Page 124 of Shrine of Fire

I cleared my throat. “During the fight with Admiral Xilas, Stefan was injured protecting me.”

“A most noble action.”

“His bondmark was revealed.” I looked directly at Lord Baylin. “I am aware there will be a bonding ceremony. And when the time comes, Stefan will do the bonding.”

That was a complete lie, but I wasn’t going to tell Baylin that. Better to let him think Hashir bonded Stefan and Stefan would be bonding in the rest of the pack.

“But during an omega’s heat, there is a rush where it is hard to resist being bonded, bringing ourselves closer to each other.”

“I shall take you at your word, my lady. It is none of my concern who you bond, my lady.”

“I’m aware the Ember King has certain expectations.” I looked at Lord Baylin in his light blue eyes, willing him to understand what I was saying. “We did not plan on letting the King know of our private sharing until the time was right. I would take it as a personal favor, and so will the Crown Prince, if you gave us time to speak with the king on such sensitive matters.”

It would be too good an opportunity for Lord Baylin to pass up, tattling to the King that we were bonded, and Stefan had a bondmark. It would get worse when the King realized that Stefan would never be bonding the pack in, that it would all be Hashir.

I wasn’t expecting it to be secret for long, but we had more important things to deal with than the Ember King’s massive ego. I needed to buy us a little bit of time.

It was probably a waste of time, asking Lord Baylin to keep this secret. But it would let me know, once and for all, how little I could trust him.

“My princess.” Lord Baylin gave me a low bow again. “I am but your humble servant. Far be it from me to speak of your personal omega business. I trust you will speak with the King on these personal matters, as well as the matters of the Royal Pack.”

I failed to hide my wince. “I tried to do my duty, Lord Baylin. You saw that.”

“That you did.” He agreed. “This way, we have an easier time with the trade agreements. As you said, this contract will outlast your pack.”

“We will build a powerful dynasty and bring glory to the Ember Islands for generations to come,” I said. “Perhaps in a few years, you yourself could be the envoy on some of these diplomatic missions.”

There was the carrot dangled. He was smart enough to know the stick was that if he screwed us over, he would be out of favor.

“I would enjoy that very much.” Lord Baylin gestured at the water ahead of us. “Together we will bring glory to the Ember Islands.”

I still didn’t trust the man, but hopefully I had given him a big enough incentive not to tell the Ember King right away. We needed to get to the Shrine of Everlasting Fire as quickly as possible.

I left Baylin to dream of his future glory, and went to spend more time with Vicente, talking to him about life at the Omega Sanctuary. Then I returned to our quarters, to impress upon my pack the importance of wearing the family icons we’d brought back from the Library of Souls. It boosted the connection we had and made me feel safer, somehow.

We needed every bit of help we could get.

We made port on a beautifully breezy afternoon. I swallowed hard, unable to hide my nerves from my pack.

The packbond on my shoulder had mostly healed. Hashir kept biting it during sex, and then licking it. If that hadn’t shown me he wanted me, the fierce possessiveness he felt during the act would have clued me in.

I tried not to think about what would happen once we told my father what happened. It stole my sleep. Nova told me she’d spoken to Lord Baylin about keeping our secret for now.

I would have felt better if I knew what angle the odious man was working. He might not care about our goodwill in the face of favor with my father.

They didn’t know what my father was like. They hadn’t seen the rages he would fly into.

I wasn’t worried about being banished. I didn’t think he would do that, though, not without an heir to the throne, and he was too arrogant to name someone not of his bloodline.

But even with Nova’s reassurance that we would manage our way out of this, I didn’t quite believe her. I feared that my father would turn public opinion against us, and we would be forced out, ruling in name only.

Or he would bide his time until he replaced the heir, at which point the swords would descend.

Still, when we made port and descended from the ship, I expected a little bit of time between reaching Ember Island and being summoned to his court.

I was wrong.

A carriage waited for us, one of the courtiers standing by. “His Royal Highness requests your presence.”

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