“You would deny me even the illusion of my dignity,” he retorted resentfully. “The Ktínos truly are as barbaric as your better kin would suggest.”
“That is enough,” Riordan hissed with an instant fury, even though I merely smirked at the tired insult. The fey king had been hurling it at me in different variations since he was first imprisoned. “You do not insult myskiá.”
Balor pursed his lips as he leaned back in the bronzed tub to consider us while raising both of his arms along the rim behind each attendant. The female shifted her sponge to his clavicle so the water rolled down his bare chest.
“You are protective of him, and yet you have not even bothered to fuck him,” he mused thoughtfully.
It was the first time the king managed to get a reaction out of me, and it made Balor smile cruelly when my face flushed with embarrassment and shame.
How the fuck did he even know something like that?
“I hear you have been busy repairing the Vale. I trust that younow understand the dangers of Rian’s power,” Balor redirected before Riordan could respond.
I could feel myskiápractically vibrating with his fury, but he managed to compose himself before he spoke.
“I need to know what happened to the Spring Court. You refuse to answer Orion, but youwillanswer me.”
“Hand over the Spring Court traitors to my daughter, who has been forced to rule in my absence, and perhaps then I will answer your questions,” Balor suggested.
“I cannot do that until I understand what happened,” Riordan insisted.
“Then I am afraid I cannot accommodate.”
“What do you want them for?” I demanded, my fists clenching in frustration.
Balor did not look inclined to answer me, but Riordan glowered at him until Balor sighed in apparent defeat.
“I wish to punish them, of course, for I am the one they have betrayed! I do not know whyyoucare so much about what they have to say when all they do is lie. If you wish to execute the traitors yourself, then I could certainly be persuaded. Provided you allow me to watch.”
“We are keeping them alive. We have not yet had the chance to determine their individual guilt,” Riordan told the Spring King firmly.
And because he is so adamant that we kill them before talking to them. Makes me even more interested in what they may have to say, I added privately to Riordan whose agreement felt like a warm caress in my mind.
Balor did not respond, he merely turned his head to the male attendant who obliged him by placing another of those fishy rolls in his mouth.
“If you do not tell me what I need to know, then I have no choice but to take the word of the traitors concerning what happened. Though I would far rather have the word of another esteemed king,” Riordan insisted.
I knew he was merely stroking Balor’s ego, but it still took nearly every ounce of my willpower not to grimace.
The Kelpie King took his time carefully chewing and swallowing his food before he bothered to respond.
“Very well, King Riordan. I am nothing if not ever the fair and just king, so ask me your questions, and I will see if I can answer them.”
“What was the darkness that consumed Spring Court?” Riordan asked so quickly that I knew he had a ready list in his mind, ranked by priority.
“You already know that Rian is a Shadow-wielder and a world-eater. Why would you bother asking about that?” demanded Balor with obvious annoyance.
“Because I found it very strange that a man who was actively destroying an entire world would pause to try and save some of its people,” insisted my king.
“Then you have severely underestimated his cunning. What better way to plant spies in your realm than leaving supposed victims for you to take pity on?” Balor pointed out in condescension. “That is why you must kill them!”
This is useless, Riordan. There must be other avenues to getting our answers. All he does is lie,I urged.
“What about our deal?” Balor demanded, changing the subject suddenly. “You swore that if we lost our home then you would renegotiate our place here in the Vale.”
“I shall consider your request concerning the traitors,” Riordan told Balor who narrowed his eyes as if he could see through my king’s skepticism. “And I need to speak to my council before I approach such negotiations.”
“Careful, Vale King, lest you be taken in as many have been by a viper posed to strike you,” King Balor warned. “It will be your kingdom that pays the price if you do not heed Rian DorTìodhlac as the threat that he is.”
