“How many were born?” she dared to ask.
Draven’s jaw tightened, and she saw him grip and release his hand above the table. “Five,” he told her.
“And how many did you bring back?”
His eyes met hers. “Are you always so interested in the dealings of other races’ givers?” he growled.
She didn’t lose her gaze with him, and instead raised a brow. Draven sighed heavily, and his teeth clenched as he tapped a finger on the table. “None,” he finally said. “We brought none back.”
She blinked and felt her chest constrict at his words. “What do you do with them?”
“What do you think?”
She could see the sadness flickering in his pupils.
Her weight shifted in her seat. “And after?”
He ran his hands through his downed hair. “Duarb takes them back from where they came,” he whispered.
Aydra ate the rest of her food in silence, her gaze simply watching him puff on his pipe in a daze, as though she were not even in the room with him. It was only when she finally finished and downed her final bit of wine, that he packed another herb in the pipe, and extended it to her.
She raised a brow at him. “What will this one do to me?” she asked.
His eyes shaded over as he met her gaze. “Let the worries of your days fall into the darkest corner of your core.”
She gave him a full once over, and then she took the pipe from his hand. One inhale and she felt her mind swirl. Her head leaned back onto the wood at her back, and she closed her eyes as the deep sweetness took over and radiated of warmth over her muscles.
“Send me back with this one,” she muttered.
Draven huffed amusedly under his breath and stood from the table. She started to hand the pipe back to him, but he shook his head. “I’ll let that one take you on your own tonight,” he told her.
“Leaving me to smoke by my lonesome, Venari?” she asked.
“I’ll not pretend to think I am the one you want in the room when that herb finally hits you,” he replied in a low tone.
Something happened when he looked at her then—an unfamiliar warmth and ache radiated between her thighs, one that made her mouth open slightly. He apparently saw it, for his tongue darted out over his lips, and a smirk rose in his eyes.
“What did you give me?” she asked slowly.
Another scoffing chuckle emitted from him. He picked up the plate on the table and backed out of the room. “Goodnight, Sun Queen.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SHE WAS STARTING to believe the potion was actually poison with how much he was giving her.
On her next morning, she awoke to find him standing from the tub, his strong back to her and cheeks glistening in the light from the fire. As she felt her mouth dry at the sight of it, she cursed her aching body and surrendered back into the pillows again.
He left the room without a word after getting dressed, only giving her a quick glance as he strode past the bed. She gathered her wits after he left and made herself stand, pushing herself to hobble out onto the deck so she could see below.
The fog wrapped through the forest floor, bending and breaking along the great roots of trees thicker than she’d ever thought possible. She curled herself onto the lounge chair and wrapped the warm blanket around her shoulders as she watched the men and women down below chat with each other, a few showing off weapons to the others. One couple was knocking wooden swords beneath a tree to her right.
Footsteps coming up the stairs averted her attention after a few minutes. The person was taking them two at a time, so she knew it was Draven coming up. He slowed upon seeing her, taking the last few deliberately.
“I thought perhaps you were awake,” he said upon reaching the top.
“Hard to sleep with all that splashing,” she lied.
He huffed amusedly under his breath, and then he held out a cup towards her. She eyed the smoke rising from the liquid inside. “What is it?” she asked cautiously.
“You don’t want it?” he asked, pulling it back towards him.
“No, I do—”
She wanted to slap the smirk off his face.
He held it out for her again, and this time she took it from his fingers. The warm smell of tea filled her nostrils, and she inhaled it deeply with a close of her eyes.
“Thought you could use a bit of home,” he told her.
Her eyes narrowed just slightly at him as she took a sip of the tea. The familiar spiced warmth of it consumed her chest, and she nearly melted into the chair, forgetting about the words he had just spoken.
“Thank you,” she managed upon opening her eyes.
He gave her a slow nod, and then he leaned over the railing, watching his men as he sipped his own drink.
“I have a proposition for you,” he said after a few minutes.
Her eyes narrowed. “Go on.”
He turned slightly, left elbow resting on the rail, and he took a long sip of his drink. “I am taking a few men with me into the forest tonight. One of my men heard something unfamiliar last night on his patrols—”
“The strangers?” she interjected.
He shook his head. “One of the Noctuans. He thinks perhaps it is injured. I will go tonight to find the animal and assess.” He paused and gave her a deliberate, yet nervous, once over. “If what I find is a beast that can be saved, I may need your help.”
She settled back in the chair, letting her eyes linger out into the wood for a moment as she contemplated her answer. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he repeated, brows raised.
She shrugged and sipped on her tea. “For the beast. Not for you,” she told him. “With any luck, the beast will take care of you and
