Page 9 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“I am pleased to meet you. I was beginning to fear that my brother would never choose a mate,” Rhea admitted.

Andromeda abruptly pushed her daughter aside from behind. She did not typically betray such emotion, but she was clearly frustrated with Rhea’s lack of decorum earlier. Then she began to examine her son’s desired mate with so much frigidity in her eyes that I almost felt discomfited. Riordan’s mother missed nothing as she absorbed the witch from her long, messy braid to the tips of her toes clad in illusioned slippers. And Andromeda was clearly as unimpressed as I was with the soft little creature.

Our people were feline: angular, sleek, and powerful. Some Imítheos were more portly than the Ktínos from living a life of luxury, but even the use of magic took a physical toll which required them to be fit. The witch was tall and slender, but her face was heart shaped, her brows arching daintily over large eyes, and her lips were plump. There was a touch of self-conscious colour in her rounded cheeks that gave her the aura of uncertainty. Of weakness. She did not appear to be suited either for battle or for the channelling of magic, so among griffins, she wasuseless.

Those softly arched brows pinched in discomfort with being stared at and clearly judged so harshly. The second that her gaze shifted up to Riordan, seeking his support, he was moving to her side.

Riordan, I objected, but he ignored me. He shoved me from his mind with a force that I’d never experienced from him before as he clasped the witch’s hand so he was facing his mother at her side. United.

Andromeda lowered her gaze to their handhold and frowned before lifting her eyes to the witch’s face again.

“We will… discuss this later. You have had a long journey and will require—”

“There is no need to discuss anything later. I want you to meet Amira now,” Riordan interrupted, still speaking in Gaelic for the witch to understand. “She helped me break my curse, and she has defended and aided me twice now while I was disabled by blood magic,” Riordan claimed.

“Shedefendedyou?” blurted Rhea, and then winced in apology at her outburst when her mother shot her a glare.

“These are noble actions to be sure,” said Castor in Aeolian from behind Rhea. “But surely we can honour her with what riches she deems appropriate and then send her safely on her way? The Vale is no place for witches.”

For once, I actually agreed with the oligarch.

I could tell the witch was frustrated by not being able to understand all that was being said about her since not everyone deigned to speak Gaelic. She turned her face into Riordan’s shoulder as if to hide from their scrutiny, and I wanted to roll my eyes at her. Showing weakness by allowing him to be her shield would only make our people respect her even less.

But Riordan didn’t seem to care about any of that as all pretense of his civility seemed to disappear instantly in response to her hurt. She merely turned her face to him, and a dangerouslook came into his eye. The scent of his anger, the threat of his violence, made the Ktínos fidget readily which caused the Imítheos to become nervous.

This was the male that I was much more familiar with. The General of Kórinthos who commanded our obedience with the sheer force of his will.

“I want to make it very clear to everyone right now that Amiraismy intended mate. And anyone who makes her feel otherwise will answer to me,” Riordan warned, his voice deep and rippling with command.

“But Your Majesty—” began Castor in earnest.

“My choice for my mate isnotup for discussion,” Riordan reiterated, gritting the words through his teeth as his tail lashed in a promise of that volatile temper of his. “It never was, and that has not changed now.”

“We must be allowed to express concerns for ourking. It is our job to advise you, is it not?” reasoned Castor.

Allow them some perception of control,I urged him, blasting the words at Riordan around the mental block he had erected between us.

Riordan did not look at me, but I felt him grudgingly considering my recommendation.

“You will have one opportunity to address concerns on this private matter, and then we will speak of it no more,” he decided, but the concession seemed to pacify.

“As our mother graciously pointed out, you have had a long journey,” Rhea tried to intercede.

“There were fey intruders upon my arrival. I wish to orient myself right away with the current state of our defensive affairs,” Riordan told them, his voice still harsh. All his smiles were gone.

“You should rest, brother,” Rhea insisted gently in an attempt to soothe him with her tone. She would sense the vile magic still plaguing him even better than I could.

“I will rest when I am confident that we are protected,” Riordan advised her. “And I’d be grateful if you would attend to Amira’s privacy and comfort while I am gone.”

Rhea looked like she wanted to protest again, but her brother was the king now. So she merely offered him a strained smile and curtsied in acceptance of this task.

“I will see to it that she is cared for,” she assured him.

Chapter four

THE GENERAL OF KÓRINTHOS

Amira

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