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“And what are you to my sister?”
The knot in his throat bobbed. With a cheeky smile, he tilted his head just the slightest bit. “We are engaged to be married.”
“Oh!” Ambrose sat straight, blinking several times.
Like a cat with its cornered mouse, Idalia exposed all her teeth with her wide grin. “Why didn’t you tell us we were visiting with a future brother-in-law? So you are to be king then, if she accepts?”
“I am to be king, yes.”
So he didn’t know. How could he be so oblivious when Idalia could see it during only a few minutes of interaction with them?
“Will you approve of my sister’s affair then?” Idalia mimicked Rehan’s pose, crossing her legs and intertwining her fingers in her lap. “You know, with the warlock.”
Those glowing eyes narrowed. “Ace said you were a great manipulator. It is unfortunate that the first impression you make on me is such a poor one.” Rubbing his palms together, he stood and gave each of the queens a bow, his brown hair falling over his face as he did so. “Unless you have anything further you would like me to discuss with Ace, then I will be on my way.” He gave them his back, the creaking of his leather boots the only sound in the room.
“I would reward you greatly, Rehan,” Idalia said. He paused, fingers brushing the doorknob. “If you were to bring my sister to me. Willingly or not. I would reward you with whatever you’d like.”
Idalia had to strain to hear his response before he disappeared behind the closed door.
“I’ve already got everything I could ever want.”
Ace
Their makeshift camp was little more than a small slice of forest floor they’d cleared of debris that was mostly surrounded by tall, possibly dead, trees. They’d slept huddled together for warmth, heated more thoroughly when Shelby and Margo decided it was worth leaving the signature of magic behind. As a group, they decided to take turns staying up and keeping guard but Ace found little desire to sleep, so when it was her turn, she never resigned from her post.
Often she found her attention drifting up to the sky. Sparkling stars winked at her between the nearly leafless branches above them. On occasion, a fluffy gray cloud could be made out against the dark blue behind it. She’d watch as it drifted away, wondering what that must be like.
The men produced a few soft snores and once Margo mumbled in her sleep. For the most part though, the night was quiet. Ace listened for the crunch of steps or whispered voices. All she heard was the hoot of evening birds and the far away cry of a wolf.
When she wasn’t letting the sky humble her, as she recalled how small she must really be in comparison to the entire universe, she’d let her attention drift to her companions. Margo was put between her brother and Rehan—an attempt at protecting her which she gleefully agreed to. Shelby’s back was to hers, his face softened in sleep as he faced where Ace had curled up at the base of a tree trunk.
She pulled a twig out from behind her that had been poking her in the back for several hours. Letting her sigh finally leave her, she turned the small stick over and over in her hands. Yesterday had been gobbled up by traveling and then ensuring that Shelby made it away from Idalia unscathed. By the time they’d finally stopped running and settled here, exhaustion was wearing on them all. So with little talk other than to be certain that everyone remained unscathed and to plan for Rehan’s appearance on Ace’s behalf, they settled down for the night.
Snapping the stick in half and tossing the pieces away, Ace wondered what she might say to Shelby come morning. She wanted to throttle him, to scream and tell him how scared and angry she had been with him for disappearing as he had. Yet, the way he continued to meet her gaze before drifting to sleep suggested that he already knew what emotions had churned in her all this time.
The least he could do was apologize. There was no way to be certain they would be able to talk in private or that Shelby was even capable of setting aside his pride long enough to recognize what that had done to her. And Margo.
Did he not trust that she would make sure the warlocks were freed? The question came and went in her thoughts leaving a bad taste in her mouth and a sour sloshing in her stomach.
When the sun was poking over the horizon, casting the skyline with wafting clouds in dreamy pinks, oranges, and purples, she still had not come up with how she might approach the subject. Far too often her mind had drifted to the feeling of his skin on hers and his great length filling her so completely she couldn’t know where she ended and he began. Every time her mind would delve into the memory her thighs would clench tightly and Mina, goddess of love, would sigh.
This had made things very, very complicated. And messy. By the gods, she shouldn’t even be thinking about Shelby at a time like this. Not when she was so close to completing this mission on behalf of the gods and King Osiris.
She should have been thinking about that. Or at the very least come up with something to say to poor Rehan. The ring he’d given her was long gone now, lost in Glatton. It was a relief not to look down and see it waiting on her finger taunting her.
When morning was in full bloom, Rehan got up first. They talked briefly, mostly for him to scold her for not waking him so she could get some rest herself, then he left before Shelby and Margo got up to go meet with the queen on her behalf.
Ace had taken to shaving the bark off another stick she had found, whittling its end to a point, when Shelby woke. It took him several long seconds, his eyes scanning the trees, before understanding finally made it through the fog of sleep. His brows lowered in response.
“Rehan left already?” His voice was scratchy and he cleared his throat as his tall frame rose from the ground. Grass was matted to the ground in the shape of his sleeping body.
“Yes,” she answered before looking down at her dirty palms.
“Good.” Pointing a finger down at Margo, he asked, “Should I wake her?”
Ace shook her head. Shelby took that as a sign that he should join her at the base of the tree. With a few steps, he made it to her side and groaned as if it pained him to lower that far to the ground. His nose wrinkled but he managed to get his legs folded before him.
“You’d think sleeping on that thin mat the queens called mattresses most of my life would make sleeping on the ground not so bad.” He rubbed at his back, his arm brushing against hers.
