Page 59 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“It’s not something I’m looking forward to repeating,” I answered, turning my attention to the red vargr who had curled up behind Sage. Her chin rested on her paws and those green eyes were locked on me.

“She is… very loyal to you. I was impressed that you were able to get her to fight for Sage and Serafin,” admitted Ciaran, and I blinked at him in further shock.

Was that a compliment?

“I wasn’t taking no for an answer,” I assured him.

“It’s unusual,” he insisted. “Vargr do not often leave their rider vulnerable. But Serafin defends you almost as fiercely as he protects his rider. And Pyrope clearly feels the same about Sage. It is all very… interesting.”

“I guess they know we areanam,” I said with a quick shrug because I had no idea what it meant. How much of that bond, how much of how I felt, was transferred?

Ciaran grunted in thoughtful agreement and then was quiet for a few moments.

“You know thatanamcan share magic. Why not take his power and use it to heal him?” he asked me.

I looked up at Ciaran and saw he was watching me very closely. There was something he wanted to know.

“I am not doing that,” I told him with certainty, and I turned my head away to let him know I did not want to discuss it anymore. Not that I trusted Ciaran to respect my wishes. But I was not about to explain how dryad males harnessed the magic of their femaleanam. I wasn’t about to have a conversation with him about whether I was ready to give Sage that kind of power over me.

“Rian knows who you are. Have you realized that?”

My body immediately seized with panic. Ciaran saw the reaction and cocked his head with interest while I tried to rein in my emotions. My hands trembled as I glanced over at Sage in relief that he seemed oblivious to Ciaran ambushing me again. But we were close to him, and fey hearing was so acute that I realized Ciaran must have erected a silencing ward around us.

I should have known he was being too nice.

“Does Sage—”

“He is pretending he doesn’t know and is waiting for you to trust him with the knowledge. But we all know the truth of you, little doe, and I do not have the patience to pretend otherwise. Frankly, whatever your reasons are for keeping it a secret areirrelevant to me, because we do not have time to coddle you. So you need to know that Rian will call us back to the encampment soon, and he will expect you to make a deal considering your… birthright,” Ciaran warned me bluntly.

“Fuck,” I hissed at his ruthless honesty, but I was not especially surprised by any of it. I’d already known Rian would figure it out and that he would want me to deliver the Ruadhán into the ranks of his army. He would want me to help him establish a foothold in the Summer Court. Become the ignoble queen returned to her people from exile to claim what was hers by blood and birth.

But he was out of his fucking mind if he thought I was going back to the Rowan Wood.

The urge to slip into the Tithriall through the tree roots beneath me and escape almost overcame me, but all I had to do was look back at Sage. And the impulse to flee was gone about as suddenly as it had overwhelmed me.

I was done running. I was done being alone. So if Rian wanted to confront me with the truth of my sordid past then I supposed I was ready.

I just couldn’t let it kill everyone I loved. Not again…

Chapter seventeen

A NEW HANDMAID

Amira

Ithought I would sleep fitfully in a strange place, but the sheer exhaustion must have dragged me down into a deep unconsciousness.

I woke gradually to the scent of food and soft swishing of dresses moving around quick legs. I turned over on the alert only to be met with the sight of three female griffins ferrying plates of food to the table in the circular cubicle of the window. I almost panicked that there were people in my room while I was sleeping, but the servants were under the supervision of both Princess Rhea and Helena.

The women were the perfect opposites of one another. Rhea was poised and dressed beautifully in a green silk dress with her dark hair pinned up elaborately and a gold chain draped across her forehead. Helena stood right next to her with the ready stance of a warrior, still wearing that beautiful gold armour.

“Breakfast,” Rhea announced when I sat up to stare at the massive spread being laid out for me. I didn’t know all of the food, but I was astonished to recognize some from dumpster diving behind Greek restaurants at home.

“I have also selected a handmaid for you. She will be able to attend to your comforts. Sofia,” prompted Rhea, looking to one of the three females who approached and curtsied first for the princess and then for me. Which felt just a little ridiculous whilst I was still sitting in my bed with my hair messily braided.

Helena made a cluck with her tongue as she began to circle Sofia.

“I will confirm her appointment with the king. She will need to be interrogated,” Helena told Rhea who stiffened while Sofia glanced at her in alarm. My new handmaid did a good job of not outwardly cringing from the warrior stalking around her, but Helena would make anyone in their right mind a little nervous.

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