Page 25 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

I went to elbow Maez and she pulled away from me. She always did this, always dug our graves a little deeper when we were already in precarious situations. What I really wanted to know was why they took Ora in the first place and if now they intended to take Navin, too.

“What do you think I’m doing in Valta?” my father rasped in his scratchy, lethal voice. “I’ve come to fetch my wayward daughter and get her out of our current predicament.”

“Predicament?” I balked, hating the flash of relief that he wasn’t here for Navin.

My father’s dark eyes found mine, a curl on his scarred lip. “You are a skin chaser and a traitor, Sadie. You and your brother have brought so much shame to our family’s name,” he said. I tried not to flinch, clenching my fists so tight below the table that my nails were drawing blood. “We were nearly cut out of the pack entirely.”

My eyes flared at that. I hadn’t expected King Nero to retaliate against my family for Hector’s and my betrayal. My fatherand uncles were some of Nero’s closest advisers... but then I looked at Aubron’s scar again and realized I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Father,” I said tightly, stealing a glance at Navin who still held perfectly still. He didn’t look frightened so much as frozen, like he was in such a deep state of meditation that he was no longer aware of where he was. “Will you put your knife down at least? The human knows better than to run from a pack of Wolves.”

I’d hoped insinuating that my father and I were still part of the same pack might win me some favors, and judging by my father’s arched curious brow at the words “the human,” I’d say I was succeeding. Navin finally reacted then, cutting a glance across the room to the barman. It was such a subtle move, barely a nod. Still, it was jarring to see the completely vacant look in his eyes. I wondered if he was trying to tell his fellow human to run. I wondered, too, if he was using the same sort of magic that Ora used to evade spilling secrets.

That he seemed to use back in that snowy mountain village.

Should I even be defending him? Who was I even protecting?

I resisted the urge to snarl like a Wolf guarding its kill. Deceptions or no, Navin wasmineto deal with as I willed. And for all my distrust, I didn’t want him to die at my father’s hands.

“So you mean to bring us back?” I asked my father, my shoulders easing as he lowered his knife from Navin’s throat.

“Just you,” Pilus said, spitting on the table. “Maez can rot in the Valtan sun with your Wolf-loving boyfriend for all we care. If she steps one foot in Damrienn she’ll be skinned alive, her furs worn as a nice winter stole.”

“You paint such a lovely picture, Pilly,” Maez said, her hand drifting to her weapons belt. “But I think I’ll opt for rotting in the Valtan sun.” Maez shrugged. “You know I’ve always liked this tune.”

It was only then I realized that the barman had taken out alastar and started plucking its strings. He looked petrified and yet he still strummed. Was that what Navin was instructing him to do? Play a song?

What the actual fuck?

“I can’t go back to Damrienn,” I said tightly.

My father’s smile widened. “That’s good, because youwon’tbe going back to Damrienn.”

My brows knitted in confusion. “Then where?”

“Rikesh.”

“Rikesh?”

“Congratulations, Sadie,” my father said, slapping the table. “I’ve arranged for your hand in marriage to Prince Tadei of Rikesh.”

Bile rose up my throat as all the blood drained from my face.“What?”

Two patrons tried to walk into the restaurant and the barman shouted, “We’re closed.” The humans quickly scattered out the door. And still the barman kept playing his tune, the tempo increasing now to the pace of a jig.

My father leaned into the table, smiling wickedly at me. “You will be Luo’s little brother’s bride. You’ll be a princess. More, you’ll be an ally to Damrienn.”

So this was their bargaining chip to bring Luo to their side of the war? A Silver Wolf princess?

Me?

My face flushed further and I couldn’t blame the heat. “No.”

“No isn’t an option for you anymore, little one,” Aubron said.

“What would your betrothed think?” Pilus taunted. “You’d deny a prince?”

“Tadei has been shirked by plenty of bitches already,” Maez said with a chuckle. “I’m sure he’d understand one more. I swear he must have a haunted fella to have so many brides reject him.”

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