powerful. And powerful people draw others to them.”
Svokol grunted. “I’ve noticed that about her too.”
Oh? Good.
“So, yeah… that’s all. I’m still loyal to you.”
“And what if I turned against her, which side would you choose?”
I didn’t want to choose sides, didn’t want to be part of the battle I sensed was coming.
“Yours,” I said, but my words were a little too quick, too forced and we both noticed it. Yet I couldn’t afford to get any closer to Izzy. As much as I wanted her, my body and soul crying out for her… if I remained near her, she’d overwhelm me.
It had been torture last night, sitting in the same room while she’d fucked Myel. That angel’s screen of light had done nothing to dampen the sexual musk which had filled the room and made my entire body sing. I’d wanted to be with her and Myel so damned much it had twisted my soul
No woman had ever affected me like that.
No woman should affect me like that. Incubi weren’t meant to be with only one woman.
I shouldn’t want to help her, hold her, be there for her. But I did. And now… if she died in this desperate gamble to put her on the throne?
No… I needed to step back, get away from her, distance myself.
If I gave in to these feelings, then I’d be banking on her somehow living through all the trials ahead of her.
She’d have to beat Saldrea, then beat Valnea, then convince the elves a half-blood was worthy on the throne.
The odds of her doing all of that and becoming queen were astronomical.
But only then, once she was safe, could I let my feelings be known.
Yet even as queen, she’d never truly be safe.
Hence, neither would my heart.
That was why I needed to get away from her, stop thinking about her.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t forget the feel of her in my arms, how she tasted, the sounds of her soft sighs and pleading moans. I couldn’t get over how much I simply wished to hold her close and feel her warmth, to protect her and help her, and be her friend, which was so very wrong for an incubus.
Caring only led to heartache and pain.
Love was dangerous. Period.
I wouldn’t let what happened to my mother happen to me.
Svokol grumbled something, words I couldn’t quite make out, a bad habit of his. Then he raised his voice and said, “Just… keep your head screwed on.” His tone held a warning. “I get the feeling times are about to get… interesting, and that won’t be good for any of us.
The dwarven ability for understatement was astounding.
“I’ll do what I can,” I said.
Svokol told me I could stay in his residence on campus, then dismissed me.
I headed straight for the nobles’ residence, since it wouldn’t be safe to return to my room to retrieve my things.
For now, I’d stick close to my master… and try not to think about the doomed woman who’d somehow stolen my heart.