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Kierden growled in response .
I put a hand to his chest, stopping him before he could rise to his feet. “No. He hasn’t.”
She nodded, eyeing the food that remained on Vayme’s plate. He wordlessly moved some of it to hers.
I removed my hand from Kierden’s chest and went back to my own food. “Doyoumiss your city?” I asked her. Though I’d been from a small town, it wasn’t surprising that she’d come from a larger one. There were a lot in the human lands, and some of the biggest considered themselves their own kingdom. If any of those places had learned about my magic, they would likely have slaughtered my town to take me.
I’d wished for that to happen more times than I wanted to admit.
“Oh, I’m from a teeny, tiny town.” She bit her lip, as if to stop herself from saying something, and then added a moment later, “Laeli was from a big city though, so I assumed you were too.”
“My town was small, too. They would kill anyone who got close enough to try to take me.”
Her eyes widened. “So they protected you?”
I wasn’t sure how to explain without giving away things I didn’t want Kierden to know. “In a way, yes.”
“What does that mean?”His voice was low in my mind, making me shiver.
Kaelle nodded, her expression growing empathetic. She started eating the food Vayme had put on her plate, and all of us grew silent again. It hadn’t passed my notice that the kings didn’t really acknowledge each other, but the last thing I wanted to do was start another fight between them. Since they’d been at war for a long time, it wasn’t surprising they didn’t like each other much.
“Have you seen any sign of the Monster?” Kierden asked Vayme, finally addressing the other king as we all finished our food.
“Not yet.” The man’s forehead wrinkled, his gaze disturbed. “The ache in the rune has gotten worse, though.”
“Mine as well,” Kierden admitted. “I assume they’ll search the human lands after losing the trail of our magic there, and then return here.”
Vayme nodded slowly. “Should you need a place to hide, my castle is open to you and the female. They won’t expect us to rely on each other.”
“Thank you.” Kierden’s expression was grim, but his words did seem genuine.
“The Monster is hunting you?” I asked Vayme as my curiosity grew. He was another of the elves’ assassins, who had all been created from other beings in Evare.
The twisted wolf shifter hunting Kierden was called the Beast of the Endless Wilds.
The dragon shifter assassin was called the Demon of the Weeping Skies. Everyone despised dragons for their harshness and cruelty, so he was the one I’d be most afraid of.
The Monster of the Aching Chasm had been a gargoyle before he was transformed.
At least, that was what the stories I’d heard as a kid said.
“Yes.” Vayme dipped his head in a nod, though his face twisted in a scowl.
“Does he really drinkblood?” Kaelle shivered a little as she asked.
“I don’t know. Pray we don’t find out.”
Kierden grabbed his empty plate as well as mine. “The events will start in a few hours.” He left me where I was as he went to return the plates to the kitchen.
Kaelle sighed.
I figured that was my cue to leave, so I gave the other woman a quick smile and fell into step beside Kierden as he strode out of the dining hall.
When we’d turned down another hallway, Kierden opened a door I didn’t recognize and gestured for me to go inside. I stepped in, and he shut the door behind himself.
A quick glance around showed that we’d found an empty bedroom.
Hope beat in my chest.
