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“Oh no, little wolf. For you, I’llalwaysmake time.” The majority of the bed was between us, but it felt like no barrier at all. “It’s time to resume your training.”
“With Hecate.”
“Withme. If you don’t know by now not to make bargains with anyone who offers, then I’ve given you far too lax a tutor.”
The chastisement smarted.Laxwas the last word I’d use to describe Hecate’s teaching style.
Still, I could use some… physical exertion. Running last night in my wolf form reminded me of how much I missed it. The work with Hecate was challenging, but it didn’t leave me with the utter exhaustion that a good training session did.
And I had missed this.So why fight it?
“Fine. I’ll meet you in half an hour.” After three days of not showering as a wolf, I was in desperate need of hot water running over my body. “Now, shoo.” I waved my hand at Cole.
His lip quirked up. “Only you would shoo away the King of Hell.”
“Only because he’s a perv who would watch if I didn’t.”
Cole didn’t argue the accusation. He just gave me one final heated look, grabbed a shirt from seemingly nowhere, and left the room.
I wound up taking a cold shower.
Cole was waiting for me down the hall. He was talking to some member of the court who was draped in expensive fabrics and holding a stack of papers, pointing animatedly.
Even in simple slacks and a silk shirt, he looked like a king. In contrast, I’d opted for sweats and a tank top. Cole spotted me instantly but didn’t move away.
“What do you think?” he asked me as I approached.
“About what?”
“It’s the settlements,” the other man explained. He had hair pulled back in a thin ponytail, which did him no favors, considering the wiry gray hairs didn’t start until halfway back on his head. In fact, everything about him was gray. His hair, his eyes, even his skin had a vaguely colorless appearance. “They’ve been complaining about…disturbancesin the area and want the protection of the walls, but we don’t have the resources to expand them, and if we do, it’ll take too many resources to manage.”
I frowned. “I’m guessing the inns within the city walls don’t have enough space for them?” I’d seen only a few small inns while walking through the town.
A nod of confirmation.
“Then tell them if anything happens, they can come to the palace. I’m sure there’s more than enough space.” It might be cramped, but from what I’d seen, there couldn’t be even a thousand people living in the scattered farms around the walls. We could accommodate that.
I expected the courtier to laugh me off for not knowing what I was doing. What did I know about these decisions? But Cole gave me an approving look.
“But… it’s not proper,” the silver-haired man protested.
I shrugged, my confidence bolstered by Cole’s silent agreement. “It wouldn’t beproperto abandon them. Besides, it would just be temporary, right? And if for any reason they did need more permanent protection, we can look into slowly expanding the walls so that it’s not too big a strain.”
“That makes sense.” The words were almost reluctant. Gray eyes met Cole’s, awaiting confirmation.
“Do as she says,” he instructed. “And see to it internal protocols are put in place.”
“At once, Your Majesty. I’m grateful for your guidance.” The latter half was said to me.
“Wait. What’s your name?” I asked. “I’m getting tired of having too many nameless faces floating around.”
His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly schooled his features back into neutrality. “Petyr, my lady.”
“Petyr. Nice to meet you. I’m Avery.” I stretched a hand out.
He bowed, ignoring my hand.
“I will get to work at once.”
