“What? But I thought she was mad?”
“I thought she was too. But she made Elysia her body slave instead. Elysia now tends to the queen’s every whim. She assists with dressing her, accompanies her everywhere, she warms her bed.” Seraphis’s grip on the handle of her knife tightened till her knuckles turned white and the leather creaked. “My dear sister never lets Elysia out of her sight. I’ve never had a second alone with her since.”
“Does she mistreat her?” Kae said in a small voice.
Seraphis turned her gaze to the huntress, and Kae saw everything she needed to know. The warrior princess’s eyes were sad and haunted, hurt too deeply for words. “My queen tends to burn anyone who displeases her.”
Kae fell into a horrified silence, and Seraphis said no more. The two sat together at the table, their appetites long gone and their food cold. A large white hound’s head nudged Kae’s side. Duro sat patiently beside the huntress, looking up and begging for food. His mouth fell open in a happy pant once he saw Kae’s hand move to her uneaten meat.
“Duro seems to like you.” Seraphis said with a small smile. “He doesn’t usually take kindly to strangers.”
“I like to think I have a way with animals.” Kae giggles and held out her hand to Duro. She held an uneaten chunk of venison, which Duro quickly snapped up. The hound took a second to lick her hand clean. “Is Duro a Beastman?”
“A Beastman? No, of course not. He’s a hound.” Seraphis was taken aback. “Why would he be a Beastman? He looks nothing like Kaiten.”
At the sound of his name, Kaiten stopped his talk with Cassendir about military siege tactics and turned to look at the girls. “Who doesn’t look like me?”
“Duro doesn’t.”
“Well….Yes he doesn’t. Obviously.”
Kae groaned impatiently. “I know he doesn’t! It’s just that Ma’trii is a Beastman too.”
The wolf’s ears perked up, and he slunk towards a corner, ashamed. Kae immediately bit her lip, regretting having mentioned it.
“A Beastman? Ah, he must be a feral.” Kaiten said matter-of-factly as he rose from his chair. The young lion approached the wolf and crouched a respectful distance away so as not to intrude on his space. He began to speak quietly to the wolf, receiving small nods in return.
“Hmm, truly? I’ve never seen a Beastman on four legs. Then again, I’ve so rarely even seen Beastmen.” Seraphis said with a shrugs.
“Do you not have visiting Beastmen in Sagna?” Kae tossed more of her venison to Duro.
“No, my dear sister abhors Beastmen. Our father, Aerius Dagan, had a leopard Beastman as his Warmaster. I grew up with him teaching me how to use the sword.”
“Really? I know Aldoran’s current Warmaster is also a Beastman. Aren’t you the new Warmaster? What happened to the old one?”
“As soon as my sister took the throne, she ordered him turned into a fur rug.”
“Oh.”
Chapter Fifteen
In time, Loren returned from her walk. Frost clung to her hair, and her face was red from the chill wind. She came into the space shivering and clutching the furs and silks closer to her, and crouched beside one of Seraphis’s braziers to warm up. The red headed princess saw her and looked pointedly at Kae. She jerked her head in Loren’s direction, and went to clean up the remains of their dinner and feed both Ma’trii and her own hound.
“Princess?” Kae said, taking the hint and approaching Loren. She sat beside the Aldoran princess by the fire. “What’s on your mind?”
Loren sighed and began to slowly unwrap the silks from her neck. “I don’t know, Kae. Everything. Everything Seraphis said, about Haedria and the dragon magic.”
“Anything specific?”
Loren shook her head. Her mouth opened to say something, but shut it quickly, turned, and buried her face in Kae’s shoulder. Soft, muffled sobs and the erratic heaving of Loren’s chest alerted Kae, who, without thinking, shifted and embraced the princess. Kae held Loren close to her chest, letting her cry as the huntress stroked her hair. “It’s alright. I’m here.”
“It’s…It’s too much.” Loren managed to say between sobs. “What have I gotten myself into? I just wanted to cure my mother.”
“I know, I know. And you’re a good person for it. We can always just go back home.” Kae said softly.
Loren paused at Kae’s words, before shaking her head. She spoke into Kae’s leathers, breathing in the huntress’s scent with every halting breath. “We can’t go back now. We’re already halfway, Seraphis needs our help…”
Kae was taken aback. “Even after she killed Gattur and skinned him, kidnapped your friend, destabilized the region, you’re still going to help her?”
“You know her hands are forced, Kae. No one deserves that to happen to them. And…” Loren took in a shaking breath, attempting to steel herself. “Haedria still has the antidote. I can’t give up till I have that.”
“Stubborn and headstrong as always, my princess.” Kae said with a soft chuckle.
With her face hidden, Loren’s expression grew confused. She was certain she heard Kae correctly, but it was too early to let her heart leap. The huntress’s arms around her were comforting, and her scent and warmth were familiar. Within a few minutes of sitting beside the fire in Kae’s comforting embrace, Loren’s problems felt farther away and easier to manage. Loren’s breathing evened out and slowed, and she rested her head against her shoulder.
“Kae?” Loren muttered, drifting off to sleep.
“Yes, princess?”
“You’ll come with me right? To Sagna?”
“Of course I will, I promised you that back at the inn didn’t I?”
Loren’s eyes
