Ash pushed himself to his elbows, and then he stood, dusting the dirt off himself.
A quiet smirk rose on Draven’s lips, and he gave Ash a once over. “You can stay in the building with Nadir’s men,” Draven told him.
The crooked smile that placed itself on Nadir’s face made a chill run down Aydra’s spine. “Now that’s an idea.” He stepped forward and held out a hand to Ash, pulling him up from the ground. “Come on, savior. Meet the other bastards you’ll be rooming with this night.”
“What’s wrong, Sun Queen?” asked Nadir as he joined Aydra on Draven’s balcony soon after their encounter with Ash. “Not used to your brother—”
“Who does he think he is?” she heard herself spit out. “Ordering them to follow me, obey his orders instead of mine… I am their queen. I am their security commander.” A wild terror ran through her. “I have just as much right to command them as he does. I am queen—”
“Yes, we’ve established that,” Nadir mumbled lazily.
“I am—”
“She can be quite adorable when she gets like this,” Lex mused with a delighted smile, leaning beside Nadir on the deck.
“—as much in charge as he. It is my birthright—”
Nadir snorted.
Aydra’s feet stopped moving and she stared at him. “Something you’d like to add, commander?”
Nadir paused a moment to consider her. “You’ve been handed everything your entire life. You’ve known no more terror or fight than the Infi who infiltrated your towns only a few months back.—”
“I wouldn’t—” interjected Lex.
“What makes you think you’ll stand any chance with us against these strangers coming on our shore?” Nadir finished.
Aydra’s arms crossed over her chest. “I—”
“Because if she dies, then we’ll have done her brother a great deal of services she dare not gift him herself,” came Draven’s voice as he joined them. “A reason to go to war with us. Ridding him of the pest that annoys him on a daily basis. Shall I keep going?”
Aydra’s nostrils flared. “What did you do with the captain?”
“Killed him,” Draven replied nonchalantly. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“Where have you been my entire life?” Lex said dreamily.
Aydra ignored her and glared at Draven. “Be serious, Draven. What did you do with him?”
“He’s fine. Balandria will take care of him,” he said with a wink towards Nadir.
Aydra sighed heavily and stepped onto the balcony once more. Her eyes darted around the camp, watching as the Hunters’ all gathered and sharpened their weapons.
“What is the plan?” she asked after a few minutes.
“Someone is anxious to die,” Nadir muttered.
“You sent word about a ship. I assumed it was nearly here,” she said.
“They are,” Nadir said.
She stared at him. “They… are?”
“Set up camp a week ago. Three more ships have arrived since.”
“So why are we sitting here?” she asked.
Nadir’s eyes flickered towards Draven. “Because someone wanted to wait for the backup we weren’t sure was even coming.”
Draven’s lips pursed, and he glared at his friend. “We leave at midnight for the shores. On foot. No horses. I don’t want to give any inclination of our coming.”
“How did you attack last time?” Lex asked.
“Last time, we didn’t know what we were up against. I lost a great deal more men than I’d have liked to,” said Nadir. He hugged his arms against his chest. “We have the element of surprise on our side. My company is preparing arrows. We’ll take them before dawn.”
Nadir only stayed in the tree a few minutes after the last of their exchange. He told them he needed to make sure his people were prepared for battle, and so he left them upstairs, but not before Lex insisted she would join him to learn more about his people.
Aydra felt herself fumbling with the hem of her dress as she sat in the chair across from Draven at the familiar table, sipping on the wine he’d given her.
“You should get some sleep,” he said shortly, tapping his cup on the table. “We’ll be leaving soon.”
Aydra hugged her chest. “You saw the letter you thought I wrote, and yet you made him wait on me anyway,” Aydra said. “Why?”
He paused tapping the cup, and stared at the table. “Because you know protecting your own means more than just the people of your kingdom,” he said softly. “And you’re the only one of your kind to have ever thought it.”
She stared at him, her eyes narrowing at his words.
“And—” he stood from the table and finally looked at her “—I didn’t want to think you’d abandoned your promise.”
“You knew I didn’t write the letter?” she asked.
“I said I didn’t want to think,” he corrected. He took his and her cup from the table and started out the room again. “Take my bed. Get some sleep. The sun has nearly set. I’ll tell Lex where you are and find her somewhere she can stay as well.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
NO MATTER HOW many times Draven told her she needed to rest before they set out, she couldn’t. She paced around his room by the candlelight, After a while, she decided she would get dressed. She pulled her leather pants, black long sleeve tunic, and leather vest from her bags. She was just strapping on her sword belt when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs again.
“Don’t worry, I’m up. I’m ready, I’m—” her words ceased at the sight of Draven’s face standing there.
Black paints were smeared around his eyes, making the sage color stand stark against the darkness. It was as if they’d painted the color in every shadow of his face—his cheekbones, beneath his jaw, making his features stand stark and fearsome in the light of the candles. His walnut streaked hair was down. Someone had woven two small braids in it over his left ear. It was displayed as his own battle armor was, the fervor mane of the Forest King. The black leather vest he wore pressed against his torso, two
