Page 21 of The Shadowbound King

“I don’t like that look,” Andrin said, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What look?”

“You’re scheming.”

I shook my head. “I’m not.” Unable to help myself, I added, “Othor probably is, though. He wants to question Lornlark’s daughter. You should be prepared for him to raise the issue before the Council.”

Aggravation flashed in Andrin’s blue eyes. “I gave Othor my answer. The issue is settled.”

“Not with Othor. He’s impatient. And as much as it pains me to admit it, he makes a good point. The Edelfen is changing.” Disquiet moved through me as I recalled the crows hopping from branch to branch on the long walk from the Covenant. “The shadows have spread, but they’ve also grown more powerful. We have Mirella. We should use her as quickly as possible.”

The irritation in Andrin’s eyes gave way to anger. “Weshouldn’thave her. I rejected this idea the first time you brought it up. You disobeyed me, Rane, and you put yourself in unreasonable danger while doing it.”

Familiar exasperation rose within me. “The danger was manageable. The shadows hold no dominion over the sky.”

Anger snapped in Andrin’s eyes. “Yes, but I hold dominion over you. And I told youno. You’ve undermined my authority before the whole court.”

“And you punished me for it,” I said. Gods, had he ever. My throat ached from his wrath.

Andrin narrowed his eyes. “Considering your dick was ready to rip through your pants, it was hardly a punishment. My fatherwould have strung you up in the courtyard and removed a layer of skin from your back.”

My breath punched out of me, the words like a fist buried in my gut.

Andrin realized his mistake right away. Stepping toward me, he put out a hand. “Rane?—”

“Is that what you want?” I asked, moving out of his reach. My chest tightened. “If you think it’ll make you feel better, go ahead and do it.”

His shoulders lifted, and the sigh he exhaled was laced with regret. “It was a thoughtless thing to say. I didn’t even realize what I—” His throat bobbed. “Forgive me.”

The tightness in my chest eased. After a second, I managed a nod. “Fine.”

He opened his mouth?—

“And I’d rather not talk about it.”

He looked like he wanted to argue. Instead, he sighed again. “All right. Tell me how you pulled this off. I thought Lornlark sent his daughter to wed some brute in the North.”

Wariness settled over me. Andrin knew about the Purecliff hunter who made the deadly mistake of venturing too close to the Covenant. He’d been with me when we found what was left of him.

He’d also heard the man’s family searching for him. The Edelfen forgot nothing. If a person was inclined to listen, the forest was happy to spill its secrets. Even miles away. Even just outside the Embervale, where the shadows didn’t yet dare to encroach.

When the forest had whispered of the hunter’s connection to Mirella Lornlark, I’d pushed Andrin to go to the Covenant. To explore the possibility of luring Walto’s daughter through the barrier. We couldn’t get our hands on Walto, I’d reasoned, butwhat if we got Mirella? If she was strong enough to survive a trip through the Covenant, we could use her.

Andrin dismissed the idea. It was too dangerous, he said, and it would never work. Walto was scum, but he was by no means a fool. He’d gotten what he wanted from Autumn. He knew better than to get near it again.

Andrin ordered me to abandon my plan. Then he stopped listening.

But I didn’t. And when the Edelfen whispered that Mirella Lornlark was imprisoned in Nordlinga, I took a chance and disobeyed my king.

“The brute is called Sigurn Brighthelm,” I told Andrin now. “For a short time, he was the King of Nordlinga. He’s elfkin, but he was secretly bound to Ronan Morendiel for years. Brighthelm abandoned Nordlinga to cross the Covenant and wed Morendiel and the new Winter Queen.”

Andrin stared, and I could almost see the gears turning in his head as he tried to match places with names. Human lifespans were short, and leadership in the mortal kingdoms changed frequently. Andrin paid little attention to Andulum’s affairs.

“Both of them?” he asked finally.

“I was as surprised as anyone.” But, oddly enough, I found myself happy for Morendiel. If anyone needed lurid, abandoned sex, it wasthatfrigid asshole.

“How do you know this?” Andrin demanded. “We haven’t treated with the Winter Court in a hundred years.”

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