Page 83 of Of Scale and Blood

Before I could question the oddness of that statement and the intensity with which it was spoken, his lips claimed mine. While the kiss was neither fierce nor hungry, it held an odd intensity. It felt like both a beginning and a message, one filled with a determination to assert his claim over body and soul.

Over the course of the next hour, it was a message he delivered to every part of my body, and it left me in little doubt that, no matter what the origin of the darkness haunting his every move, he was utterly serious about his vow.

I could only hope that Aric allowed him to keep it.

* * *

My mother sent a message for me to join them in their suite before we headed out to the aerie. I left Damon working on final preparations of the spell that continued to glow eerily on the floor and strode down to the other end of the hall to my parents’ suite.

Lenny, their longtime door guard, watched me approach, a smile touching his lips. He was a bull of a man, with a thick mane of brown hair tied up in a tail at the back of his head—following the newer fashion in hair styling rather than the more traditional plaited—and dark green eyes.

“Good afternoon, Lady Bryn,” he said, reaching for the door.

“Afternoon, Lenny. How’s the family?”

“Good, thanks. Rodkin is heading into military training next week.”

My eyebrows rose. “He can’t be old enough, surely.”

Lenny laughed, a warm rich sound. “Nearing sixteen he is, now.”

“Time flies.” I shook my head. “Do you know the name of his training officer?”

“Gert Hankin, I believe.”

“Then Rodkin is in good hands. Please send him my best wishes, won’t you?”

“I will, Lady Bryn. Thanks.”

He stepped back to let me enter, then closed the door behind me. The suite’s layout was a larger version of mine, though my parents also had an additional dining and a living room beyond the family ones so they could entertain guests less formally.

Mom stood near the window slit that looked out over the courtyard, the pale afternoon sun filtering through barely warming her skin. She turned as I entered, her face drawn. Which, given so many of her kin on Jakarra remained missing and the long hours she’d spent organizing relief supplies and evacuations, was not surprising.

Whatdidsurprise me was the anger. It blazed from her blue eyes and practically radiated from the pores of her skin.

I stopped cold, my heart lodging somewhere in my throat. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing.” She waved a hand. “Everything.”

“As statements go, that’s definitely not one of your clearer ones.”

Amusement briefly tugged at her lips but did little to ease the fiery fury in her eyes. “Sorry, between my fears and my seeress abilities deciding to light up, I’m a bit all over the place.”

“What are your visions telling you?” I asked, even though it wasn’t hard to guess given the dark threads running through my own dreams.

“Death comes to Esan,” she replied. “And so too does Aric.”

CHAPTER10

It wasanother statement that left me more than a little confused. “Didn’t Aric return home because he couldn’t stand Esan’s bleakness?”

“Yes, but his ship was scuttled by raiders en route to Zephrine.”

Raiders sailing off our southern shores was the last thing we needed right now. “Given the bastard survived, Túxn obviously wasn’t feeling favorable toward us that day.”

Mom’s lips twitched again. “I will admit to thinking along those very same lines, although it is not seemly for the queen consort.”

I dared say it wasn’t seemly for a princess either, even one soldier trained. “Then why isn’t he making his way to Zephrine? Why return here?”

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