Page 160 of Born for Silk

“Please.” She lifts her hand. “I do not wish to argue. I have never fulfilled my Purpose. I would like to try. I did not break apart at the compound. I did not disappear. I was not entirely brave, but I would like the opportunity to try again. Will you allow me to try again?”

I look between them, watching Rome stare at her; his angry rebuttals and fears for her safety are dark phantoms pulsing beneath his tight jaw.

Then he finally says, “You will take Kong.”

She closes her eyes on a heavy sigh, relief gushing from her lips. “I have my Army, Sire.”

Clasping his hands in front of him, his face smooths to infallible severity. “You will take Kong. We will not discuss this further. He knows The Cradle. The ruins. And he will die for you.”

“Kong is your Guardian.”

Rome laughs, husky and deep. “He has never been my Guardian, sweet sister. Not since I was young. He has always been yours.”

While they talk, Odio lands at my side like a puff of black smoke, demanding my attention.

“So you will allow it then?” she says. “If I agree to have Kong accompany me?”

Odio approaches me, a long step at a time. I ignore their discussions, captivated by a black angel.

“Hello, handsome boy.” Tears pool in my eyes. “I mourned you. That was very rude of you. Do not do that again.” When I reach out my hand, hesitantly, slowly, he steps straight into my palm.

“I will,” Rome says to Tuscany.

My fingers ruffle Odio’s crest; his feathers clap like trees in the wind, and inside his chest, he purrs with enjoyment.

Extending a long, fluffy leg, he steps even closer, until he can practically wrap his wings around my body. Dropping his line of sight to my belly, he uses his beak to tap the mound, then draws patterns along the swollen surface. Almost as though he is searching for?—

Then the baby in my belly pushes against his beak, halting Odio’s meandering. A limb or foot warps my belly, shoving it outward.

“They are not yours, Odio!” Rome states, his attention now on Odio and me, his voice a velvety growl of authority.

My handsome boy cranes his neck, growing to nearly my height. His eyes narrow in defiance, locked on his king, seconds before he digs his beak into his wing and prunes his feathers. One at a time. As if he is sharpening knives in warning.

Rome grits out, “Attitude. Nice to see you’re back to your usual obstinance.”

A deep rumble vibrates through the air as my king presses his front to my back again, just as Odio takes to the skies. The hairs on my arms rise, the breeze is perfect—conditioned—just like all of us.

Tuscany steps to leave, saying, “I will see you both at mealtime,” but stops. “Oh, Aster, I almost forgot?—”

I look at her.

“Ana is going to join my Army of lovely ladies. She can visit any time you like, but I very much wish to take her with me when I travel The Cradle in the coming months. If she accepts; I would never force her. I know Ana will miss playing with her baby, but she was very loyal to you in the abbey. I believe she will be excellent at this new Trade.”

I nod quickly because I agree. “Thank you.”

She smiles, but it doesn’t meet her eyes. A smile rarely creeps that far into Tuscany’s soul. “No, thank you.”

She peels away from us.

“If we have a girl.” I arch my neck, gazing directly up to see Rome’s possessive stare already on me. As if the top of my crown is far prettier than the roses ahead of us. “Can I name her London? Like the old-world city?”

He smiles; it is a soft one just for me. “As long as that name makes you smile while you greet her each first-light and beckon her to bed each last-light. You will be using that name daily.”

That makes me beam.

He means she—or he—will always be with me. Every day. Another reassurance that our children will be raised around these gardens, picking the roses as Odio maps a grid of protection above them.

As we look out over the manicured hill, birds take flight from the unwelcoming forest trees, only to hover just below the threatening Redwind, and I consider my upside-down bird. The lost girl with the honey hair, the boy with the bird he wanted to stroke, and Odio.

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