She liked this, being feared. Was that what it was with her? The thought made him question how many things he’d heard about her were actually true and how many falsehoods she’d allow to run wild for the sake of creating the larger-than-life figure she was. Breicher had told him about the raven, as unbelievable as it was. He supposed if he’d been king at fourteen, he might have employed a similar tactic.
“I’m not promising perfect results, but I think I can manage it.”
Caroline huffed. “Then it’s your job.”
Fine. He had a plan.
Angus grunted. “Are you sure we can’t just kill him, Your Majesty?” Angus was still gripping the back of the chair he’d been leaning against since they’d gotten back to Kierengaard. His dark skin was waxen, and he looked ready to pass out at any moment.
Caroline started toward him when Breicher wrapped his fingers around her bicep and pulled her toward him. “Jaden, take Angus to a healer and make sure he’s taken care of. I’m going to deal with the queen,” he growled. Gods, to be on the receiving end of that kind of ferocity, the possessive urge filling his uncle. He only hoped the queen understood what she’d gotten herself into.
A moment later, Caroline was being carried out of the room in his uncle’s arms. He slowly turned toward Angus, who was injured, bleeding—a little ragged looking if he were being honest. But those shoulders never seemed broader. The question was, would he want to be the one doing the carrying or being carried?
As if Angus read the untoward notions rolling around in his mind, he started edging toward the door.
Jaden rolled his eyes. “Oh, stop it. You’re disgusting, all covered in blood and Gods know what else. I’d prefer not to get my hands dirty.” He paused, brushing off invisible dirt from his palms. “You’re not still bleeding anywhere, are you?”
Angus slipped his hand inside, a tear in his shirt, feeling around for something. An open wound, broken rib? “No, she healed the worst of it. Just some minor cuts, I believe.”
Angus staggered toward the door, keeping his hand rubbing at his side. “Lead the way.”
After the third time he’d scuffed the toe of his boot and almost tripped, Angus allowed Jaden to hook an arm around his shoulders and lean some of his weight on him. “You sure it’s not too much for you?”Angus asked.
Jaden almost choked. Was Angus intentionally joking with him? Maybe he had a head injury, he thought, and made a mental note to have Caroline try to sense if there had been any lasting damage. “I may not be as excessively large as you, but I’m more than capable of bearing a small portion of your weight.”
The healer hadn’t been able to hide the grimace she’d made when they shuffled into the healing center. “Don’t worry, Ambeth,” Jaden assured the portly woman. “The queen has healed his more dire injuries. He needs a little patching up and something for the pain.”
“Get that sword belt off him,” Ambeth demanded, pinning a cap over her cropped orange locks. While Angus fumbled with the buckle, she poured a basin of heated water and mixed some extracts into it, setting it on the examination table.
“Prince, we’ll be here all day if you wait on him.” Angus grumbled something to the effect ofI’ve got it, but the healer intervened. “Give me your hand.”
Reluctantly, the hulking man let go of the belt and put a quivering hand on the healer’s and she started working, starting with his bloodied knuckles. Jaden recognized that tremble for what it was.Fatigue. His body was spent.
“How does this thing even stay on you, you wear it so low?” he asked. Jaden’s eyes trailed down to the other man’s waist, where he himself was struggling with the intricate clasps. He was so close Angus’s hot breath warmed his face as he worked. It wasn’t foul, though, considering what he’d been through. It was minty and mingled with the metallic blood and earthy sweat coming off him.Primal.
“It’s that butt,” Ambeth suggested with a giggle. He’d almost forgotten his question; he’d been so focused on his other senses and figured he ought to cut the queen and his uncle a little slack. There was something alluring about a battle-weary hero. Angus let out a frustrated exhale, drawing his focus.
“Sorry,” Jaden said. “The leather safety tie is knotted.”
“Just cut it.”
“No, I’ve about got it.” He didn’t know if he did it because it would drive the other man mad, but he dropped to his knees so he could see the knot better.
“Hold still,” Ambeth scolded when Angus jerked.
Jaden stared straight ahead as he rubbed the knot between his fingers, loosening it enough that he was able to get it free. Then pulled back the strap and released the buckle, catching the belt with the sheathed sword as it slipped off Angus’s hips. He looked up, grinning. “See? I told you.”
“You can go,” Angus muttered, glaring at him before he looked away.
Jaden couldn’t be sure, but through the splatters of blood on his cheeks, was that a flush?
“I was charged with making sure you stayed alive, so I’ll stay, thanks.” Jaden pulled a stool over to the corner and took his watchful perch. Caroline’s poor commander—he had no idea the trouble he was in.
One moment Caroline had brought to heel an entire village’s worth of dissenters and returned her longest friend back from the brink. Now she was being carried through the halls pressed into the hard chest of a man unable to fight his possessive instinct. What a day.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Breicher asked, brilliant blue eyes glued to her.
“I’m fine. I swear.” She ran her hand across the solid wall of his chest, up to his neck, tracing the veins throbbing below the surface with the tips of her fingers. Her other arm slipped around his neck and teased his hair at the base of his head. Even though she was a mess, that she killed men today, her mouth watered, drawn to that tan flesh below his ear.
