Page 84 of Clash of Kingdoms

“You belong with your people,” I said. “We’ll handle the crystal.”

His eyes were glued to mine. “I insist.”

“We also have the Teeth,” Ian said, cutting through the tension. “But by the time they arrive, the war will probably be long over.”

“When should we leave?” Kingsnake asked. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“Tonight,” Huntley said. “We leave by dragon this evening and travel across the east in the cover of darkness. We’ll be able to reach the secret tunnel without their realizing we’re even there.”

Kingsnake nodded in agreement. “Any objections?”

The room was silent.

“Then prepare for departure.” Huntley was the first to rise to his feet. Everyone else followed suit.

Kingsnake went to Larisa to speak to her quietly, and my father rose from his seat to depart the room and return to his campsite outdoors. Fang slithered off Harlow’s chair and moved around Kingsnake’s shoulders. Ivory and Ian walked away, deep in thought. One by one, everyone left.

Except for Huntley and me.

I remained at the table because, unlike everyone else, I had nowhere to go. Harlow had been my home, but now she treated me like a stranger. All I had was my cold bed in an empty cottage…bottles of booze waiting for me.

Huntley returned to his seat, the one across from me. “You and your father don’t seem very close.”

I slouched in the chair. “It’s a challenge…”

“Challenging how?”

I looked out the window behind him, seeing torches in the distance. “I’m not the same man I was when I left.” My father tolerated my brothers, but he’d never had to tolerate me. Now, that was over. “He’s not happy about that.”

“How have you changed?”

I turned my gaze back to him and decided to be honest. “My brothers have always had a more conservative stance on human relationships—treating them like equals rather than inferiors. My father and I, on the other hand, have seen the human race as nothing more than livestock.”

He listened without judgment.

“Obviously, I feel very differently about that now.” It wasn’t just Harlow who’d softened my heart, but the man across from me, a man I was forced to admire because of his selflessness and his bravery. “I was the favorite son, but now he feels nothing but disappointment for me. Never thought I’d live to see the day.” I released a painful laugh, a sarcastic one. “I lost my relationship with my father for a woman who doesn’t even want me anymore.”

Huntley’s eyes glanced down momentarily.

“You can’t come with us, Huntley.”

“I don’t need your concern?—”

“You need to stay here to keep my father in check.”

He stilled at my statement.

“I told my father they’re not allowed to enter HeartHolme for any reason. He should obey that request, but just in case he doesn’t…you need to be here. If he knows you aren’t here, it might make him do something he wouldn’t do otherwise.”

He continued to stare, his thoughts swarming with so many different emotions that none were distinct. “I don’t understand your family politics. A father should unite his family, but ever since he has stepped into our lives, I’ve seen him divide all of you. You all behave differently around him…almost as if you’re afraid.”

We were afraid.

“I would never want my children to feel that way about me.”

“Because you’re a good father, Huntley. My father is…complicated.”

“Why is he so complicated?” he asked.

---