Page 124 of Season Warriors & Wolves

Why was he sitting so far from me?

He raised a brow and asked, What?

I love you.

He slowly grinned all pleased and proud with himself, and my eyes rolled back. Before I could add a ‘fuck you’ to my confession, he stood and asked Tristin if he could have her seat.

The commander shot me an amused look before standing and offering her king the seat that she should have freed long ago.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said, sliding a hand over my thigh.

“Hello, handsome,” I whispered back and grabbed onto his arm.

He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I love you, too.”

“It is a matter if they will be swayed,” Cai said loud enough to pull my attention back to the meeting. “We all are aware they know no loyalty, not even to their own kind.”

“The king made us a promise,” Larg said. “He is still shipping us metal. This had to have been done without his permission.”

“Metal? We are nearing an unavoidable war, there is something more precious than metal the unblessed princes can offer to it. Forgers, a fleet, bodies for his armies,” Cai added. “Gods know what Silas might have offered them this time. Even if it is them without the help of their king, it would not be the first time in history to tell of a fallen unblessed ruler usurped by his own kin. And hasn't Drystan ruled Comnhall for a decade now? No unblessed king has managed to keep a head on their shoulders for that long sitting on their wooden throne.”

Kilian was quiet. He’d told me that the Comnhall king would not betray his word and I could tell that he still thought so. He knew Drystan better than us, spent enough time to analyse the man like only he knew how. If Kilian thought the king would not be swayed, then I believed him.

“I will have a word with them,” I said, and then before they could sigh or huff or puff, I added, “A nice word.”

“They do not care for what you are,” Alaric said. “You cannot sway them with promises of power or gold.” He pointed a finger at me. “And no killing. We cannot weave our way out of this by killing no one.”

“I’ve got something else for them. A blessing of sorts. What they have always wanted.”

Everyone went dead quiet except Alaric who seemed rather alarmed. “What blessing, kid?”

“A curse disguised as a blessing,” Visha revealed. “The blood of someone who can never die. Snow returned inside the zgahna and retrieved the limbs she had cut off from Vas when he came to cross the mist. I’ve studied the limb and managed to salvage some of what he possessed. Snow had also made some helpful observations in Isjord which confirmed some of my suspicions.”

Kilian tightened his hand on my thigh but didn’t speak. Probably aware there was more to it, and he wanted me to dish it out before reprimanding me.

Eren rubbed a hand over his eyes. “This is turning into something more than war, Lin. If we do this, what makes you any more different from Silas?”

“I’m younger. Better looking.” I leaned forward. “Sometimes fishing is just a hobby, not necessarily about catching fish. Hook, line and sinker.”

“Not the metaphors,” Nia sighed under her breath, and I shot her a look.

“You want to trick the unblessed folk?” Eren asked what everyone was thinking.

“Trick? No, I don’t trick, brother. I do, however, deceive.”

Visha put a small vial filled with red liquid on the table and then another empty one next to it. “Nohas.” Reveal, Visha chanted in Borsich, and the liquid stirred inside the glass, bubbling and steaming, turning into a black, ink-like consistency. “Teih.” Hide, she ordered, and the once black liquid turned clear while the empty vial filled with smoke.

“A mask,” Kilian said quietly.

“Like a mirk root. A temporary burst of magic that will eventually fade,” Visha explained, pocketing the vials and pointing a finger at me. “It was her idea. I didn’t know it would be possible until Oryn helped.”

I sneered at her. Why was she so scared of Kilian?

The old man’s head snapped up from the book he was reading, and he turned beet red with guilt. “I…I only gave an idea or two. The queen made all the important calculations.”

Incredible. I was speechless. Had two of my most trusted people just thrown me in front of carriage wheels?

“You are telling us that you’ve basically manufactured a new drug that could potentially make someone unkillable?” Kilian asked, his jaw set tight. “Even an unblessed?”