King Aeneas nodded. His dark gaze shifted to study her. She remained still, refusing to fidget or reach for her dagger.
“Your companion may join us as well,” he said.
Sit down with two kings? No, thank you. Hard pass.
Her gaze drifted to the abandoned food on the neighbouring table again. Would it be too trashy to eat the food while the royals discussed politics? The humans had left it, after all.
Cora’s stomach growled again.
Ronin glanced at her and amusement tugged at his lips. He lifted his eyebrows, daring her to speak for herself. Asshole. He was the king of the Eyrie. He needed to act like it.
“I’ll stand,” she said, turning her body so she had Ronin, the human king, and his men to her right and the exit and the killers to her left. She wasn’t trained as a bodyguard or guardian, but she’d watch Ronin’s back.
“As you wish.” The human king turned back to Ronin. “I’m glad my men found you. We heard reports of your capture. Our messages had been intercepted and replaced with different information.”
“It was not the welcome I expected or hoped for,” Ronin said stiffly.
“Nor the one I intended. One must wonder how the wrong date and time made it to you.”
Ronin stoically didn’t look at her. “Are you suggesting I have a traitor in my kingdom?”
The king’s grin wasn’t friendly, and anger flashed in his gaze. Though he was a big man, with wide shoulders and strong looking hands, he’d given off a “gentle giant” image until this moment. Now, he’d slipped, revealing his true self—the king was a very dangerous man.
Cora settled her hand on her dagger’s hilt.
The king laced his fingers together and leaned over the table. “I’m saying we both do.”
Cora shuddered. The king’s evaluation was correct. If the duplicity was one-sided, the correspondence would’ve uncovered it. An unhappy thought poked at Cora’s brain.
Correspondence.
Cora had crossed the channel a lot lately and a royal visit quickly followed her delivery of a message to Iom. Had she been the one responsible for carrying out the traitors’ communications?
Was Father involved? Doctoring them before delivering them to the recipients? Or did he know and instead of alerting the king, he sat back and watched? Cora doubted either of those theories. If Father had known, he would never have allowed Cora to escort Ronin to the meeting.
Not only had Father mentioned his contacts growing quiet, he swore to never read the royal communications after they returned to the Eyrie. He didn’t want to know, and he didn’t want to get involved. He’d already been burned by the king and labelled a traitor.
Would Ronin know that or would he suspect Cormorant Clan’s involvement?
Cold seeped through her veins.
Ronin shifted slightly to look over his shoulder, a question in his gaze. Had she’d carried the messages? She hadn’t knowingly helped anyone. No professional messenger broke the seals.
She shook her head.
Ronin’s expression hardened and he focused on the human king again. “If there is a traitor on the Eyrie, I’ll find them.”
Her exchange with Ronin hadn’t gone unnoticed and now the king’s attention travelled to her again. “Are you going to introduce me to your lovely companion?”
“No.”
The king’s grin grew, this time not nearly so lethal in appearance. “There were reports of a stunning sapavian messenger. A female with black wings and hair spotted near the Cap. And another report of a similar sapavian having contact with a spy in a nearby fishing village. Might your companion be this messenger I’ve heard so much about?”
“She’s mine and that’s all you need to know,” Ronin said, his deep voice bordering on a growl.
The king finally looked away from Cora. She almost breathed a sigh of relief. Almost. She kept her posture relaxed and her breathing regular, but the weight of the human’s attention unnerved her. It took every ounce of self-control not to react. Not to draw her dagger or bolt from the room.
Ronin’s words still whispered through her mind. He’d claimed her as his. But the silly fluttering in her belly was misguided. He didn’t mean it like that. Not how she wished he’d mean it. He couldn’t. As king, he needed to make alliances, not dally with a lowly messenger spy. Heck, this meeting might be to arrange a marriage for all she knew.
“Let’s focus on the truce,” Ronin said.
The king nodded. “The hatred and mistrust between our people are misplaced and unfounded. We will agree to cease shooting sapavians on sight and cede a portion of our land to house a sapavian settlement.”
That sounded good. That’s what the Eyrie so desperately needed.
“In return, sapavians will also cease any unprovoked attacks on humans. You will house and welcome an ambassador and selected guardsmen on the Eyrie. You will share all information on salmon runs and aid our boats in a sapavian-human fishing collective.”
That sounded doable. A nice win-win.
Ronin nodded. “As discussed in our correspondence, we agree to those terms.”
The king straightened. “There’s just one more thing I’d like to add.”
Ronin waited.
Cora held her breath.
“We’d like you to kill the monster in the bay.”
Cora’s whole body jerked. Her breath hitched. Which monster? The land, sea and air were rife with them. He couldn’t possibly mean—
“We want sapavians to kill the Sea Beast.”
Cora’s stomach twisted and before she could consider the ramifications, she stepped forward. “No!”
31
“The possession of anything begins in the mind.”
Bruce Lee
After her outburst, Ronin pulled Cora outside the pub. With his hand still wrapped around her upper arm, he turned to her. “What the hell, Cora?”
“It just…seems wrong.” She scratched the back of her neck. “I don’t think we should agree to that.”
Waves crashed against the nearby shore and the ocean called to her.
Mine… A deep voice vibrated in her head.
She recoiled, but Ronin’s grip on her arms kept her in place.
Ronin studied her, dark brows furrowed. “Wrong? That thing almost ate us on the way over.”
She didn’t have an explanation. No reason percolated to explain her overwhelming tangible, gut-wrenching response to the human king’s request.
Time to insert logic.
“We’ve tried to kill the Sea Beast before,” she said. Obviously, neither of them had personally, but history books filled the Eyrie’s library, books packed with details of disastrous attempts to rid the surrounding ocean of the biggest known sciper. “It never ended well.”
“I’m aware, Cora.” Ronin’s mouth tightened. He let go of her arms and she suddenly wanted him to hold her again.
“You can’t agree. We’ll fail to hold up our obligations and this whole agreement will fall through,” she said.
“I know,” he said. The glow of firelight through the window danced along his serious expression. “Had you given me the chance you would’ve heard me explaining that exact concern.”
She swallowed.
“You undermined my authority. Now, if I go back in there, they’ll assume the response came from you, not the king of the Eyrie.”
She ducked her head.
Ronin sighed. “Why do I get the feeling this very logical and understandable reason is not why you emotionally objected to the king’s new terms?”
She rubbed her arms, now cold. “I can’t explain it. Something in my gut is telling me this is wrong. It will be a mistake to agree to that term.”
He continued to study her in the flickering lamplight for another long minute. Maybe for an eternity. It was hard to track time under the heat of his gaze. Without words, he nodded and walked back into the pub, leaving her to face the heavy wooden door.
Well, guess she had to f
ollow after him like a good little subordinate. She yanked the door open, paused to enjoy the rush of heat and followed Ronin back to the table.
The king and his men waited, expressions neutral.
“We can’t agree to the additional request.”
Cora forced every muscle in her body to remain relaxed. Do not react.
The king’s eyebrows shot up. “May I ask why you’re willing to throw away months of planning and a mutually beneficial alliance for a monster that reaps as much destruction and chaos on your people as it does on mine?”
“We’ve tried to kill it. Multiple times. And failed. To have the fate of our agreement rely on something with a low probability of success is unacceptable.” Ronin leaned forward. “Either way, the alliance is in danger. It’s almost as if you want this to fail before it even starts.”
The king’s head jerked back. “You need us.”
“You need us as well or we wouldn’t be here.” Ronin straightened and lifted his chin. “I came here in good faith. My presence in Iom is evidence enough of our commitment to this alliance. Either agree to the original terms, or I walk.”
Right, like he could simply walk past all the armed guards. His confidence and courage were remarkable.
The king stood up, pushing back his chair in the process. The legs dragged against the floor and the wooden planks creaked. The surrounding guards tensed, shifting into a ready position with their weight on the balls of their feet.
“We have a deal.” King Aeneas reached his hand across the table.
32
“Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.”
Izaak Walton
Ronin sat straight in the saddle on his mighty black mare and kept his expression controlled. He couldn’t let anyone see how his mind reeled from the recent events.
Stay strong.
Stay solid.
Stay in control.
Turned out, Aeneas agreed with him. They needed each other too much to squabble over a have-to-kill monster.
Now, Phil and Karla escorted them from town toward Hadren’s Keep. They were to stay at the remote location long enough to heal before returning home safely. Ronin had hoped the alliance meant no more running. Certainly, he and Cora could stay with the king in Giga until they recovered and returned to the Eyrie. Or at the very least go back to the Cap.
King Aeneas disagreed.
For the first time since they sat down at the table, real emotion clouded the human king’s gaze. Though he’d ferreted out the traitors in his court, he hadn’t caught them all. The abductors from the forest were still at large. Now that the king had cut the head off the snake, he had to wait to see if it would grow another one or die a swift death.
Aeneas didn’t trust anyone outside those who surrounded him in the pub. He didn’t want to risk bringing Cora and Ronin into his camp—both for their sake and his own.
So instead of a nice warm, proper bed, they were off again, placing as much distance between them and the king. At least they were permitted to remain in the king’s presence long enough to eat. If they had to stay quiet and hidden, they needed to keep Cora’s stomach content.
King Aeneas also sent Phil and Karla with them. Extra hands and weapons would help for the trip ahead, but did he have another motive? The hunters might be friendly, but they didn’t report to Ronin. He needed to be careful with what he said in front of them and not grow complacent. Sure, they signed an alliance, but things changed, and Ronin needed to prepare for all possibilities.
Including their current one.
Despite every effort to avoid this outcome, they headed to the Outpost Access Point. The site of Cora’s mother’s murder. Hadren’s Keep.
Cora kept glancing at him, expression creased with worry. He wanted to hold her, gather her in his arms, bury his face in her neck and just breathe.
She’d probably knee him in the junk.
Totally worth it.
He’d only need a few minutes with her in his arms to quell the nerves and racing thoughts.
“You’re awfully quiet over there,” she whispered.
The king’s hunters had drifted far enough ahead that they wouldn’t overhear the conversation.
“Trying to work out if Aeneas had an ulterior motive for kicking us up the road instead of letting us stay with him to ensure our safety,” Ronin said.
She nodded. “I’ve been thinking on that, too, but if he wanted us dead, he had ample opportunity.”
“Not a comfortable thought, but accurate.”
“I think his motives were to protect us. He’s still not sure if more traitors lurk in the shadows and he knows human reception of sapavians is not favourable. It will take time, patience and constant communication from his court to tackle that mountain.”
“I came to a similar conclusion,” Ronin said.
“There’s another possibility.”
“Oh?”
“He had six warriors with him. Eight if you count, Phil and Karla.” She paused dramatically.
“If I’m supposed to see the point, I don’t. Please continue.”
“That pub had four, maybe five rooms, tops. He didn’t want to share his room.”
Ronin snorted. “Are you on about beds, again?”
“Of course, I am. I had a tree root digging into my side last night.”
An image of Cora tangled in his sheets on his bed at home surfaced. Blood rushed to his cock. He cursed and looked away.
Cora tensed and scanned the forest. “What?”
“It’s nothing,” he rushed to say. “I think it’s time to set up camp. I’m going to fall off this horse soon.”
“You’re going to fall off that horse anyway. You may have taken to this whole riding thing better than me, but you still look sketchy anytime we pick up the pace.”
“Are you…insulting my horsemanship?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Are you getting defensive?”
“I have many skills.”
“But riding a glorified cow is not one of them.”
“Says the woman whose horse looks like a cow.” Ronin snarled and leaned over. He stabbed the air with his finger. “And who actually fell off her horse.”
“I prematurely slipped from the saddle.” She lifted her chin and refused to make eye contact.
He smirked. “I’ve never had any issues with slipping off, or out, prematurely.”
Cora groaned. The glare she sent his way lost its impact though because her lips twitched from supressing a smile. “You’re incorrigible.”
He maneuvered the mare closer so he could whisper. “And you like it.”
He kicked the horse and the mare bolted forward, leaving Cora to sputter behind him.
“Rat bastard!” she called out when she found words.
He chuckled and pulled up beside the other half of their troop. Phil grinned and pulled on the reins, so he could drop back beside Cora and join her. Jerk.
“If you keep poking the bear…” Karla warned.
“I like poking her.”
Karla snorted. “If you keep at it, she’s going to bite back.”
He thought about it and smiled. “I think I’d like that, too.”
Karla laughed and shook her head. “We need to make camp. I think we should only have one person up on watch instead of two. We all need to rest.”
He nodded. The thought had already crossed his mind. At a certain point, they’d have to trust one another.
His hands tightened on the reins. They needed to survive and return to the Eyrie. Only then could he face the reality of his father’s death, somehow manage a kingdom and ease sapavians out of generations of hate and into a time of acceptance to honour the new alliance with the humans.
Pressure squeezed his gut.
Could he do it?
He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t supposed to be king so soon.
Sasha would help him, and Cora…
He took a deep breath and tried to ease some of the tension cla
mping his shoulders. Cora would help him, too. She might have plans to return to her role as a messenger, but he’d find a way to make her see how vital she was to the kingdom in a different role.
By his side.
33
“It is strange, but true, that the most important turning-points of life often come at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected ways.”
Napoleon Hill
Cora nestled into Ronin’s warm chest. His arm tightened around her waist. Sleep still lingered and she wanted to drift back to her dreams. But the rock digging into her stomach, the pressure of her bladder and the weak rays of light teasing her face said it was time to get up.
Too bad.
She pulled free from Ronin. His arm tensed but his hand released her. When she stood up, his arm flopped back to the ground. He was out. He would’ve just finished his shift, so hopefully he’d get a bit more sleep before they broke camp. She hadn’t noticed him coming to bed or holding her like he had when they hid in the safety cave. Not that she was complaining. She certainly wouldn’t object. The added warmth was a welcome reprieve from the cold nights, and she felt safer in his embrace.
She stretched her arms in the air and leaned to each side, stretching her back.
Phil looked over from where he perched on a boulder as a lookout. “Good morning, Highness.”
She stiffened. “Don’t call me that.”
Phil shrugged, still scanning the forest. “Why not? He’s the king and it’s obvious you two have a thing.”
Heat spread through her body, quickly doused with the ice of reality. “A thing that will never happen.”
Phil frowned. “Why not?”
“He’s the king.” Why was Phil acting so dense? “Kings don’t have relationships with messengers.”
“That’s what I said. He’s the king, he can make the rules.”
She shook her head. “I will never be more than a messenger.”
Phil turned to her, his dark gaze flashing. “I didn’t peg you as a liar.”
“I’m not lying.” She pulled her shoulders back. “I’m from Cormorant Clan. I’ll never be seen as more than a servant to the Eyrie, to him and to myself. Once we’re home, he’ll quickly remember our roles and he’ll distance himself from me and the memory of our time together here.”
Cormorant Run Page 17