Engage with an enemy you know.
‘… Michael, son of Mistral, as my lieutenant. Raven claw, blood and stone. So be it.’
Snarls erupt from Oliver and Jacques. But Varin is already there, escorting Michael onto the dais before his brothers can do any damage. They have no call to complain, though. I’ve done as they asked. ‘A son of Mistral.’ It might not be enough. But as the crowd roars, as Michael comes to stand next to me, it feels like the only option.
My heart is beating faster from excitement, that’s all. A dark figure rises to his feet at the edge of the platform. Joaquin’s gaze pierces me like a hook, pulling me towards him. Oh darkness.
Maybe I’ve made a mistake.
ChapterThirty
LIGHT AND DARK
The coach sways as we head towards home. I sit on the sofa, my knees pulled up to my chest. Michael is on the coach following ours, with the Raven guards, blood dancers, Varin and Bertrand. He’s coming back with us because he’s my lieutenant. And because I’m fairly sure his brothers will rip him apart if he goes back to them. Apparently, it’s quite normal for lieutenants to live on the estate, something I never knew before.
‘Mistral didn’t live at the estate with us. And he was your lieutenant.’ Thank darkness he didn’t.
‘He did, actually,’ my mother says. ‘Until I met your father. Then he left and set up his own family.’ Her gaze dims briefly. ‘It’s how things are. Your lieutenant stays with you, as does your champion, until you take a consort. Even then, they might still stay, if your consort doesn’t take on either role. So, it’s appropriate Michael be on the estate. He can live in the gatehouse. It’s where his father was, for a while.’
‘He was?’ I frown.
‘When I met your father … it was complicated. Mistral moved in there initially, before leaving. I suppose he hoped…’ She shakes her head. ‘It doesn’t matter what he hoped. Anyway, the place is furnished, and we’ll make sure it’s all as it should be for Michael.’
‘So, he won’t be in the main house?’ This might not be a bad thing, to be honest.
‘Joaquin is staying in the main house.’ Along with his entourage. My parents invited him, in the wake of his declaration to court me. ‘He won’t stay the entire time, though,’ my mother continues. ‘He has things to do, he told me, before your coronation.’
Good. Hopefully it will give me the space I need to sort my mind out. We haven’t spoken since our argument in the snowfield, but I can’t escape spending time with Michael, now that he’s my lieutenant. I just need to make it clear there can be nothing else between us. That I’m with Joaquin.
I can do that.
I think.
* * *
The passage is as I remember.No cobwebs, I told Kyle, when he took me down it to what I thought would be freedom. Now I make my way carefully down crumbling stone steps, one hand on the wall for balance, the other holding my phone torch high to light the way.
I open the door at the bottom of the stairs, letting in bright daylight. No need for me to hide; no one can see me from the house, and I told Bertrand I’d be sleeping and not to disturb me.
I carefully tuck a piece of leather between the door and the wall. I should be back before dark anyway, but I’m not taking any chances. I run across the lawns, my breath puffing in the frosty air. It feels good to be outside. The pale golden stone of the gatehouse’s little tower stands out against trees showing the first mist of green, light twinkling in the leaded glass windows. I bang the knocker twice, then wait.
The carved wooden door opens. ‘I wondered when you’d show up.’ The words are tight, Michael’s arms folded.
I blink. ‘We need to talk.’
He says nothing, moving to the side so I have to brush past him to enter. We go into a living room with a high ceiling decorated with plaster roses. There’s a bay window with a wide-cushioned seat, and a comfortable-looking sofa and chairs, all in shades of blue. A fire burns in the huge fireplace, the room smelling of woodsmoke and lavender polish.
‘So, talk.’ Michael’s hands are on his hips. I try not to notice his long legs, the muscles under his long-sleeved top.
‘I need to make sure you know where you … where we stand.’
‘Oh? And where is that?’
‘You know what I mean! You’re my lieutenant, so we have to work together. But that’s all we can be.’ My hands twist together.
‘Work colleagues?’ He shakes his head, walking over to the window. ‘Fine. If that’s what you want to tell yourself.’
‘I’m with Joaquin now.’
