* * *
For the firsttime in a while, I manage to wash and eat a meal. How I can feel hungry after witnessing the mess that Renna made of Lana is beyond me, but I do. I eat with one hand whilst reading a note from Talyn about the amount of medicine we have remaining and the need to start rationing to have enough to heal incoming refugees. I write up a plan for this whilst Renna eats opposite me, silently reading updates from her scouts.
She puts down the paper and shakes her head as if in disbelief. "It's a clever plan from the enemy, isn't it?"
I nod, swallowing my mouthful of steak. "To plant a spy deep in Kelen’s counsel, to corrupt a King into taking a stone out of the Vault so that they can betray him and snatch it off him easily. To wipe out thousands of our people so they have fewer people to fight. To cause tensions between the five Kingdoms, to see one King kill another. It's averyclever plan, Rennalya, and Kelen and Lana were just putty in their hands.
“Mortals like those two; they weren't alive when the Fire Stone was removed, and neither were their great, great, great, great, great, grandparents. To them, the fact that the Vault Stones could kill us all is nothing more than a fairy tale that they do not believe."
"So you're not sure Kelen evenhasthe stone?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Kelen is dead in a ditch and the stone is in the hands of whichever enemy commander corrupted his mind." Fuck, I hope Siddie is alive. I whisper a silent prayer to my grandfather, hoping that he's watching over my son.
"Rexxan, he'll be okay. He has your blood, he'll rise above all of this. You will see him again," reassures Renna. She's so in tune with me, always the first person to notice when my thoughts turn downward. I nod, finishing my food in silence. I could really use just one small sign that might suggest anything towards him being alive. If Renna was out there too...fuck, I'd have so many regrets.
I’ve been stuck in a pit of grief, agony, and despair for so long. A bottomless chasm with smooth sides that stop me from ever having hope of getting out. For a lifetime, I’ve sat in that hollow and stared upwards, watching people come and go, heard their laughter, seen their elation, wondered if I’ll ever make it up there too. Then Renna came along and threw me a rope, gave me belief that one day I could have all the simple things I craved for so long. Laughter, contentment, joy,hope. She is my lifeline.
"Rennalya," I say, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?"
"I want you to be mine."
Her fork pauses in the air. "I am yours, Rexxan. Body and soul."
"I want you to be publicly mine."
She laughs. "Well, you're a King, Rex, so you don't have that liberty. You can't just ‘date’ someone. You can only go public with a woman if—“ her face turns pale, every bit of colour draining from her cheeks.
I nod.
She drops the fork.
"You want me to marry you?"
I shrug. "Why not?"
Chapter33
A Job for an Assassin (Renna)
Am I dreaming?
Have I eaten some weird mushroom?
HasRexxaneaten some weird mushroom?
"What do you mean, why not?" I ask, incredulous. "I am not marrying you! And secondly, this istheworst proposal in the history of all proposals, ever. I want you on your knees, Rexxan. On. Your. Knees!"
“Rennalya, my love, I very regularly get on my knees for you,” he says, his husky voice making me press my thighs together. I just shake my head in utter disbelief.
"You don't want to marry me?" He asks, looking a little offended. Gods save me. I really thought I was making some headway towards understanding what goes on inside men’s heads.
I've definitely eaten a bad mushroom. Where is Rexxan? I want the old Rexxan back.
"Your ego is so inflated that it'sthathard for you to imagine a woman not wanting to marry you? A huge dick and a mountain’s worth of gold doesn't automatically guarantee you a yes!"
He stalks round the dining table, picking me up, carrying me a few paces, and chucking me on the bed with one arm. "It doesn't?"
