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I nodded. “Give her enough to set up a shop.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?” I challenged. “Our coffers are limitless in Myntra, aren’t they? I decree this. As your empress.”
He quirked his mouth. “We’ll pay her more than fairly. If I give her too much, others will be envious.” He touched my chin. “They’ll all do well in Pendrath, Morgan. Have no fear of that. Sir Ector will see to it. You’re doing much more than most rulers ever would with unwanted refugees.”
“They’re not unwanted,” I said softly. “They’re our neighbors. And with any luck and the goddesses’ grace, they’ll soon return to their own land.”
“Grace, huh?” Draven ran a hand over his jaw. “I didn’t think you thought much of that stuff.”
“I don’t,” I said. “It’s mostly bullshit, of course.”
He coughed discreetly. “Was that why you picked such a sacrilegious place for our dalliance this evening?”
I tossed my head. “Absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
“An altar,” he mused. “A fucking altar.”
“Fucking on the fucking altar.” I stepped towards him and ran a hand over his pelvis. “Do you like hearing the words?”
He took a hasty step back. “None of that now,” he warned. “Save it for the tent.”
I wiggled my eyebrows teasingly but did as he’d asked.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” I said casually.
“Are you wondering if we’re going to be punished for violating a temple? Can’t say I know the answer to that.”
I snorted. “No. Nothing like that. I’m not concerned in the slightest. This is something else.”
A question that had been a long time coming.
“How did you meet my uncle?” That was the easy one.
Draven seemed to think so too, for he raised his brows. “I met him at a tavern in Rheged, of all places. In a village close to Dornum.”
“Before or after you murdered the royal family?” I asked sweetly.
He grinned. “You know that story already. I was still for hire though, if that’s what you’re really asking.”
“And he hired you? Just stumbled across you there?”
Draven laughed. “Oh, there was no stumbling. He knew exactly who I was, Morgan. The man had an uncanny knack for knowing things.”
“How did he convince you to do what he wanted? I suppose when you heard about Excalibur, it was easy to agree?”
Draven looked at me in a way that sent my heart fluttering. “Something like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he told me he would help me find my heart’s desire.”
“And your heart desired a magic sword?”
“My heart had no idea what it really wanted. It was broken into pieces and full of rage at that point.”
I knew he had been devastated after losing Nimue and his wife. A woman who had been his dear childhood friend but who he had never been able to love as one should love a wife.
