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“We do not,” Neil protested with a wry grin and a shake of his head. “Don’t listen to him,” he said to Olympus. “He’s not the only one who chases me around the bed and pins me down so he can have his wicked way with me. Peter can be ridiculously demanding.”
“So can you, my darling,” Magnus told Neil with a wink.
Olympus continued to laugh and sent me a wink as well. He and I knew what the dynamics were in a relationship between a younger and an older man, and they weren’t always what people assumed they’d be from the outside.
I noticed a couple other things as we headed on to the palace. Peter was far quieter than usual. He was still sore about Sebald taking Avenel as a pup. He glared at Sebald’s back now and then. Even though Magnus and Olympus continued their ribald banter—the two of them had gotten along like brothers from the start, exactly like I predicted they would—Magnus caught Peter’s glare a few times and yanked his arm as if telling him to stop.
Sebald and Jace walked ahead of the rest of us. It made sense, since both of them were familiar with Hedeon and they knew the way. I could feel that their friendship had changed, though, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why. It was the same reason Gennadi had wanted to stay behind with Avenel. Both pairs of men had something in common now.
There was definitely going to be a showdown of some sort that night, when we had a Sons meeting. I honestly didn’t know which side I would take. I understood where Peter was coming from. We had fought hard to get rid of pupdom and the fight was just getting started. It had been awful belonging to Radulph and having no say over my life or when and whether I was fucked. I’d hated it.
But watching the way Avenel fawned over Sebald while we’d all been having tea had made it pretty clear that the young man loved his relationship with Sebald. And honestly, watching Gennadi with Jace gave me the same feelings. I didn’t understand it, I thought it was a little weird, but it was their thing and it worked well for them.
So no, I didn’t know whose side I would take when we hashed that whole thing out. Honestly, at the moment, the last thing I wanted to spend my time thinking about was pupdom. That was Peter’s issue. I wanted to know more about what the Old Realm was up to. I wanted to know if Gregorius’s accomplices were connected to Gomez. And actually, I wanted to know if the plot that put Gomez on the throne of the Kostya Kingdom extended into any of the other parts of the frontier. Maybe something was going on in the eastern forest that we didn’t know about. Maybe the same people had something to do with Boris and Yates and whatever had happened that caused the attack at Neander…which had caused the wolves to hold the grand summit…which had led to the boycott of faires…which had led to the downfall of the cities.
“You have that look again,” Olympus murmured to me as we walked into the palace and were escorted through the halls to a huge council room.
“The sour fruit one?” I asked.
“That’s the one,” Olympus said.
I sighed, my attention already being drawn across the room to where Jorgen and Hati were speaking with King Sai and a few decidedly uncomfortable-looking advisors. “I’m trying not to link everything together into some sort of a massive conspiracy, but now I’m wondering if the same people who killed Gregorius are the ones who helped Gomez take the throne, and if they are up to something in the eastern forest, or if they’re connected to Boris and Yates.”
“Who?” Olympus asked, frowning.
“Ah, King Magnus, Lord Olympus,” Sai said, peeling away from Jorgen and Hati and the others and stopping me from answering Olympus. “You’re here at last. We can officially begin.”
“Lord Olympus?” Olympus murmured to me, sending me a smirk that hinted he didn’t like the moniker.
“Just go with it, Oly,” I whispered to him before he stepped forward, along with Magnus, to greet Sai.
“I’ve been looking forward to this,” Jorgen said, moving parallel with Sai and shaking both Magnus’s and Olympus’s hands, then saying, “I’ve been curious about what you lot of tame wolves in the south have been up to in the last year.”
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Magnus said, gripping Jorgen’s hand longer than he needed to. “I wouldn’t know where to begin, because I’m not certain you feral, northern wolves would have the slightest inkling of understanding about what it is to be civilized.”
Jorgen laughed out loud. I nearly choked on nothing. King Sai looked suddenly as though someone had let an actual feral wolf loose in the room. Olympus rocked back and glanced from Magnus to Jorgen and back again, as though either one might suddenly turn wild. Sai’s counselors didn’t seem to have the first idea of how to react.
Jace snorted with laughter and smirked at his brother. Neil laughed too. Even Peter cracked into a smile.
“Careful, Magnus,” Jorgen chuckled, letting go of Magnus’s hand to shake Olympus’s. “You don’t want to give the other kingdoms the impression that the wolves are anything less than unified.” He put extra emphasis on the last word…which I thought might have been a dig at the way Magnus had worked so hard to unify all the wolves at the grand summit last year….and failed.
“Of course not,” Magnus said with a casual shrug. “But Sai and Olympus are both gentlemen. They understand the value of integrity and following through on their promises.”
Jorgen lost his smile as he snapped back to stare at Magnus.
Magnus met and held his eyes with a commanding air and a brittle smile.
Shit. Now the negotiations had begun in earnest. I wondered if Jorgen had made some sort of promise to join the alliance that had turned into the Wolf River Kingdom, then had gone back on it.
The air in the room crackled. No one seemed to know what to do until Sai cleared his throat and said, “Shall we take our seats?”
Getting everyone to move around the table was a good idea. It dispelled the suddenly anxious energy Magnus and Jorgen’s interaction left us with. I didn’t know what game the two of them were playing at. Heck, I didn’t know whether they were actually friends or enemies, or what either Magnus or Jorgen wanted to get out of the meeting. I didn’t know anything, and it made me feel stupid as I shuffled into a seat at Olympus’s side.
Olympus and I were the only real delegates representing Good Port. Vikhrov hadn’t had enough time to organize more men to come with us, other than the ones who were acting as our servants. Jorgen had Hati and three other men who I didn’t know with him, though. They all sat on my left, around the huge, round table that filled most of the room. Magnus, Peter, Neil, and Jace sat on Olympus’s right, making up the Wolf River delegation. Beyond Jace, across from me and Olympus, sat Sai and three men from the Kostya Kingdom. Sebald sat between Jace and one of those men, looking very much like he bridged the two delegations. Well, probably because he did.
I glanced to Magnus, expecting him to open the meeting. But Magnus had his eyes trained on Sai, waiting for him. I had the impression that Sai had expected Magnus to start things as well. When he didn’t, Sai flinched slightly before speaking himself.
“Thank you all for coming to Hedeon for this meeting,” he said, his face coloring slightly. “When Magnus and I conceived of the idea for this meeting, I thought it would just be the two of us discussing ways our two kingdoms could help and support each other for the benefit of the entire frontier. I’m glad that you, Jorgen, and you, Olympus, have joined us so that we can expand the pact of mutual support that I am certain will come out of the next few days.”
