Page 83 of Crownless King

Had I not been so terrified, I would’ve realized earlier that her light footsteps weren’t loud enough for Alcon. Sauria came in the house with Bavius. Alcon wasn’t there.

The relief was so strong, my legs felt too weak to hold me. If it wasn’t for the wall behind me, I would have dropped to the floor.

Bavius continued to stomp in the main room, pacing back and forth.

“Fuck!” He rubbed his horns. “Fuck.”

“What’s going on?” I struggled to hold Aithen, who grew even more determined to make it down.

“You’re having guests for lunch.” Sauria rolled her eyes in Bavius’s direction. “Though he makes it look like the farm is coming under siege.”

“But isn’t it?” Bavius bellowed. “I didn’t invite them here.”

Coming out into the main room, I set Aithen down, and he crawled right back toward the table to pick up from the floor the same peas he didn’t want to eat from the bowl earlier. I thought I’d swept them all, but he managed to find a few under the table.

“Whothey?” I rushed to grab a broom and a dustpan, then raced my son to sweep up the remaining peas.

“The royal court.” Sauria made her eyes big to emphasize the importance of the visit.

My heart dropped into my stomach. “Why?”

“Exactly! Why?” Bavius boomed. “I didn’t call them here. I have work to do. This ismyhouse. They can fuck right off! A bunch of lazy asses with nothing better to do.”

“The royal court?” The dustpan trembled in my hand, nearly spilling the peas I’d swept onto it.

“Yes!” Sauria sounded thrilled. “The councilor was leaving just when I landed in the yard.”

“What councilor?”

“Councilor Alcon.” She squinted at me. “You must know him from your time back in Elaros?

Bavius stopped, leveling me with a stare.

“No.” I shook my head quickly. “I don’t know him.”

Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Back when I lived in Elaros, Alcon was the Head of The Royal Guard. I never knew him as a councilor. That must be a huge step up for him, but it made perfect sense. Alcon was sharp and even-tempered, with a proven track record of loyalty to Voron. It was no surprise that the new king had elevated his position and put him on the Royal Council.

“Well, anyway,” Sauria continued. “Apparently, the royal court is traveling by horses. They need a place to stop for a rest and have some food. They chose Bavius’s farm because, as you know, there is nothing else around here.”

“That fucking wingless king,” Bavius spat through his teeth. “His brooding moods are going to cost me crops next year again. Not a ray of sunshine for sixteen months. Nothing but storms, hail, and flooding. And now, he’s coming here with all his highborn mob in tow, expecting me to feed them all?”

My stomach spasmed with a jolt through my chest. “The king is coming here, too?”

Sauria threw her hands up in the air, facing Bavius.

“Who is to talk about brooding here? If anything, you and the king are so much the same in that department that you may be brothers.”

“Except thatmymoods don’t affect the livelihood of people,” he grumped.

“They very much do affect those who are close to you.” She propped her hands on her hips, standing up to the man three times her size. “It’s not the king’s fault he has no wings and can’t travel as fast as other highborn. This is actually to your own benefit, you dummy. The king is not afraid to get the road dirt on his boots and see the life in the kingdom from the ground, not just from the sky. He’s been doing a lot of good for the ordinary people, you know. Besides, Councilor Alcon said the king will reward you for your trouble.”

Bavius huffed air through flaring nostrils, his tail lashing against his boots.

“I don’t need his reward. I just need him to leave me alone.”

For once, I was entirely on his side.

“Do they have to come here? Is there any way to decline it?” I moved my gaze from him to her, desperately hoping for a way out of this.

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