Page 18 of Light Up the Night

“Ready the ships, I’ll send Messiah to the Soiled Sea.” I caved on a sigh. “I need you here with me.”

I adored my time with Messiah, but it was Ender I was craving. I loved the way Messiah thought the world was ours, and I adored every minute of exploring it with Keifer, but sometimes I just wanted to selfishly enjoy it as only Ender could. In a haze of forbidden sensations and substances, where the only thing that mattered was chasing and cherishing our own pleasure.

I stood, knowing I’d pull him in there with me if I didn’t get him out of there fast. Business first. He wrapped a towel around me and pressed a kiss to the back of my neck.

“I’m going to kill her for you,” he vowed, resting his lips behind my ear.

I smiled before I could veil it. My back was to him, so it really didn’t matter, but it mortified me to realize that someone’s death could bring me pleasure. Of course, the shame was short lived, the knowledge of the freedom and security that her death would bring me, and my house was undeniable. Isabella had killed. Fuck, she had brainwashed Ender and Messiah until they were capable of shutting off their humanity and emotions at her command. She had forced me to bathe in the blood of her victim. She deserved whatever she got and then some. That’s just how it was.

I stepped from the tub, carefully holding Ender’s hand so I didn’t slip, and wrapped myself in a towel. When I turned to speak, he was gone.

I had no doubt he would deliver on the promise. For now, I’d go and see if Azaria’s Pretty Prince had decided to deliver.

I opened a trunk and rummaged around until I found a robe. It was thick, with black fur and a fresh cedar scent that clung to the inside of it. Considering how wet my hair was, it served me well in the tunnels back to the cell.

I gripped the neck of it and huddled in tight while taking a moment to eavesdrop. The distinct sound of Messiah’s whiskey smooth voice trickled out toward me long before I noticed him sitting near the cell.

“I know that she was the daughter of Emperor Octavius Andelei. I know that, because my brother killed him for her.”

Ryver neither denied nor confirmed, he simply stared out at Messiah with that half amused, half furious expression twisting at his lips. After a moment, he rolled his eyes and spat on the floor.

“Octavius was more of an embarrassment than an emperor. Your brother served his queen well in the past, unfortunately, he will now die for betraying her. Ryver sighed, drawing his legs up and planked his arms over his knees. “What do you want with us? What’s the point of all this?”

“We would hold audience with Azaria of the Savagelands,” Messiah explained between gulps from a canteen. When he had his fill, he held the container out for Ryver. The king started to shake his head but must have thought the better of it and accepted with a grunt.

“Most people request one, instead of forcing a person to follow after them…” Ryver’s tone ebbed with indignation. “She isn’t even in Tauran. Why would you think—”

“She was near enough to take my king,” I heard myself challenge. My cheeks flooded with warmth, so I clung to the shadows a moment longer before gravitating toward him. “Azaria of the Savageland invaded this country and now has something of mine. Until it’s returned… I’ll have something of hers.”

His eyes tightened, and he jerked his head back a bit.

“Azaria is on honeymoon with her wife. She has taken no king, there are five of us… trust me, she has more than enough.” He laughed.

“Lazarus, King of the Iron Inlet, was forcibly taken by Azaria of the Savagelands. I have heard the testimony myself,” Messiah assured him before leaning in as if they were conspiring. “You know, Lazarus is an annoying little cunt. You’re much more entertaining. If I were you, I’d just tell her how to get the big guy back before she decides she fared better than she lost.”

“If she is gone off with some woman, then you don’t know what she has or has not done…” Keif pointed out. I almost missed him from his propped position in the corner. He spotted me but gave no indication of it to the other two men.

“I’m sort of in charge of her men. I would know if an army of them were dispatched, over the mountain or otherwise,” Ryver countered. “Look, if you’re seeking to get word to her, you’ll have to go back to the High Country and send a raven.” He shrugged and laid his head against his arms, all but dismissing his interrogators.

I stepped into the candlelight and shot my hand through the bars. The arrogant prisoner’s silky hair was long enough to fist, and the element of surprise gave me enough time to jerk his head forward. The bars caught him with a vicious crack, and I used the dagger and sliced off the chunk I’d claimed, sending him back to his ass before he likely even realized what had happened.

“And if he would have grabbed you first?” Messiah asked, glaring at me with no lack of disbelief.

All I could do was laugh. The Tauranian’s expression was a murderous mask of shock. I got the distinct impression that the poor thing placed more pride in his hair than he did his cock. The situation could have been much, much worse. Rather than educate him on the level of depravity he was staring at, I maintained my focus and shoved the blond mess toward Keif.

“Send some scouts to the mountain’s edge and use that to tie the scroll,” I instructed on my way out. Ender would find Messiah, let him give the order to fetch my ship. The thought of speaking her name or wasting one more second on Isabella made me want to spit, so I didn’t. Instead, I wrapped my robe all the tighter and started back toward my room.

War had been staked. I didn’t have any experience in it, but it had been waged against a people that were mine, so that made it my battle. Lazarus or not.

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