AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re sure that’s what it says?” I ask, watching her for any sign of deception.
Pursing her lips, she puts the letter flat on the table and uses her finger to indicate the words as she speaks them. “To Kharon, First Deve of the Bear Realm.”
“But that’s definitely not a bear on the outside,” Noé accuses.
“No, it’s not,” she agrees, turning it over for us all to review the mountain lion symbol. “Maybe the person who drew it mixed up the letters.” She flips it over to the squiggles, then back to the lion. “It seems like the ink used to draw the figure is darker than the ink used for the script.”
There’s a knock at the door as I pull the letter from her hands. Ion enters with her tray of food, so I take the paper over to the fireplace where the light is better. Noé joins me and we examine it together.
“She’s right,” he says, surprised. “The ink isn’t the same, is it?”
I blow out a heavy breath. “No, it isn’t.”
The door closes and we go back to the table where Rina is beaming happily at me. “Thank you for the spoon.”
I dismiss her thanks with a wave, my mind on the letter. “So, the question is, was this error intentional or accidental?”
“Why would it be intentional?” Eldon asks. “It gives us vital information about their plans.”
Rina swallows a bite of her stew. “Maybe it’s not real information.”
Now there’s a thought I could do without. How I hate political intrigue. “Here,” I say, thrusting the letter at her again. “Read some more.”
She puts her spoon aside, but doesn’t get far before I stop her.
“There, that word,upstart.You say it means this advisor doesn’t like me?”
She nods. “And in my opinion, it’s phrased to imply that your First Deve doesn’t like you either. Like they’ve discussed you before.”
“That I believe,” Eldon says. “It’s no secret that Kharon was livid when you ended your father. Those two were thicker than thieves for going on twenty years.”
“No,” Noé says, drumming his fingers on the table. “No way. No deve would stoop to plotting with D’heilar. If his people found out –”
Eldon interrupts. “How would they find out? He’s got everything and everyone tied up tighter than a virgin’s quim. He has for decades. No one would dare say a word against him.”
“Still,” Noé insists, “I can’t believe a man as great as Kharon would betray the Realms like that.”
“Great?” Eldon disdains. “Let’s be real, shall we? The man would sell his own flesh and blood if he thought it to his advantage.”
“What?” sputters Noé as I notice Rina struggling to balance a large piece of meat on her spoon. While Noé and Eldon debate Kharon’s honor like old biddies, I pull my dagger from its sheath and hand it to her handle first.
In the candlelight, her amber eyes sparkle as she whispers, “I thought I wasn’t to be trusted with knives.”
She takes hold of the handle, but I don’t let go. I draw her closer to me with it. “Just this once.”
“Very unwise of you.” She runs her tongue across her lips . . . those sweet-tasting, full lips that I can’t stop obsessing over.
“No. Do you know what is unwise, little raven?”
The delight on her face makes her quite possibly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “What?” she breathes.
“How you think it’s okay to provoke me.” I jostle the knife between us, and it suddenly occurs to me how vulnerable I’ve made myself to her by almost resting the point on my chest. She could plunge it right into my heart if she wanted to.
Eldon breaks into our bubble. “Is this some kind of herald to sex? Because I’m strangely aroused right now.”
Surrendering the dagger to Rina, I consider knocking my cousin’s teeth from his head when Noé makes a noise of disgust. “Is this a strategy meeting or not? Let’s just get on with the letter.”
He’s right. Dragging my glare from Eldon, I watch her pick up the parchment again. Her good mood quickly disintegrates as she reads about theunfortunate violencethat will befall her and the hope that I will reject her.
