Lynelle’s eyes widened as my name left his lips, and Leon’s stance went rigid.
“We have much to discuss, but her arrival shouldn’t be entirely a surprise,” he continued, his voice stern, as if warning them not to react how they typically would have.
“Nephew,” Lynelle breathed. “The next time you send a letter by falcon stating that you have found a way to win the war by means of a ‘powerful’ mortal sympathizer…you may want to include that she holds royal lineage.” A nervous chuckle left her.
She took a hesitant step toward me, and my breath caught as I focused on her face. She was the image of Zaela aged by only a few decades’ time. Her hair was a sandy blonde and chopped short at her shoulders while Zae’s flowed down her back. The only other difference was their eyes—while Zaela possessed the same eyes as Jace and his mother, Lynelle’s were a greyish blue. But their facial structures were nearly identical, only apart in the finest of age lines.
“Hello, Lynelle. My name is Elianna, but you can call me Lia.”
“Lia.” She spoke my name into the air as if trying to get a feel for it on her tongue. “How lovely.” A soft smile formed on her lips.
She turned back to my mate. “And she is what exactly to you, nephew?”
“Everything,” he answered without hesitation—sending shockwaves of love rippling down our bond.
The general’s eyes flared, but Lynelle’s smile beamed brightly. “Jace Cadoria—a man in love. I never thought I would see the day. Come now,” she demanded gently. “If the others are moving through the passage, we still have hours until they arrive, and there is much to discuss.” Her eyes warily lifted to my wyvern behind us, and she took a hesitant step back.
I glanced back at Nox to see he was playfully snapping at the small hummingbirds as they hovered around his head, seeming to forget about me entirely.
Lynelle cleared her throat as if my hesitance of leaving him behind was making my movements too slow for her to bear.
“You know,” she began as she mounted the general’s horse—he moved to sit behind her in the saddle. “When you wrote that you would arrive by wyvern, I assumed that was a code I didn’t understand. No wonder why this one laughed and brushed it off.” She gestured to the general behind her with her chin.
Jace chuckled and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “I didn’t know how else to put it.”
“Is the beast to be trusted?” Leon asked cautiously.
I tried to hide the scowl that wanted to form on my lips, reminding myself that it was normal for others to be wary of Nox.
Jace answered before I could. “He will be fine, so long as you don’t have any cattle in the area.”
Lynelle’s eyes widened. “Not in this area, no.”
“Then he will be fine,” I chimed in as I approached the mare she rode in on.
Once Jace and I mounted the horse together, the other two sent theirs into a gallop straight into the horizon, where the day was turning to dusk.
Chapter sixteen
Kellan
What remained of myarmy had finally exited the gods-forsaken Sylis Forest two days prior. We forced through the trees, traveling day and night, only resting when our bodies absolutely demanded it—and even then, it frustrated me to no end. We needed to get back.
Back to Isla.
Back to the queen.
And back tomyfucking kingdom.
With Callius and Kai out of the picture now, it was only a matter of time until I could infiltrate the castle and its ruler’s bed.
That was the way of females—as long as you whispered pretty little lies into their ears, they would welcome you wholeheartedly.
I wasn’t beneath Callius’ tactics for getting what I needed. If occupying that vindictive bitch of a female’s bed was what it took to eventually be crowned king, then so be it.
I was desperate to find a nearby village to steal supplies. Elianna’s little wyvern stunt had decimated nearly every ounce of supplies we had aside from the shirts on ourbacks…and even then, some of those were in tatters, nicked by the flames she cast down on our camp. She even freed our gods-damn horses, forcing us to travel across the entire realm on aching, bleeding feet.
“How much farther to Isla, Captain?” William asked as he caught up at my side.
