She straightened her cracked spectacles, whisps of disarrayed hair floating down as she shook her head, “To stand against my mother...”
“You are not bound to her. Not with an air oath,” I countered. If Carina was surprised that I knew she was tied to no oath, she didn’t show it.
“No. She leaves that for more important people in the court,” she murmured.
“Youare important, Carina. And you are worthy of your title.”
Carina blinked twice, as if seeing me for the first time.
“Think about it,” I continued, giving her a nod. “For now, I have a favor to ask.”
“Good afternoon,milord.”I sketched a bow to the man lying on a cot in the corner of the small ice structure, hands bound with rope and cuff glowing from beneath his coat.
“Solitary confinement…” Lord Astraeus mused as he sat upright. “Who knew a pretty thing like you could be so cruel? Where is my crew?” The pirate lord’s dark eyes flashed, and I returned the look with an innocent smile.
“With the others I have little trust in,” I said as I neared the edge of his bed. “I brought you lunch.”
Astraeus kept his eyes on mine as I dropped the plate of roasted venison and bread on his lap, a sudden stretch of silence crawling through the small ice structure as I waited for him to acknowledge the meal.
“Are you going to eat this or not?” I asked, jerking my finger to the roast. He dragged his gaze from mine and edged his way up the back of the bed with a groan.
“What do you want, Lyvia?”
I blinked, realizing it was the first time he’d said my name. Unease followed by something warmer twisted in my gut at the way it rolled off his tongue.
“I came to negotiate our departure from Rhashtai.”
Lord Astraeus scoffed as he shoveled the deer into his mouth. A small groan escaped his lips, and I shifted on my feet.
“Then negotiate,” he murmured.
“In exchange for an alliance with you and safe passage to Lotrennia, I will lend my service in the hunt for the bone connected to your family bloodline.”
A deep, throaty chuckle filled the small chamber.
“No.”
I bristled at the tone, the Obscura responding in kind. The corner of his lips twitched, and he glanced up, his gaze softening in curiosity.
“Those eyes…” he mused, “Like embers in the night.”
“Stop looking at my eyes,” I snapped.
Lord Astraeus sat back as he smirked, resting his head against the icy wall as he lifted his bound hands to take another bite. My eyes shot to his lips as he sucked the fatty juice off his thumb, before darting up to find his dark eyes searching mine.
“The Advetis Bone does not belong to you,” I continued, “and you will not leave with it. But another might.”
“It does not belong toyou,” he retorted. “What do you know?”
A demand, not a question.
“The matron of the Rhashtai knows of your connection to one of the Bellators. If there is a bone you think you can harness?—”
“I told you already, it’s not forme,” he cut in.
“What do you mean?”
The pirate lord’s lips drew a hard line before he ripped back into the venison.
