Page 2 of War King's Treasure

“I’d like to be excused now, Gavin.”

“You haven’t eaten,” he stated, and she hated that he’d watched her closely enough to realize that.

“The hostility has stolen my appetite.”

“There’s no hostility directed at you, Nori.”

“I’d like to be excused,” she asked again. “Please.”

“I’ll escort you to our room.”

She had her chair scooted back and was out of his reach before she addressed him again. “I can see myself upstairs. I’m sure you have more evil to plot with your friends.”

“Nori.”

She hated the way the hard command in his voice affected her. “Eleanor. And you’ve done enough. You’ve made it clear I’ll be in your bed tonight. I’d like a few moments alone to collect myself, so I don’t try to kill you in your sleep.”

His full lips twitched, drawing her attention. It looked as if he were trying not to smile. She hated how he stood so close to her, the way he reached out and touched her as if it were his right. Husband or not, it wasn’t.

“Should we be worried for you, brother?” Theo asked.

“She won’t harm me,” Gavin stated as if his decree alone was enough to stay her hand.

“Depends on your definition of harm,” she snapped. Apparently, her anger wasn’t gone.

“I’ll take her above and show her your room, Gavin. This is my home—”

“Childhood home,” the man beside the woman who’d spoken said.

“Childhood home,” she corrected. “I’m Genevieve Blaywolf. That’s my husband, Marcus.”

“I’ll come too since it was my father who stood proxy for your groom. Serena Lyons,” she introduced herself. “And my husband, Geoffrey.”

“Jo and I will come, as well,” Rory said as she stood. “I believe our mothers were cousins, which makes us family.”

“I…” Nori paused and shook her head. “I don’t have any family.”

Silence again and she realized some of her sadness must have come through. She hadn’t meant to show that. It was too much. She dropped her head, gaze toward the floor as the first teardrop fell. She hated tears, but her control was gone.

A hard hand reached out, fingers clasping her jaw as her head was forced up. She refused to meet his gaze, but she couldn’t hide the tears. With a growl, he swept her up into his arms and carried her from the room. She held herself as stiffly as she could, but she couldn’t stop the tears.

“My king, do you need anything?”

Gavin paused and turned. Nori glanced at the two men waiting for Gavin’s answer. They were exact replicas of one another. Twins.

“We’re good for the evening. Have the men gather in the courtyard in the morning. No reason to ease up on training while we’re here.”

“Are you going to introduce us to your bride?”

Nori buried her head in Gavin’s neck. At the moment, he was the lesser of two evils. She definitely didn’t want to meet these two when she’d been crying. At least, their interruption had allowed her to get a handle on her emotions.

“I’ll introduce you to my wife tomorrow. She had a long trip and needs to rest.”

She wanted to bite him for the way he made it sound as if he held concern for her wellbeing. His actions told a different story.

“Until tomorrow then, my queen. My king.”

“My queen. My king,” the second one said before Gavin carried her toward the stairs.

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