AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are hopeless,” Rai said, joining Saieke at the mountain’s edge. “What will you do now? I think it is safe to say your attempts as a temptress must end. I have even heard whispers in the court of your pitiful attempt with Count Jarneck. It seems you were the only one unaware he held no desire for women.”
“If I cannot make mother and father see sense, I must leave Boreas.”
Raikae stiffened, her golden eyes darkening with fear. “You speak recklessly.”
“Do I?”
“Yes,” she snapped.
“To remain and refuse to honor my father’s promise would mean conflict between Boreas and Nuria. If I disappear no assumptions can be made as to my intention without direct proof.”
“And where would you go? Which kingdom would aid you?”
“I would travel to your realm.”
Rai gasped. “You would escape to Earth?”
“If I must.” Duty to our people above all else.
“You will be hunted.”
“Yet they will not find me.”
“I hear the doubts in your voice.”
“It is alive in my heart. Leaving my people is not something I wish to do. I promise, I will do all in my power before I even consider such an option. I have twelve weeks before King Ajali arrives. I hope I will find a way out by then.”
The blood-oath was binding, and the only way for Saieke to legally not honor it would be to find a consort. The law allowed for the breaking of a blood oath if she had a consort before the promise was entered into, not after, but she could find no man willing to risk the wrath and threat of death from Nuria to lie with her, and then pretend as if they had been lovers before King Ajali’s preposterous claim.
The air stirred, and on a burst of wind, Thyon, one of her protectors, the second ranked of her Queen’s Blades appeared.
“King Ajali heads to Boreas,” Thyon snapped, his handsome face appearing unduly harsh in the fog shrouded courtyard.
Saieke frowned. “We already know this. Father has—”
“His convoy was spotted east of the Mist Mountains. He will arrive with the dawn.”
Her stomach cramped. “How many?”
“More than two hundred warriors and advisors.”
For precious seconds, Saieke could not speak. “Meet me on the parapet of the west wing within the hour,” she ordered. “Summon Kamu.”
Thyon flashed away.
She spun to Rai, grief settling heavily in her stomach. The Nurian king’s unexpected arrival could only mean one thing. “Rai I—”
“Do not tell me. I cannot reveal information I do not have. Do what you must.”
Saieke tugged her close, and they hugged fiercely. Saieke flashed through the castle with speed searching for her parents. Within seconds, she located her mother in the Queen’s chambers.
“Is it true?” she asked, hating the fear swirling in her veins.
“Darling,” Queen Izumi greeted with a strained smile, patting the chaise beside her. Her mother referred to as the jewel of Boreas. She was petite, with a mane of waist length silver hair and eyes of startling green, which now glowed with apprehension.
Saieke sat. “The wind whispered of King Ajali’s imminent arrival.”
“You knew he would come.”
