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The soldier seemed even more confused. “My lord?”
“Are you seriously telling me that I was woken from a dead sleep in the middle of the night—where I was tucked up against a very warm and comfortable wife, I might add—with an urgent message from these Teller motherfuckers saying to come with the utmost haste because they were about to apprehend a blood-born Graykey, only for me to get here and find this?” When Erick motioned toward me again, he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Congratulations, gentlemen,” he dryly announced. “You just caught Indigo Moast, one of the greatest warriors the kingdom of High Cliff has ever had.”
The guards gaped at me, before one mumbled, “You mean, he’s a High Clifter?”
Erick closed his eyes briefly and groaned. “Do you see the tattoo on his temple and not his forearm? Jesus, yes, he’s a High Clifter.”
I silently pointed to the love mark on the side of my head, which should’ve been noticeable way before now, and then I held out my arms, exposing both forearms that were free of any marks.
“And not only that,” Erick fumed. “But he's a very good friend of mine.”
“But…” Another guard shook his head as if confused. “But he ran from us, my lord. We thought—we were sure he was—”
“Did he begin to run from you before or after you took up chase after him?” Erick asked darkly. “Because I’ll tell you right now, if a mob of men with pitchforks and shouts of righteous indignation suddenly took up chase after me, I’d damn well run too.” Then he shook his head with disgust and muttered, “Idiots,” under his breath before snapping, “Indy,” as he glared my way. “Get off your fucking knees and haul your ass over here.”
I grinned. “Yes, my lord.”
I rose and started toward him. He shook his head as if disgusted with me too, only to open his arms and pull me into a full-body embrace. “Christ, it’s good to see you, my friend.”
“You too as well, Erick.”
Patting my back, he pulled away, finally grinning as he looked me over. “I swear, my little brother took all the best soldiers with him when he and Allera headed up to Donnelly, the little shit.”
>
I glanced toward the very soldiers he was belittling still standing around him. “Maybe that’s because Urban knows how to inspire loyalty and hard work from his knights, whereas King Ignatius…” Clearing my throat discreetly, I finished with a mumbled, “Does not.”
Erick lifted his eyebrows at the slur against his father. “Not that I entirely disagree, mind you, but…” He gave a low whistle. “Those are some mighty strong words to say against your sovereign, Moast. Might I suggest you guard your tongue so no one can accuse you of treason?”
I merely shrugged. “Ignatius hasn’t been my king in years, Erick. I serve another now.”
“True.” Erick nodded in agreement. “In fact, the last message I received from my sister in Donnelly said you’d left Urban’s army as well and had decided to lead your own warriors for her sister-in-law Nicolette in Far Shore.” His brow furrowed quizzically. “But this is not Far Shore either.” He leaned close and lowered his voice. “So seriously, what the hell are you doing down here, Indigo?”
“I got a sense of my true love,” I started with a proud grin. “So I left my post with Nicolette to follow my mark here, and—well…” I shrugged helplessly. “You know how it goes.”
Smiling fondly, Erick touched his own love mark and nodded. “That I do. Congratulations, my friend. But, uh…” He glanced around. “Where is she? Are you still trying to catch her or what?”
Wincing uneasily, I shifted, not sure how to tell him the next part. “Well, that’s the thing, actually.”
He squinted, not understanding. “What do you mean?”
Before I could explain anything further, the shrill scream of a raven sounded above. It swooped down, and its homing human stepped forward, stretching up an arm covered with a leather gauntlet to his elbow. The bird settled on the glove’s sleeve and croaked low in its throat until its human untied the message from its leg and gave it a sunflower seed in payment. It squawked in thanks and took off flying again.
“My lord,” the raven’s homing human called, his voice urgent as he stepped forward. “Everett of House Teller sends a message, saying they’ve confirmed the capture of a Graykey female.”
“Shit!” I leaped forward, gripping Erick’s arm. “My lord.”
What the hell had Quilla gotten herself into? She was supposed to be gone from this fucking dimension already.
“I know, I know,” Erick muttered on an exhausted sigh and lifted his hand to interrupt me before I could say anything. “You and your uncle don’t get on well. I’m aware. I’ll make sure to keep the two of you apart while we handle this.”
“No,” I ground out. “Not him. Her. The woman. That’s got to be my true love.”
“What?!” the crown prince yelled incredulously. Around him, his royal soldiers immediately lifted their weapons, on guard, and ready to attack.
“You’re mated to a fucking Graykey?” one asked as another spat on the ground in my direction, as if the very idea put a vile taste in his mouth.
Erick merely hissed out a breath, closed his eyes, and set a hand over his face. “Why the fuck did you just tell me that?” he asked, then added as he gritted out from between clenched teeth, “In front of witnesses?”
