Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
“I know,” I cut in, and I did.
“I’m relieved to hear that. I’ve feared…”
“What?” I asked when he didn’t finish.
“I’ve feared that this situation we’re in could make you feel that way.” Nyktos stared at his glass. “That I’ve made you feel that way because I’ve used my authority to stop you from doing what you want, and I…” His brows furrowed as he shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
I stared at him for what felt like a small eternity, unsure what to say. He had used his authority to stop me from doing a pretty long list of things—stuff that would have likely resulted in me being injured or ending up dead. “There is a difference between someone trying to control you and someone trying to protect you. I know I may not behave like there’s a difference, but I do know there is one.”
Nyktos’s softly lit eyes lifted to mine.
“There just needs to be a balance, you know? When the need to protect what’s valuable doesn’t get in the way of what needs to be done.”
He nodded slowly. “I’m discovering that balance is not easy to find. But I’m on board. We have plans for tomorrow, it appears, and Nektas will be unavailable the day after that, but in two days, you will go to the Pools of Divanash with Nektas.”
I tried to fight the smile, but there was no stopping it from spreading across my face. There was no hiding it from him either. His eyes had lightened even more, and I wondered if he was aware of how they’d changed.
Nyktos’s gaze flickered away as he took a long drink of his wine. “Anyway,” he said, clearing his throat, “I heard Erlina brought by the clothing she made. Were you pleased?”
“They are all beautiful.”
“Hopefully, they’re less distracting.”
“They are.”
“Thank the Fates.”
I leaned back in my chair, eyeing him over the rim of my glass. In the loose, untucked black shirt he wore and with his hair free, he reminded me of how he’d been when I’d been with him beside my lake. A powerful, otherworldly being, but not one that existed outside my reach.
He is how you wish him to be.
It was hard not to see him as Ash in these quiet moments.
“I have a question for you,” I said.
“Ask away.”
“I’m not sure I should. I feel like manners dictate that I not.”
“You have never struck me as the type to give much thought to manners.”
“I have been known to pay heed to manners a time or two.”
His eyes warmed as they settled on me. “What is your question?”
I took another drink of what I hoped served as a wee bit of liquid courage. “I’m surprised that you’re here.”
“That doesn’t sound like a question, Sera.”
The way he said my name… Muscles low in my stomach coiled even tighter. “You’re right. It really wasn’t a question. More of a statement. I just didn’t think you’d have dinners with me.”
“I was under the impression that you didn’t believe I would meet any of the demands you made today,” he said.
“Am I that transparent?”
“Usually, you are not. But in this, you are as transparent as a window,” he remarked.
I rolled my eyes.
“Joining you for supper is a small thing,” he added. “And an easy one to accommodate.”
“That has to be the first thing you’ve done with me that you’ve found easy.”
His eyes met mine. “It’s not the first thing.”
Silence stretched between us, and it felt like time slowed to an infinite crawl as I took in the softening of his gaze and the harsh lines of his features. He started to tilt forward and then caught himself. Clearing his throat, he looked away, breaking whatever strange spell seemed to have fallen over us.
In the quiet, I searched for something to say. Luckily, I remembered something Attes had said yesterday. “Were you friends with the Cimmerian? Dorcan?”
His attention shifted back to me. “I told you before. I have no friends.”
He had said that, but I thought of his guards and Nektas, who considered him family. “Did he consider you a friend?”
“I cannot answer that.”
“But you knew him,” I persisted.
Nyktos shifted in his chair, his attention dropping to his glass. “I’ve known him for a while. He wasn’t always a part of Hanan’s Court.”
That was more of an answer than I expected. “You said that he could’ve chosen another’s Court to serve. But he said that wasn’t possible. Why was he serving under Hanan if he was part of Attes’s lineage?”
“Attes is not just the Primal of War. He’s also the Primal of Accord. He prefers agreement over discord, so Vathi is mostly peaceful. At least, his half is,” he explained. “The Cimmerian can get a bit…antsy if there’s no blood to spill, so many leave Vathi to serve in other Courts. Hanan has a lot of them.”