CHAPTER 31
It is grown men who deal in shades of folly and deceit. In this, we will always be the inferior sex.
—Entry from the private diary of Patriol, son of Jaenis
STARLING
It was raining, which was new. Sure, the sky drizzled most nights.
This place was too green, from what I could see out the window, not to have constant rainfall.
But this was the first time I’d seen the water come down in relentless streams. A cloying dampness hung in the air, setting me on edge more than usual.
I began reps of sit-ups, ignoring the cold stone against my bruised spine. I counted them rhythmically, all the way to one thousand. As always, I faced the door, watching and waiting for one particular visitor.
It had been six days.
That was the longest Drake had gone between visits in a while. Every time I heard footsteps in the hallway, I braced. I could tell they weren’t his, but my stomach clenched every time anyway.
“This is stupid,” I said aloud.
There was no one there to answer, but I still took the time to use my voice.
I told myself it was to be ready in case I had to shout for a rescue.
I had planned hundreds of ways to escape, each one more outlandish than the next.
It was all futile, but pretending I had this little bit of hope helped keep my sanity close.
Push-ups followed. When I started in the militia, I could barely get to one hundred.
So much had changed. My body, yes, but also my determination and goals for my life.
It defied everything my father expected of me, but that was the thing about facing death and somehow making it through.
You stopped caring about everyone else’s wants and started thinking about your own.
Not that I really had any, now that I was a prisoner.
My only goal for the time being was to stay alive. Maybe, one day, to get home.
By now, my family would have formally declared me dead.
It pained me to think how that would affect them, particularly my little sister, but I shoved those thoughts away.
I would have to cling to her happiness if ever I managed to find my way back.
If not, then it was better she got through the grief sooner rather than later.
“You’re morose today, Starling.”
I shot up from the plank I’d been holding. The cell door clicked.
“There’s no need for that,” Drake said, catching my hand as I reached for the shirt draped over the end of my cot. “I like you better with it off.”
“Where’ve you been?”
Drake scratched the back of his blond, half-braided head and winced, then examined his fingertips as if he expected to find something there. “Away. Were you worried about me?”
“You’re the only person I talk to. If you disappear, I’ll go insane staring at these walls.”
“Then it’s your lucky day. I’m moving you.”
I dropped the shirt I’d just snatched up. “Where?”
Drake studied the window, as if searching through the rain. “I’ll figure that out. My rooms if I have to.” Something wasn’t right. The way he walked was stiff. His words were clipped.
“What’s happened?”
He kept his eyes trained on the window. “Time’s up, I’m afraid. I’ve done all I could. Dane sent me here with an ultimatum.”
“Which is?”
He flashed that fucking smile, and my heart thumped in my chest. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ll be back in an hour. The question is, will you come with me or not?”
“Not.”
The speed of my response surprised us both.
Drake’s smile slid off his face. “Why not?” he asked, his voice hard as ice.
I grabbed up my shirt, and this time, I threw it quickly over my head. “You’d betray your king for me, just like that? I don’t buy it.”
“He’s not my king, he’s my dane.”
“King, dane, whatever. You have to do what he says. What happens to you if you don’t?”
Drake huffed an exasperated breath and surveyed the hallway through the open door. “Not as much as you’d think. Let’s just say I have leverage.”
I cocked my head to the side, studying him. “Who are you?”
“Ah, ah, ah, you first. This little game would be easier to win if you’d give me the cards to play with.”
I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to tell this man everything about myself.
To share more than a few scattered memories, sanitizing anything useful from them as I spoke.
I was salivating to offer up a piece of myself and see what I might get in return.
The problem was, no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I was already entirely at his mercy. He might be able to open up about his fears and hopes to me, but he wasn’t dependent on me for his next meal or living through the week.
There were wants, and then there were needs, and what I needed was to survive.
“You’re asking a lot from someone trapped in a cage. I’ve got so little left to lose. Even a bit is all I have.”
Drake moved from the door, invading my space.
I met those piercing blue eyes that always drew me in.
I had to clamp my hands to my sides, not trusting them to stay in line.
Drake’s, however, did no such thing. One tugged through my black waves while the other gripped my ass, pressing our hips together.
I sucked in a breath, willing myself not to get lost in the heat too soon.
“Does this frighten you, Starling? I know you feel it.” Drake whispered against my lips. “This fire between us that only builds the more I have you. I can’t fucking get enough of you.”
A chuckle escaped me as I looked up at my hungry drake. “I’ve never been afraid of fire.”
We crashed together, all hardness and pushing and need.
Drake’s kiss was firm and demanding as he pressed me back against the wall and plunged his tongue into my mouth.
I welcomed it all. Gripping Drake’s shirt, I yanked him closer, nipping at his lips and connecting our bodies flush.
I reached up and drove my fingers into the loose half of his hair, cupping his head to deepen the kiss.
Drake hissed into my mouth.
I pulled back. “What is it?”
“Nothing, Starling. It’s nothing.” He moved to recapture my lips.
A sound echoed down the hallway. Metal clanged like a knife dropped on stone. We turned, and Drake pulled back a few inches. Outside the window, a hawk screeched. When no other sounds came, he turned his penetrating gaze back on me.
“Will you come with me now?”
“Right now?”
Drake shook his head. “Give me an hour.”
I nodded. Fuck me.
“Good, I’ll hold you to it.” He backed up, leaving several feet between us. There was still something wild and raw on his face.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, ignoring the irony of a prisoner showing this level of concern for his captor. We were long past muddling those roles.
In a blink, Drake was crushing me against the wall again. A hand slipped between us, and Drake gripped my cock, which half hardened at the touch. “Never better.” He pushed my head to the side with the tip of his nose and bit my earlobe. My cock hardened more as Drake teased my length.
“Someone’s coming,” I gasped.
“Not yet, Starling.” Drake’s hand didn’t still. Instead, it dipped beneath my pants, gripping my bare skin and pumping me in fast strokes. I was seconds from exploding when Drake’s hand pulled away, leaving me breathless.
“If you’re good,” he whispered in my ear, “and all goes to plan, we’ll be able to finish what we started.
” That cocky grin returned as he swept from the cell, but before he closed the door, he turned back.
His eyebrow jumped as his eyes flicked down to what I knew was the jutting evidence of my arousal.
The door shut behind Drake, but the lock did not click.
I stood there, still pressed against the wall of this unlocked cell, breathing hard and trying to relax. My thoughts swirled through clouds of lust. Plans were already in motion. It was too late to back out now.
Drake was trusting me, so he said, but the real question plaguing me was—
Could I trust Drake?
SERAE
Mid-Autumn, Basmon 1036
Another day of rain. Autumn in the Riht, it turned out, was characterized by more than drizzles.
Wind rattled the windows in the Main Hall where I sat quietly with my bowl of oats and berries.
Sprakt had abandoned me early this morning, perhaps sensing the rain and wanting to get his flying time in before the winds grew too rough.
My mind was unsettled—more than usual. I’d woken in a blind panic, but looking around my rooms, I had found nothing amiss.
Dread pooled in my gut. Sooner or later, I’d have to face the truth—my father and the king expected me back.
And staying in Drakh would require Dane and Eldreth’s help.
But, did I truly want to stay? To let go of all I’d been holding onto and settle things with Eldreth?
Vaya’la’s rumbling filled my mind.
“Sometimes, human affairs need to be settled by humans,” I scolded her before she got a chance to start.
She chuffed.
“And yes, I would prefer you threaten to eat them, but again. You’re. Not. Awake.”
Her grumbling lessened back into the calming thrum I associated with her sleep, and I couldn’t help but smile at her protectiveness. The truth was, I felt the same for her. What would it mean if I were forced to leave?
A scuffle at the door drew my attention along with that of everyone around me. Over the crowd, I could just make out the top of Teke’s head.
“That’s right,” they called out at a retreating form. I caught a glimpse of a sleek platinum braid. “Do us all a favor and fuck off for good.”
By the time Teke came fully into view, a wide grin split their face.
They stopped at every table down the line, smiling and pointing my way.
I didn’t need to hear them to know the topic of conversation.
Teke’s sky-blue tunic covered in navy cloudlike swirls was all I needed to see.
It was one piece from the bundle of clothes they’d commissioned that day I was trapped in the keep while Wep—Eldreth was off fighting at sea.