It was dangerous, bringing her here. So close to the king.
Suddenly, someone stepped in front of Asha, blocking Dax and Roa from view.
She looked up into the face of her betrothed.
Glossy hair. Strong, severe jaw. Freshly shaved cheeks. The only thing out of place was the black bruise blooming across his temple.
“Asha.” The way his hands clasped hers—like a snare—said that despite his drunkenness, he remembered everything. His saber was sheathed at his hip. “Where have you been?”
Sweat prickled along her hairline.
“Sleeping,” she said, matching her voice to his. “I had a rough night.”
He leaned in close. Her body tensed the way it did the moment before a dragon struck.
“Give him back.” His lips brushed her unscarred cheek. “And we can forget it ever happened.”
Asha tried to pull her hands free, but his grip tightened. He spoke so softly, anyone standing nearby might think he was whispering words of love.
“If you don’t, when I find him—and Iwillfind him—I’ll make you watch everything.”
He thought she felt about his slave the way Rayan felt about Lillian. It astonished her.
“Go right ahead,” she said.
When her father looked over at them, Jarek released her.
Asha saw the troubled look in her father’s eyes. She shook her head, telling him not to worry. Stepping around Jarek, shetook her seat next to Dax and wiped her sweaty hands on the scratchy fabric of Maya’s kaftan.
Jarek had nothing to gain by bringing her offense to light. Jarek wanted Asha. He wanted her the way he wanted the most lethal of sabers or the most hellish of stallions. He wanted to conquer and own her. And, if the whispers were true, if he really was planning to take the throne, their marriage would make it that much easier. He wasn’t about to sabotage his chance by exposing Asha’s crimes. Not when there were other ways to punish her.
Jarek followed her to the bench and sat down, pressing his leg against her own.
Seeing it, Dax tensed beside Asha, then met her gaze.
Before she could tell Dax she’d done as he asked, Jarek leaned in, interrupting. “My soldats tell me you went out hunting yesterday.”
Asha straightened.
“They said you went outalone.”
If Jarek suspected the truth, if he discovered what her father promised in exchange for Kozu’s head...
“Perhaps she only needed to breathe,” a honeyed voice interrupted. Asha looked to the scrublander on Dax’s other side, who stared at Jarek’s leg pinning Asha’s.
Jarek’s eyes narrowed. “Did I ask for your opinion, scrublander?”
Roa’s hawk puffed its white chest. Its silver eyes glared at the commandant.
“In the scrublands,” said Roa, “no one needs toaskfor a woman’s opinion. It’s expected that she gives it freely.”
Asha looked to Dax. He should have warned Roa about Jarek and what happened when he was challenged.
“And that,” Jarek sneered, “is why your people will never rise above the dirt they live in.”
Roa’s eyes darkened. It was the only outward sign that his words affected her. Dax, on the other hand, oozed anger. His thin frame buzzed with a dangerous, reckless energy, reminding Asha of all the times he’d stepped into Jarek’s path as a child. All the times he’d turned himself into a target to protect others.
Before he could do it again, Asha bent her head toward her brother’s.
