“You avoided the Maize road?” I asked, voice sharp.
It was a direct route. I left him bedridden with alcohol poisoning, the orders clear—no wine while I was gone. Tallon was foolish, immature, but this? Pretending he was on his way to Gog and avoiding a visit here? Even he wasn’t that stupid.
No, this was intentional.
“You didn’t take the most direct route either. Passing through Phares? Did you have to provoke them so? The letter they sent me was splattered with ink. They were enraged!”
“Tallon.” My voice dropped, a low threat that simmered with growing frustration. His games were growing tiresome, and the fury beneath my skin was becoming harder to restrain. Nienna was too close for me to deal with him directly, but later—later there would be time to pry the information out of him or a Verard’gog.
A small hand crept up my thigh, pulling my focus away from Tallon. Nienna’s fingers kneaded my leg. The mix of anger and the sudden rush of desire twisted together, a knot of impatience coiling tight.
“I thought you’d appreciate the company.” his words dripped with mockery, and he grimaced, crossing his arms as if defensive.
“You come too late,” I muttered, covering Nienna’s hand with mine, holding it steady. “Mocking Radaan’s gods, then telling me you’re off to see a nobleman about a race? After your people were slaughtered not an hour’s ride away? Tell me why I shouldn’t send you through the Craggs to search for the mammoth’s young.”
“I’ve failed you yet again,” he grumbled, avoiding my eye. “I was told by a servant the princess was down this hall. Thought she might welcome my company. Not many places to hide in a dump like this.”
Nienna’s nails dug into my leg, her panic palpable. I traced soothing circles over her hand, keeping my gaze fixed on Tallon. Nothing would happen to her—not while I still breathed.
“She won’t welcome your company after you abandoned her for a horse race.”
“It’s not like she’d have a choice. As my future wife, she would have to entertain me.”
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, a look that made my stomach clench.
“Out.”
“You will clean before dinner?” He sneered. “Can’t imagine she finds the gore in your hair attractive.” He stood, the chair scraping behind him.
I kept my posture stiff, my muscles coiling in readiness. If there had been a dagger within reach, or if Nienna weren’t between us, I would’ve drawn blood.
“You go too far, boy,” I snarled.
Tallon’s gaze drifted over me, his lips curling in disdain. His sneer lingered, dragging a chill over my skin where I usually felt steel-plated confidence. The scars etched into my body, once emblems of resilience, were exposed and hollow. Nienna’s presence rooted me in place, trapping me between lust and rage. To move would reveal her, but staying still made my anger fester.
A low chuckle escaped him, sharp and derisive, before he turned on his heel. He strode off without hurry, the arrogance in his posture igniting a deeper fury. Greaves pushed the door open, his eagerness to see him leave evident. Without a word, Tallon brushed past him, disappearing into the hallway’s shadows.
Greaves glanced back at me, his expression laced with unspoken questions. I shook my head, gripping Nienna’s hand as if it was the only thing tethering me to sanity. No one else could stay. No words would help. Only her presence kept my turmoil from splintering entirely. Her calming touch felt dangerous, soothing and agitating all at once, like an addictive venom.
When the door clicked shut, my glare lingered on the polished wood. The silence left me balancing a precarious anger I couldn’t dispel. Small fingers traced up my thighs, forcing me to recline, shifting away from her reach. She propped up on her knees, poking her head from beneath the desk.
Her eyes were fierce. “Why do you let him say things like that?”
My teeth ground together as I fought to form an answer.
Tallon was my son. As much as he disrespected me, as deep as his actions cut, he was still my heir. Blood bound us, and that alone meant I owed him protection. A king’s duty—despite the hatred that burned in my chest.
I loathed his existence, but the truth was, I needed him. As a father, I failed him in ways I had no dream of mending. After Eldeiade’s death, the thought of remarrying—it disgusted me. To sire another heir, to risk replacing Tallon—the notion turned my stomach.
She shattered whatever desire I had left for a woman.
Then Nienna entered my life and reignited it, a blaze impossible to resist.
I cupped her chin, my thumb grazing her lips, lifting her gaze to meet mine. My eyes traced the delicate curve of her neck, stirring the hunger within me.
“I do not always trust my tongue.”
Some things were better left unsaid. Tallon provoked me to the point where words spilled out before I could think. As king, I was calculated, careful. I couldn’t afford to speak impulsively—not even to him.
