Chapter 15 On Your Knees for Me #2
Amira’s heritage as a Dowrra was something we had decided to keep quiet. Especially now when there was a chance that she was being targeted by someone who was coming after Riordan.
“Oh yes, the witch is impressive,” muttered Rhea with a roll of her eyes.
“That does not mean she was a suitable mate for you to choose or that she should be in command of the King’s Council!
I still cannot believe she had the gall to order you away from the council chamber as if you had not ruled it for centuries! ” she said to Andromeda.
“Our mother is no longer the queen,” Riordan stated.
His tone was sharper and blunter than it usually was when he spoke to Rhea, and she certainly noticed.
She stared at him in surprise at the change.
“And Amira is my mate. She is my partner and equal in all things. I love her, Rhea, and I will not tolerate anyone disparaging her in this way. She has done wonderful things for our people—”
“For Ktínos in the Rookery,” Rhea clarified sharply with a quick flick of her disapproving eyes up at me.
“Who are our people,” Riordan sighed in exasperation, shaking his head.
“I actually quite like her,” Dio interceded when Rhea glared at her brother as if in disgust with his statement. “Amira complements you in many ways,” Dio added to Riordan with a fond smile. “She has been a delight.”
Rhea seemed to have much more to say on the subject but wisely decided to keep her mouth shut. My blood was already boiling, and I did not think it would go over well if I were to unleash a verbal tirade on the princess.
“What are your thoughts on Castor?” Riordan asked his advisor. The change in subject from Amira made Rhea sink into her seat with her arms crossed in dejection.
“He is machiavellian,” muttered Andromeda, but all of my attention was on Dio as he carefully considered.
“He is certainly a more appropriate suspect for your father’s abduction, if that is what you mean to ascertain.
But I am not sure his ambitions are so… utilitarian.
He is a master of secrets but rarely a puppeteer.
What I can say is that he has developed an interest in your mate.
For what purpose or reasons, I am unsure, but he certainly expends a good deal of resources to keep an eye on her. ”
There was a commotion in the hallway before Riordan could reply. I moved defensively next to my king as the door was opened by an unnerved guard.
“Your Majesty! A scout who has been gravely injured is asking for you. He came from the Summer Quadrant. Sounds like he might have a message from the one who attacked him. Someone called Ornella?”
It felt like the ground fell away beneath me as Riordan jolted immediately to his feet.
I followed him into the hall where I could now hear screams echoing.
Both Dio and Hermes joined us just as two more guards appeared at the end of the hall.
They were dragging a third male between them whose shirt had been torn open to expose his chest, which appeared to have been badly clawed.
“What the fuck?” I muttered when I noted his bloody hands and the way he was desperately fighting the guards who had to keep his hands down.
He did that to himself, I said down the link to Riordan who sent me his agreement in return.
“Get a physician!” screamed Rhea when she came up behind us and caught sight of the scout.
But I knew it was already too late for the poor Ktínos warrior once he got closer. He was so dehydrated that he looked like a skeleton. Even more disturbing were the strange leafy limbs that appeared to be slowly pushing out of his chest between his ribs.
“My king!” he screamed in desperation, but I blocked Riordan from going any closer to him.
“What if he is infected and was sent here to spread this sickness to you?” I shouted at him. Then I turned to glare at the frantic tower guards who had brought a potentially dangerous situation right into their king’s presence.
“He said the king might save him!” one of them tried to explain themselves.
There was a crack before I could reply. I turned just in time to see the scout jerk violently before his chest cavity suddenly burst wide open.
Rhea screamed in horror as blood and guts exploded all over everyone in the hallway. The guards dropped the dead scout and stumbled back as flowers began erupting out of his back. Vines spread along his spasming wings with their delicate leaves speckled in blood.
After a moment, the scout fell completely still beneath a vibrant carpet of fragrant wildflowers.
“I wonder what the message was?” Dio spoke up after a moment of silence.
“He was the message,” growled Riordan.
“You still suspect Castor in some way,” I asked Riordan as we headed to his private gym to meet Amira. After the battle, she had insisted on amping up her training regime again and was learning more hand-to-hand fighting.
You heard Dio. Why is Castor so invested in Amira? Riordan responded through our bond.
She is his queen, Riordan. Perhaps he meant it when he told Amira that he sees potential in her? I suggested, but Riordan did not reply. My ambivalent attitude toward Castor had always frustrated him.
He stopped just before we entered the gym and turned to face me, but he kept our conversation mental.
I want to tell Amira about the scout later when we are alone in our chambers, he advised me, and I nodded my agreement. She would be upset when she heard what her friend had done, and her defense of the dryad was already a sensitive topic between her and Riordan.
We entered the gym where Helena was sparring with Amira while Sofia and Ares stood at the edge of the mat and watched the instruction.
Usually the presence of Amira’s handmaid would have brightened Ares’s mood.
Especially since she was standing right next to him when she was usually dodging his advances.
But he didn’t even acknowledge her presence as he stood there with his arms crossed and called out advice and instructions to Helena and Amira.
The longer his twin sister remained missing, the darker his moods would become.
The sound of air wheezing harshly out of the sparring mat brought my attention back to where Amira sat on Helena’s stomach while the other woman gave pointers. She was wearing her armour to break it in and to get used to moving in it like I’d suggested.
Seeing her in that short leather kilt and a formfitting breastplate was just as captivating in the gym as it had been when I first saw her.
And I wasn’t even sure why because I’d seen thousands of women in the same outfit.
And yet, as soon as I’d set eyes on her, I could not seem to look away from her.
“You are looking good, Amira!” Riordan called out to her after a moment. The hint of amusement in his voice made me finally tear my eyes from her, and I saw he was smirking at me.
Get out of my head, I berated him unseriously.
And miss the pleasure of you admiring our mate? No, Riordan reassured me.
Our mate.
Our mate.
“Allow us to show you how it is done,” he added aloud as he turned away to walk to the witch who rose off her trainer to meet him.
“I have seen you spar plenty,” Amira laughed even as her eyes traced over him with unmistakable appreciation. My hands twitched with urges I didn’t quite understand when he wrapped her up tightly in his arms.
“Are you saying you do not enjoy seeing Riordan try to put me on my back?” I asked before I could reconsider the provocative nature of the question. My heart skipped nervously for how she would respond to it, but I relaxed instantly when I saw her flush with a pleased surprise.
“I am not saying that,” she answered softly.
“Then we shall entertain you,” Riordan declared with a smile of approval at our interaction. He beckoned for me to follow suit when he began removing his weapons.
I tore my gaze from Amira, and she went with Helena to the edge of the mat. I caught sight of mitéra shaking her head in amusement with us, but she did not comment on our obvious attempt to impress Riordan’s mate.
Our mate, I corrected myself. Fuck. That was a heady thought that did make me eager to show off a little.
I quickly removed my weapons and any extra layers, with the exception of my forearm guards, and then turned to face off with my skiá. He looked so smug that it made me smile back at him automatically.
“Happy now?” I asked him snarkily.
“I will be when I put you on your back,” he responded without hesitation as he began to circle.
“You can try,” I countered and moved with him so he remained ahead of me.
“How about your knees then?” he suggested, and the clear intent in his eyes almost had me stumbling over my own damned feet. I was still unfamiliar with this sensual side of my skiá, which was something he had only begun to expose to me after we kissed, but I liked it. A lot.
“You could try asking me nicely,” I teased him back, leaning into the banter a little more confidently.
The way his gaze traced me with a sparkle of curiosity, as if he were wondering whether I would actually obey such a request, had my cock jerking to instant attention.
And the idea of granting such a request, should he make it of me, had me questioning why the fuck I was not down on my knees for him already.