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“You’re all right,” Meera said.
I nodded, and she helped me to make my way to the bench.
“Everyone’s inside,” Rhyan said. “All limbs and fingers accounted for. Heartrates beating…semi-normal.”
“I think,” I gasped.
Meera nodded, stiff with tension again.
“Right, then next order of business,” Rhyan said. He moved before Meera on the bench, dropping to his knees. “I swore to your sister I would protect her. That she would always be safe with me. And that means protecting you as well. Protecting your secret.” He pressed his fist to his heart, tapped twice, and flattened his hand across his chest. “Me sha, me ka. My oath, my soul. Lady Meera Batavia, you have my word.”
Meera eyed him nervously, her face skeptical, and I thought of how she’d insinuated I might have to kill Rhyan for what he knew. I understood her reluctance to trust him. We’d been forced to bear the burden of the blood oath—mere promises or sworn oaths weren’t enough for Ka Batavia.
Rhyan seemed to understand that as well.
“I offer you a token to prove my trust,” he said. “A secret for a secret.” He reached into the pouch attached to his soturion belt where he usually stored spare sunleaves and lately bags of nuts and chocolates that he offered me during training breaks. He pulled his fisted hand free, taking a deep breath. Whatever he was about to show, it made him nervous, too.
When he opened his palm, he revealed three clear stones swirling with mist.
Vadati stones. And not the Bamarian-issued stone he used for communication with my escort team when on guard duty. These were smaller, their shapes uneven.
Meera gasped in disbelief as Rhyan rose, placing one in her hand and one in mine.
“This is so you can reach each other for help when you’re apart. They were my mother’s,” he said, “hidden from the Empire for centuries. Her ancestors carried them across the ocean.” He glanced away, his gaze distant as his lips quirked into a small smile. “I took them before I left. I was already forsworn—I just wanted something of hers.”
These were illegal to own. Priceless artifacts from Lumeria Matavia, heavily controlled by the Empire…like my necklace.
Meera tried to return hers. “I can’t. It’s too precious.”
Rhyan pushed her hand back, closing her fingers over the stone. “I could be arrested for having these. Thrown out of Bamaria if you told anyone. They’d be confiscated, and I’d be forsworn again, in exile with no chance of refuge.”
Meera’s eyes widened as she understood. A secret for a secret. But it was too much. Rhyan had already given us his oath. To give these, when they’d been his mother’s….
He closed my fingers over my own stone. My skin warmed, and our eyes met.
“These will be better served in your hands than hiding in the dragon pile I’ve hoarded the past year.”
Meera’s eyes shone. “I accept.”
“You have my oath.” Rhyan took Meera’s hand and kissed it, but his eyes remained on me.
He sat down beside me, the length of his thigh pressed along mine. I pushed my leg back against his, reveling in the feel of his closeness, his warmth, his scent, his…everything.
Meera carefully placed her vadati stone in the pouch attached to her belt beside her stave, a look of awe in her eyes. Even as Heir Apparent, she’d never actually been allowed to touch or use one of the ancient stones.
Rhyan returned his single remaining stone to his belt. My only secure place was in the holster circling my thigh. I pushed my skirt aside, the entire length of my thigh up to my hip bone exposed. I was suddenly aware of Rhyan’s eyes on my exposed skin, and my stomach tightened, my core clenching as heat pooled between my legs.
As I looked up, his eyes darkened, hooded with desire. I took hold of the top of my skirt where the slit ended and pulled it back, just enough for Rhyan to see the strings of my underwear. A sound came from Meera, and I pulled the material back down, hastily leaning forward to secure my vadati stone inside the holster—in a pocket just beside my dagger.
When I looked up again, Rhyan’s green eyes were full of unbridled hunger. His hand on his leg slid to mine. His fingers brushed past the material of my dress, through the opened slit, and just barely touched my thigh.
Outside, the bells announced a new hour.
Or, I thought they did. The wind was loud outside the window, but the distinct sound of bells rang through the noise.
Then it hit me. These weren’t the bells for time. They were warning bells.
Our carriage shook, the movement so violent we were turned on an angle. I slid down the bench and grabbed hold of my seat before I could fall off. Meera slammed into me. There was a crack, and all the cabinets opened and slammed shut above our heads.
