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His eyes sharpened further, and he leaned forward. “The pirate queen is unpredictable. What exactly did Sabium say?”
I felt my brows lower and forced my expression to return to neutral once more. For reasons I couldn’t quite explain, I was annoyed at the interest flickering in his gaze when I mentioned Daharak Rostamir. “He wants her fleet. Tymedes has been attempting to kill her for some time and yet can’t seem to make it happen.” I allowed myself a smirk. “If I had attempted it—”
“I warn you against finishing that thought, Your Majesty,” Pelysian said.
The threat in his voice was clear, and I slowly got to my feet. “And why is that?”
He held out his hand, and one of the old scars on his palm began to fade before my eyes. I’d heard rumors of what that disappearing mark might represent. A fae blood vow. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“What—”
“I won’t hurt you,” Pelysian said. “Unless you threaten the pirate queen.”
“And why would you care if I threatened her?”
He sighed. “Because she is my sister.”
My mind whirled, a thousand memories of meeting with him behind closed doors over the years. I’d thought he was one of the few people I could trust. Had all of it been to set me up for Daharak Rostamir’s plans?
Darting toward the door, I opened my mouth to scream for my guards. Pelysian crossed the room in a flash, clamping his hand over my mouth. My back hit the wall with a thump. His hand was very warm on my face. This was the first time he’d ever touched me.
“Shh,” he said. “I understand the instinct, but if I were to be found, all of our secrets would come to light.”
I narrowed my eyes in a silent order to explain.
He sighed, his huge palm still covering my mouth.
“The blood vow prevented me from admitting my relationship with Daharak unless two conditions were met—her life was in danger, and there was a way for me to help. I haven’t spoken to my sister for years, but she knows if she were to be targeted, I would attempt to save her life. May I lift my hand, Your Majesty?”
I nodded. It wasn’t like me to react so impulsively. If the guards had discovered him here, he would have been tortured—and I would have been the one to pay for it. Slowly, Pelysian uncovered my mouth. We watched each other in silence.
“I’m glad you told me,” he said. “I will find a way to warn Daharak of Sabium’s renewed interest. My sister can be…rabid when it comes to those who attempt to take her fleet, and she has long been making fools of the kings on this continent.”
My mind raced at this new information. “Would she ally with me?”
Pelysian smirked. “You would find my sister to be a difficult woman to manipulate, Your Majesty.”
I waved that away. The hybrid heir’s plan was laughably simple—likely because she had so few choices. She needed Daharak Rostamir’s fleet. But if there was one thing I knew about the pirate queen, it was that her loyalty could be bought. Rostamir might ally with Prisca—but eventually, I would convince her to betray her.
After all, this little conversation had proven one thing: I had something that the pirate queen considered precious, even if she had attempted to conceal his existence.
Her brother.
CHAPTER FIVE
By the time we made it to Valdoria’s, it felt as if we had been traveling for weeks—each second stretching longer than the last.
I studied her house. Clearly, Valdoria had made herself at home—despite her preference for the fae lands. Ivy climbed the stone walls of her cottage, and she’d planted roses along the worn stone path. She’d settled in an ideal location for fae who needed a meal, a night of rest, or a healer. When Conreth had asked for someone to live here, far from the fae lands, she’d volunteered, leaping at the chance to help our people in her own way.
“Where exactly is it?” Demos asked.
Anyone who didn’t know the exact location of this cottage would find that Valdoria’s wards urged them to keep walking. Her home would appear to be nothing more than a dilapidated one-room shack on the outskirts of Hemiarath.
Asinia had fallen unconscious shortly after we’d left the riverbank. And she hadn’t woken again. Demos and I had taken turns carrying her, but she was worryingly pale. Somewhere along the way, I’d gotten used to her chatter, and it was too quiet without her continual opinions on our surroundings.
I would stay for one night, long enough for us all to rest and eat, and for a healer to attend to Asinia. Then I would leave and continue my search. If Demos and Asinia weren’t able to travel, they could wait and leave at a later time.
I knocked, and the door swung open immediately.
