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He regarded us all with a coolly appraising expression, saying nothing. His face was clean-shaven and his hair was cropped short. He wore a metal chest plate over his fine blue linen clothes, and though the combination might have looked foolish on another man, on him, it only reminded me of why Father had respected Thomas. Like many in his position, the lord had been born into his rank, but that hadn’t stopped him from training to fight and defend Aneira.
When the war came, Thomas had been one of the last to call for an attack in response. Father had resented him for it at the time—my mother was dead, after all, and everyone thought the Erenlians were to blame—but eventually my father came to respect the man’s reasons. Thomas was well acquainted with the pain of losing someone he loved. His own wife had died in childbirth years before. But he also knew the lives a war would cost, and unlike others in the court, the lord saw the soldiers as people rather than tools to be used and then discarded.
To him, sending soldiers to fight should always be a last resort.
Yet for all those principles, he was still a trained fighter, and he’d been relentless once engaged in battle with the Erenlians. More than one Aneiran victory had been brought back from the edge of defeat because of him.
And now I stood before him with seven giants and a Zeniryan vampire at my side.
This could go bad quickly.
Something in Dex’s stance made me think he was aware of that too, and suddenly it occurred to me to wonder if he knew who Lord Thomas was as well.
And whether Lord Thomas had heard of him, the Erenlian who’d been part of the Aneiran army until he rebelled.
Oh gods, this could go so badly…
“We are here on behalf of Princess Gwyneira of Aneira,” Dex called loudly. “We seek your assistance.”
Casimir shifted his weight a bit at my side, and I glanced at him to see tension written all over his face. Revealing my name was definitely a gamble, but better that Dex do that here where we could make a run for it than inside the city where we’d be trapped if something went wrong. Besides, the lord had likely recognized me when he saw me anyway.
At Dex’s words, Lord Thomas said nothing, and I couldn’t read a damn thing from his expression over the distance. But then he turned to a stern-looking woman with pale skin and a dark braid of hair beside him, murmuring something even my vampire senses couldn’t pick up over the distance.
She nodded and then shouted, “Open the gate!”
A breath left Lars. “One problem down,” he said optimistically.
“Maybe,” Clay countered. He glanced at the rest of us. “You all are with me on the whole ‘not setting foot in there till we know they’re not going to stab us the second we’re through the gate’ plan, right?”
It was barely a question, but Dex nodded anyway. “Agreed. And princess, you still stay to the rear of us. Casimir?—”
“We’ll be miles away before they breathe the word to attack,” Casimir cut in, utter certainty in his tone.
“I’m not leaving without you all,” I countered.
None of my men responded, and my jaw clenched. Abandoning them was not happening. I didn’t care what they thought they needed to do to protect me.
I’d damn well protect them too.
The sound of chains clanking accompanied the slow progress of the gate opening, and as the gap widened, it revealed more guards standing with their weapons clutched tightly in their fists. To a person, their eyes were trained on us like they expected at any second for us to lunge across the distance to them.
None of us moved.
The guards started forward, and I could feel the tension in my men rise. Through the connection between us, Ozias felt like a landslide waiting to fall, and all it would take would be one wrong move by the Aneirans for him to come crashing down on them and unleash hell. Clay and Lars stood shoulder to shoulder, nearly motionless save for the slight twitches of Clay’s hand like he was fighting the urge to reach for his sword this instant. Byron’s chest moved in slow, even motions like he was practicing some kind of calming technique, while beside him, I couldn’t tell if Niko was breathing at all. Meanwhile, Dex’s stance radiated careful control, and an alertness like even the slightest hitch of the Aneirans’ footsteps or twitch of their eyes didn’t escape his notice.
And Roan wasn’t moving a muscle. His hands weren’t anywhere near his weapons. His stance wasn’t braced for a fight.
Somehow, everything about him still looked like death itself waiting to strike.
As the Aneirans came closer, Casimir carefully rested his hand on the small of my back, while on my opposite side, Ruhl shifted his weight, his furry flank pressing to my hip. If anything happened, those two were making it more than clear they were going to get me out of here, no matter what.
My teeth clenched in irritation. Gods save me from protective men who didn’t think I would give the same protection to them. I was a vampire who could walk in sunlight, for pity’s sake.
Anything that tried to touch my men would die.
A twinge of discomfort settled in my chest as the crowd parted and the woman who’d been with Lord Thomas came into view. I really hoped that anything didn’t include the Aneirans.
Regarding us briefly, the woman gave a quick nod to a younger man at her side. In his arms, he gripped a carved wooden box like it was the most precious object in the entire city.
