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Mari seemed to have lost interest in the topic, however, and now cast her dark gaze onto Lucius. “So. You married my sister, I heard.”
Lucius didn’t blink an eye. “I did. Not pleased with that, I see.” He smirked.
Mari’s expression gave nothing away as she met my eyes. “Are you happy, Sierra? At least tell me that.”
“I am, Your Majesty. I’m sorry that things with Ander didn’t work out.”
I still hadn’t forgotten that Mari had known all along that marriage to Ander had been doomed, yet the queen hadn’t said a thing about it, all that time I’d been at the manse. But I understood, in a way. Ander was her brother, and she had been the one to arrange the Fealty Agreement.
Mari reached out and grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry, too. It was a hasty move on my part and, quite honestly, I should have put Lysander’s wishes into account. But…” She glanced at Fadon, then returned her gaze to me, releasing my hand, a smile, playful and seductive played at her lips. “I see you are still my sister. Taking Fadon as a mate, as well as the handsome Servant.”
I blushed, and I’m sure Demos did as well, though he sat outside of my view.
She grinned at Demos, enjoying discomfiting him, no doubt. “Oh, and I brought your beautiful silver mount with us.”
“My thanks, Queen Mari.”
Fadon cleared his throat. “Yes, well. After this is all over, I promise to speak with you about my plans regarding my future as captain, Mari.” Fadon, who sat beside me, placed his hand on my thigh. Through the bond I could feel his anticipation at being alone with me.
“Yes.” Mari nodded thoughtfully. “Soon, lots of changes will be made. A new era.
Across from me, I noted Lucius looking thoughtful as well. My heart went out to him. I wondered what he was thinking as he sat here in his half-sister’s presence, in the queen’s camp, all these Ongahri soldiers that could have been, should have been, his to command.
But I knew Lucius well enough to know that, though he might wonder what could have been, he was satisfied with what was. He was inherently a good man. Although, did he long to be closer to his siblings? No man was an island.
While I mused, the conversation turned to the current plan of taking on the Owl. Mari went over what information she had gathered, and Lucius and Demos enlightened her on what they knew. They told her about the weapon, about their thoughts on Servant Sarbo having warned the Owl in advance. But when Demos brought up Boriel, that she was being held hostage in the Basilica’s dungeon, I could tell she had a hard time understanding.
“But who is this man who is holding her? And how will he be stopped?” she asked him.
“There is only one way, but only if the timing is right. As to who he is… Let us just say that, if all the evil in the world were to embody one being,” Demos said, causing me to shudder, “Well, I dare not say his name. Just know that he needs no name.”
I watched Mari swallow, watched her lovely eyes track Demos’ face. She only nodded.
“Sierra.”
I turned, hairbrush in mid stroke. It was late, and I had been waiting for Fadon, Demos, and Lucius to finish up with their meeting with the queen and her advisors before settling in for bed. Finally I would be able to sleep in my own private tent, one with a heated brazier, and most importantly, I’d be clean. A bath had been waiting for me earlier, and I blessed Mari’s generosity in loaning her servants to me.
Phobius stood at the entrance to my tent, looking like a dark sentry from a fairy tale. Sinful and tempting. Again I wondered why he was single, but then again, Demos had also been single his whole life, before me.
“Yes?”
“Remember that conversation we had in the forest? The day you learned what my brother and I are?”
I sat the brush down and stood. “Yes. You have a plan, don’t you?”
“I do.” He came inside, gently shutting the tent flap behind him. “It will require a lot of subterfuge, I’m afraid. Are you up for that?”
Was I? If it meant saving Titus and ending this, I was in.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lucius
There still had been no new snow, not since Providence. Lucius was in agreement with the others who had mentioned it just this morning, that the lack of snow, with such cold temperatures, felt like the eye of a storm.
Long experience with being out at sea, traversing deserts, years of traveling in his adolescence, he had seen many storms—both from afar and in the midst of. However, this storm was one he couldn’t see an outcome, the shape of.
He found himself in a dilemma: as a leader, he needed to share as much about a campaign as he could with his men and those who were following his cause. So far, only a handful knew about the elemental trapped in the Basilica, which wasn’t confirmed, only assumed, and from a vision at that. It was that detail that had prevented him from sharing it with the other Ongahri. But there was a part of him, an innate, somewhat primal desire inside his blood, that wanted to share it with his brethren.
