Page 98 of Blood of Ancients

Arne said, “I’m sorry, the breeding bitches?”

Sven pouted, confused at the question. “Our alpha females.”

Arne muttered, “No wonder you’re so fucked up, you poor, sorry son of a breeding bi—”

“Could you two shut the fuck up?” Grim grunted.

Their banter dwindled, and I was unable to take my eyes off Corym as he explained all this like he was talking about the weather. I had never heard of such a system. It sounded, well, awesome, honestly.

“In Midgard, something like that would never happen.” I shook my head in disbelief. I was utterly curious about thisMaltorVaalnath, but not because of their combo genitalia. I was more interested in what they were like as a leader, having dozens of children, all in a compact, rigid hierarchical structure.

Corym said, “Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it never will,lunis’ai.”

That was true. And wise. I said, “The Eastern Crossing, I’m assuming, is the eastern flank of the Kingdom of Heira?”

“TheNationof Heira, yes. Vaalnath is neither a king nor queen, and both, remember. They don’t lead a kingdom or queendom.”

“Oh. Right.” I smiled shyly, my face flushing. “Sorry.”

“I’m not expecting you to understand the intricacies of our hierarchy in a single conversation.”

“Wait,” Arne said, moving from Sven to step into the conversation to Corym’s right. “If you’re the Company-Prince of the entire Eastern Crossing, does that make you royaltyanda general?”

The elf blinked at Arne, as if he’d never thought of it like that. “I suppose it does, iceshaper.”

“Damn.” Arne smiled. “I always thought there was something special about you. Suspicions confirmed.”

This fascinated me.Corym is an elven prince? And I didn’t even know? What other amazing shit has he not told me?Wrinkling my nose, I said, “I thought you said you were, uh, tor . . . tortoise? A teacher.”

Corym laughed. “Torar’tis.” He shot me a roguish wink. “A teacher of soldiers.”

I threw my head back and barked, which got me some scowls from the wood elves.

Before my mates could gripe, Corym lifted a finger. “And of herbs and alchemy. I taught courses on that to other Company-Princes at a royal academy in Heira. Can’t forget that one.”

By now, we had walked far from the initial landing zone where the portal had spit us out. I had no idea where we were, but I felt safer having Corym with us.

A gods-damnedelven prince.

There couldn’t have been a better time for him to show his true colors. I was excited to have the humble elf around—even more so now, if it was possible. Though I’d said titles meant nothing to me, since I was more interested in the man behindthe titles, I supposed I was only being half-honest. Because having a general-prince as a mate felt pretty fucking awesome.

And useful.My intrusive mind won over, and I scowled to myself—always calculating.

Jhaeros looked over his shoulder and barked something to Corym.

The smile left Corym’s face.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“We’re nearing the River Th’race. Where they’ve been studying Magnus.”

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