The urge to distrust her was simply non-existent.
He loosened his grip on her wrists, giving her a way out; she did not take it.
"You have too much gall; are you really not afraid of death?"
"On the contrary, I’m very afraid, so it’s fortunate," she said quietly, her voice dropping to a whisper at his ear, "that I have you between me and Ukhel, my Lord."
She sat back on his lap; the world narrowed to her eyes, eyes that reminded him of death.
A goddess composed of nothing but temptation and utter condemnation.The goddess of chaos and beauty—
"—Tsenkhinn Narvaal."
She must be a follower of such a cursed woman or an incarnation.There was no other explanation for why he felt a pressing need to heed her words despite her snake-like disposition and why he struggled to draw his gaze away from such exquisite eyes.
But before he could move, the curtain was wrenched aside.
Light and noise flooded in.A young man with a face twisted by fury grabbed Azul under her arms, hauling her from Ragnar’s lap with a rough jerk.
"Great Khan," the man spat, vitriol dripping from every word.He clutched a dazed Azul to his side."What do you think you’re doing to my sister?You should know better than to act like a wolf preying on the weak!"
Ragnar stared, stupefied, his lap suddenly cold, his hands empty.The scent of honey still clung to him.He looked from the brother’s scorn to Azul’s face, her mask of innocence flawlessly reassumed.
Wolf?he thought, the bitter irony a tang in his mouth.She’s the one who crawled into the den.
The girl was dragged out of the alcove, leaving him alone, trying to understand just what had happened to him.
Vixen.His heart trembled.
Truly, a vixen.
Chapter 16
"Areyouserious!?"Borjiasked in a dangerously low voice.They were barely twenty paces from the main hall and he had not stopped talking since he pulled her out of the alcove."You know better than to draw that curtain closed.That man is not someone you can simply handle."
Azul crossed her arms.
"Don't roll your eyes at me."
She flinched.How did he see that in torchlight?His eyesight genuinely unsettled her.
Borji let out a long breath.
He had been, for the past several minutes, working through every conceivable consequence of so many eyes seeing her spend time alone and unchaperoned with a man of such infamy.Azul didn’t even seem to care, her eyes wandering around like her reputation wouldn’t be in pieces by daylight.
A group of servants passed at the far end of the corridor, trays balanced, moving quickly between the kitchens and the hall.Borji waited until they were gone to continue.
"Anyway," he said, the word carrying the particular exhaustion of a man accepting a defeat he cannot name."I spoke to the young scholar.As you asked...Enoch?"
Azul's posture changed immediately; she was ready to actually pay attention, much to his ire."And?What did he say?"
He tugged at one of his braids."I genuinely could not tell you.He spoke entirely in circles.The river seeks its own level but the bank may yet be persuaded to shift its course."He looked pained."I can't make anything of that manner of speech.It gives me a headache."
Her eyes went briefly to the ceiling, to the dark corners.
"That is precisely why you need a scholar as your right hand.You cannot expect every useful person to speak plainly.Subtlety is a language.You must learn it."
Borji shifted his weight.Something moved across his expression, a deep discomfort."He is Iyom's brother," he said, keeping his voice below the noise of the feast."Does that not concern you?"
