“She always tells us,” Rowan countered. “She’s never contained information like that.”
Fenrys’s dark eyes flickered. “That was before you humiliated her by leaving her for Aelin of the Wildfire. And before Lorcan abandoned her as well. She trusts none of us now.”
Eyllwe … Maeve had to know how dear the kingdom was to Aelin. But to launch an armada … There had to be something there, something worth her while. Dorian ran through every lesson he’d been taught, every book he’d read on the kingdom. But nothing sparked.
Rowan said, “Maeve cannot believe she can conquer Eyllwe—at least not for any extended period of time, not without drawing all her armies here, and leaving her realm undefended.”
But perhaps it’d spread Erawan thin, even if the cost of Maeve’s invasion would be steep…
“Again,” Fenrys drawled, “we don’t know details. We only told him”—a jerk of the chin toward where Rolfe still leaned against the banister with crossed arms—“as a courtesy warning—among other things.”
Dorian noted that Rowan didn’t ask if they’d have extended the courtesy to them had they not been here. Or what, exactly, those other things were. The prince said to Rolfe, “I need to dispatch messages. Immediately.”
Rolfe studied his gloved hands. “Why bother? Won’t the recipient arrive soon enough?”
“What?” Dorian braced himself at the simmering temper in Rowan’s tone.
Rolfe smiled. “Rumor has it Aelin Galathynius destroyed General Narrok and his lieutenants over in Wendlyn. And that she accomplished this with a Fae Prince at her side. Impressive.”
Rowan’s canines flashed. “And your point is, Captain?”
“I just wish to know whether Her Majesty, Queen of Fire, expects a grand parade when she arrives.”
Dorian doubted Rolfe would very much like her other title—Adarlan’s Assassin.
Rowan’s snarl was soft. “Again, she’s not coming here.”
“Oh? You mean to tell me that her lover goes to rescue the King of Adarlan, and instead of taking him north, he brings him here—and it doesn’t somehow mean I’m to soon play host to her?”
At the mention of lover, Rowan gave Fenrys a lethal stare. The beautiful male—really, there was no way to describe him other than that—just shrugged.
But Rowan said to Rolfe, “She asked me to bring King Dorian to persuade you to join our cause. But as you have no interest in any agenda but your own, it seems our trip was wasted. So we have no further use for you at this table, especially if you’re incapable of dispatching messengers.” Rowan flicked his eyes toward the stairs behind Rolfe. “You’re dismissed.”
Fenrys choked on a dark laugh, but Gavriel straightened as Rolfe hissed, “I don’t care who you are and what power you wield. You don’t give me orders in my territory.”
“You’d better get used to taking them,” Rowan said, his voice calm in that way that made Dorian’s every instinct prepare to run. “For if Morath wins this war, they will not be content to let you flounce about these islands, pretending to be king. They will lock you out of every port and river, deny you trade with cities that you have come to depend upon. Who shall your buyers be when there are none left to purchase your goods? I doubt Maeve will bother—or remember you.”
Rolfe snapped, “If these islands are sacked, we will sail to others—and others. The seas are my haven—upon the waves, we will always be free.”
“I’d hardly call squatting in your tavern in fear of Valg assassins free.”
Rolfe’s gloved hands flexed and unfurled, and Dorian wondered if he’d go for the rapier at his side. But then the Pirate Lord said to Fenrys and Gavriel, “We will meet here tomorrow at eleven.” When his gaze shifted to Rowan, it hardened. “Send however many damn messages you want. You may stay until your queen arrives, which I have no doubt she will. At that time, I will hear what the legendary Aelin Galathynius has to say for herself. Until then, get the hell out.” He jerked his chin toward Gavriel and Fenrys. “You can talk to the princes at their own damn lodgings.” Rolfe stalked to the front door, yanking it open to reveal a wall of rain and the four young but hard-looking men lingering on the soaked quay. Their hands shot to their weapons, but Rolfe made no move to summon them. He only pointed out the door.
Rowan stared down the man for a moment, then said to his former companions, “Let’s go.”
They weren’t stupid enough to argue.
This was bad. Undeniably bad.
Rowan’s magic frayed apart as he worked to keep the shields around him and Dorian intact. But he didn’t let Fenrys or Gavriel get a whiff of that exhaustion, didn’t reveal one bit of the effort it took to hold the magic and concentrate.
Rolfe might very well be a lost cause against Erawan or Maeve—especially once he saw Aelin. If Aelin had been present during this conversation, Rowan had a feeling it would have ended with the Sea Dragon—both the inn and the ship anchored in the harbor—aflame. But those sea-wyverns … And Maeve’s armada … He’d think about that later. But shit. Just—shit.
The no-nonsense innkeeper at the Ocean Rose asked no questions as Rowan purchased two rooms—the best the inn had to offer. Not when he laid a gold piece on the counter. Two weeks’ accommodations, plus all meals, plus stabling of their horses if they had them, and unlimited laundry, she’d offered with a knowing look at his clothes.
And whatever guests he wished, she added as Rowan whistled sharply, and Dorian, Fenrys, and Gavriel crossed the flagstone courtyard, hoods on as they edged around the burbling fountain. Rain pattered on the potted palms, rustling the magenta bougainvillea crawling up the walls toward the white-painted balconies, still shuttered against the storm.
Rowan asked the woman to send up what was likely enough food for eight people, then stalked for the polished stairs at the back of the dim dining room, the others falling in behind him. Fenrys, mercifully, kept his mouth shut until they reached Rowan’s room, discarded their cloaks, and Rowan lit a few candles. The act alone left a hole in his chest.
Fenrys sank into one of the cushioned chairs before the dark fireplace, running a finger down the black-painted arm. “Such fine accommodations. Which of the royals is paying, then?”
Dorian, who had been about to claim the seat by the small desk before the shuttered windows, stiffened. Gavriel gave Fenrys a look that said, Please no brawling.
“Does it make a difference?” Rowan asked as he went wall to wall, lifting the framed pictures of lush flora for any spy holes or access points. Then he checked beneath the white-sheeted bed, its posts of twirled black wood kissed with the candlelight, trying not to consider that for all his resolutions … she’d share this room with him. This bed.
The space was secure—serene, even, with the beat of the rain in the courtyard and on the roof, the smell of sweet fruit heavy in the air.
“Someone’s got to have money to finance this war,” Fenrys purred, watching Rowan at last lean against a low dresser beside the door. “Though maybe considering yesterday’s decree from Morath, you’ll be moving to more … economical quarters.”
Well, that said enough about what Fenrys and Gavriel knew regarding Erawan’s decree concerning Dorian and his allies. “Worry over your own business, Fenrys,” Gavriel said.
Fenrys snorted, toying with a small curl of golden hair at his nape. “How you even manage to walk with that much steel on you, Whitethorn, has always been a mystery to me.”
Rowan said smoothly, “How no one has ever cut out your tongue just to shut you up has always been a mystery to me as well.”
An edged chuckle. “I’ve been told it’s my best feature. At least the women think so.”
A low laugh escaped Dorian—the first sound like it Rowan had witnessed from the king.
Rowan braced his hands on the dresser. “How did you keep your scents hidden?”
Gavriel’s tawny eyes darkened. “A new trick of Maeve’s—to keep us nearly invisible in a land that does not receive our kind wa
rmly.” He jerked his chin at Dorian and Rowan. “Though it seems it’s not wholly effective.”
Rowan said, “You two better have a damn good explanation for why you’re here—and why you dragged Rolfe into whatever it is.”
Fenrys drawled, “You get everything you want, Rowan, yet you’re still a stone-cold bastard. Lorcan would be proud.”
“Where’s Connall?” was Rowan’s mocking reply, naming Fenrys’s twin.
Fenrys’s face tightened. “Where do you think? One of us is always the anchor.”
“She’d stop keeping him as collateral if you didn’t make your discontent so obvious.”
Fenrys had always been a pain in his ass. And Rowan had not forgotten that it was Fenrys who had wanted the task of handling Aelin Galathynius this past spring. Fenrys loved anything that was wild and beautiful, and to dangle Aelin before him … Maeve had known it was torture.
Perhaps it was torture, too, for Fenrys to be so far from Maeve’s grip—but to know that his twin was back in Doranelle, that if Fenrys never came back … Connall would be punished in unspeakable ways. It was how the queen had ensnared them in the first place: offspring were rare among the Fae—but twins? Even rarer. And for twins to be born gifted with strength, to grow into males whose dominance rivaled that of warriors centuries older than them…
Maeve had coveted them. Fenrys had refused the offer to join her service. So she’d gone after Connall—the dark to Fenrys’s gold, quiet to Fenrys’s roar, thoughtful to Fenrys’s recklessness.
Fenrys got what he wanted: women, glory, wealth. Connall, though skilled, was forever in his twin’s shadow. So when the queen approached him about the blood oath, at a time when Fenrys, not Connall, had been selected to fight in the war with the Akkadians … Connall had sworn it.
And when Fenrys returned to find his brother bound to the queen, and learned what Maeve forced him to do behind closed doors … Fenrys had bargained: he’d swear the oath, but only to get Maeve to back off his brother. For over a century now, Fenrys had served in the queen’s bedroom, had sat chained by invisible shackles beside her dark throne.
Rowan might have liked the male. Respected him. If it weren’t for that damned mouth of his.
“So,” Fenrys said, well aware he had not answered Rowan’s demand for information, “are we soon to call you King Rowan?”
Gavriel murmured, “Gods above, Fenrys.” He gave the sigh of the long-suffering and added before Fenrys could open that stupid mouth, “Your arrival, Rowan, was a fortunate turn of events.”
Rowan faced the male beside him—second-in-command for Maeve now that Rowan had vacated the title. As if the golden-haired warrior read the name from his eyes, Gavriel asked, “Where is Lorcan?”
Rowan had been debating how to answer that question from the moment he’d seen them. That Gavriel had asked … Why had they come to Skull’s Bay?
“I don’t know where Lorcan is,” Rowan said. Not a lie. If they were lucky, his former commander would get the other two Wyrdkeys, realize Aelin had tricked him, and come running—delivering the two keys for Aelin to then destroy.
If they were lucky.
Gavriel said, “You don’t know where he is—but you’ve seen him.” Rowan nodded.
Fenrys snorted. “Are we really going to play truths and lies? Just tell us, you bastard.”
Rowan pinned Fenrys with a look. The White Wolf of Doranelle smiled right back at him.
Gods help them all if Fenrys and Aedion ever sat in a room together.
Rowan said, “Are you here on Maeve’s command—ahead of the armada?”
Gavriel shook his head. “Our presence has nothing to do with the armada sailing. She sent us to hunt him. You already know the crime he committed.”
An act of love—though only in the twisted way that Lorcan could love things. Only in the twisted way he loved Maeve.
“He claims to be doing it in her best interest,” Rowan said casually, aware of the king seated beside him. Rowan knew most underestimated the sharp intelligence under that disarming smile. Knew that Dorian’s value wasn’t his godlike magic, but his mind. He’d latched on to Rolfe’s fear and trauma at the hands of the Valg and laid the foundation—one he’d make sure Aelin would exploit.
“Lorcan’s always been arrogant that way,” Fenrys drawled. “This time, he crossed the line.”
“So you’ve been sent here to bring Lorcan back?”
Those tattoos on Gavriel’s throat—marks Rowan himself had inked—bobbed with each word as he said, “We’ve been sent here to kill him.”
23
Holy gods.
Rowan froze. “That explains the two of you, then.”
Fenrys tossed his hair out of his dark eyes. “Three, actually. Vaughan left yesterday afternoon to fly north—while we take the South.” Vaughan, with his osprey form, could cover the far harsher terrain more easily. “We landed in this shithole town to see if Rolfe had dealings with Lorcan—to bribe him to tip us off if Lorcan should come through here again, looking to hire a boat.” Skull’s Bay would be one of the few ports where Lorcan could do such a thing without questions. “Warning Rolfe about Maeve’s armada was part of convincing the bastard to help us. We’re to make our way onto the continent from here—start our hunt in the South. And since these lands are rather large…” A flash of white teeth in a feral smile. “Any inkling about his general whereabouts would be much appreciated, Prince.”
Rowan debated it. But if they caught Lorcan, and the commander had possession of even one of the Wyrdkeys … If they brought both commander and keys back to Maeve, especially if she was already sailing for Eyllwe for whatever reasons of her own…
Rowan shrugged. “I washed my hands of you all this spring. Lorcan’s business is his own.”
“You prick—” Fenrys snarled.
Gavriel cut in, “If we could bargain?”
There was something like pain—and regret—in Gavriel’s eyes. Of all of them, Gavriel had probably been his only friend.
Rowan debated if he should tell him about the son who now was making his way here. Debated if Aedion would like the chance to meet his father … perhaps before war made corpses of them all.
But Rowan said, “Has Maeve given you leave to bargain on her behalf?”
“We only received our orders,” Fenrys drawled, “and the permission to use any means necessary to kill Lorcan. She did not mention your queen at all. So that amounts to a yes.”
Rowan crossed his arms. “You send me an army of Doranelle warriors, and I’ll tell you where Lorcan is, and where he plans to go.”
Fenrys let out a harsh laugh. “Mother’s tits, Rowan. Even if we could, the armada’s already in use.”
“I suppose I’ll have to make do with you two, then.”
Dorian had the good sense not to look as surprised as Rowan’s former brothers-in-arms.
Fenrys burst out laughing. “What—work for your queen? Fight in your battles?”
“Isn’t that what you want, Fenrys?” Rowan fixed him with a stare. “To serve my queen? You’ve been pulling on the leash for months. Well, here’s your shot.”
All amusement faded from Fenrys’s beautiful face. “You’re a bastard, Rowan.”
Rowan turned to Gavriel. “I’m assuming Maeve didn’t specify when you had to do this.” A shallow nod was his only confirmation. “And you will technically be fulfilling her command to you.” The blood oath operated on specific, clear demands. And relied on close physical contact to enable that tug to get the body to yield. This far away … they had to obey Maeve’s orders—but could use any loopholes in the language to their own advantage.
“Lorcan might very well be gone by the time you’ve considered our bargain fulfilled,” Fenrys countered.
Rowan smiled a bit. “Ah, but the thing is … Lorcan’s path will eventually lead him right back to me. To my queen. Who knows how long it will take, but he will find us again. At which time, he’ll be yours.” He tapped a finger against his bicep.
“People are going to be talking about this war for a thousand years. Longer.” Rowan jerked his chin at Fenrys. “You’ve never shied from a fight.”
“That’s if we survive,” Fenrys said. “And what of Brannon’s gifts? How long will a single flame last against the darkness that gathers? Maeve hid her motives about the armada and Eyllwe, but she at least told us who really reigns in Morath.”
When Rowan had walked through the door of the Sea Dragon, he’d wondered what god had sent the storm that had pushed them to arrive in Skull’s Bay on this day, at this time.
Together, he and the cadre had taken on a legion of Adarlan’s forces this spring and won—easily.
And even if Lorcan, Vaughan, and Connall weren’t with them … One Fae warrior was as good as a hundred mortal soldiers. Maybe more.
Terrasen needed more troops. Well, here was a three-male army.
And against the aerial Ironteeth legions, they would need Fae speed and strength and centuries of experience.
Together, they had sacked cities and kingdoms for Maeve; together, they had waged war and ended it.
Rowan said, “Ten years ago, we did nothing to stop this. If Maeve had sent a force, we might have kept it from growing so out of control. Our brethren were hunted and killed and tortured. Maeve let it happen for spite, because Aelin’s mother would not yield to her wishes. So yes—my Fireheart is one flame in the sea of darkness. But she is willing to fight, Fenrys. She is willing to take on Erawan, take on Maeve and the gods themselves, if it means peace can be had.”
Across the room, Dorian’s eyes had shuttered. Rowan knew the king would fight—and go down swinging—and that his gift could make a difference between victory and defeat. Yet … he was untrained. Still untried, despite all he’d endured.
“But Aelin is one person,” Rowan went on. “And even her gifts might not be enough to win. Alone,” he breathed, meeting Fenrys’s stare, then Gavriel’s, “she will die. And once that flame goes out, it is done. There is no second chance. Once that fire extinguishes, we are all doomed, in every land and every world.”
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