He pulled his hand away as the second earring began forming in his palm so that she could see what it looked like, a droplet of silver fire with red gold at its heart. “When we’ve got the peace we want, hopefully I’ll have a chance to come back for these. In the meantime, hold onto them for me.”
She looked down at it and then she looked up at him with genuine gratitude in her eyes. He could tell, for just a moment, that as beautiful as she was, she didn’t get attention very often. Even a taste, in curiosity, was appreciated. No one gave her gifts, and certainly her mate couldn’t be bothered to do more than burn her clothes to ashes when the mood struck him. He could also tell that she was interested for more reasons than just physical attraction, even though she was already mated to someone else and he had his Heartborn lover. “I’ll take care of them. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled and kissed her cheek again before he pulled away, but it wasn’t without difficulty. “I’ll see you at the meeting this afternoon?”
Veronica nodded and then took a few steps back as well. “See you then.”
Nick left her tent and left the small Fireborn encampment after a few grinning looks from Dayna. Once he was out of sight, he leaned back against a curve of the fence with a deep sigh and rubbed at his face. The remaining rings on his fingers felt amazing as they scratched at his skin, but it restored his sense of equilibrium somewhat. He knew Veronica was a good person. He had spent too much time listening to her thoughts through Zara to think otherwise. Telling someone no like that, someone who just wanted to be cared for, had been the hardest thing he hoped he would have to do all day.
As he cleared his head, he rejoined Lea and William and headed back to the Court, where he was a little too pleased to see Balthazar already in attendance and having absolutely no luck winning over Kit, the Skyborn Alpha. Kit was talking to him, but with a look of amusement on her face that had nothing to do with laughing at his jokes. Nick almost felt sorry for the man.
They passed the Court and went to Nick’s significantly-grown house behind it, where he asked Lea and William to join him for a moment. “Before this afternoon’s Council meeting, I need the latest reports on our numbers. Just the Ironborn fighters. I need to know how many Guardsmen we have here and how many fighters we’ve contributed to the Unified forces. Don’t count yourselves in those numbers. Or Katrell, or Melisendre, or Dion.” They were some of the best fighters in the Guard, and when William or Lea weren’t with him, one or more of the others usually were. He sighed after he finished that list, though, and continued. “Or Aura or Ziem.”
Lea asked for a numbers update every morning after the last count from the new arrivals. Not everyone was admitted as a guard or a fighter, but those who could prove that they were worthy fighters were accepted to the Unified forces. If they wanted to risk their life, then that was their decision. The Guards were chosen in a process that was a little more involved. “As of this morning’s count, we have three thousand fifty-two fighters. And five hundred seventy-three Guards. Without counting us.”
It was almost four times what they’d had when they went against the Council in Geneva months before, and the weight of it had been settling on Nick more and more as the days went on. He wasn’t fighting just for them anymore. He was fighting to change the order of things altogether. If he had felt inadequate before, he felt four times as inadequate now, but he couldn’t let that show. “Will all those who’ve submitted themselves as fighters actually fight when it comes time?” He had his doubts about many of the newcomers, some of whom seemed to have come just for a place to find a lot of wolves in one place and to party accordingly.
“Most will, I believe. Those who won’t will die in the course of a battle they shouldn’t have signed up for.” She deadpanned with a shrug.
And it will be my fault. Because I’m the one who called them out to fight. Nick thought to himself without saying anything out loud as the shadow of his thought went across his face. “Well enough. I’ll see you both at the meeting this afternoon. And I recommend not making any plans for next week.”
Lea smirked. “Not even a date? You know how hard it is for me to get one of those.”
Nick returned the smile. “I know a Fireborn Alpha that’s been sniffing around if you’re in the mood to get charred a bit.”
She wrinkled her nose as she looked over at Balthazar. “I’m not that desperate.”
“See to it you never get that desperate. You may consider that an order.”
Lea nodded and walked off with the rest of the closest guards. They would stay nearby, but they always gave him his space.
* * * * *
Eventually everyone started to spill in, all the Princes and Princesses of the New Council, so they were tentatively called until they decided what they wanted to be. The Earthborn were all led by Osvald and his mate, though it had been a bit of a fight to get that way. There were other Earthborn packs that had arrived, but
