Page 12 of Knight's End
“Well, we are in Rasle,” Declan contributed. “Isla would be the easiest natural target.”
Quinn gave a sharp nod.
Connor argued. “She’s going to have herself well-protected.”
“From what?” asked Blue.
“Sedara’s still a force to be reckoned with,” Declan contributed. “If they didn’t think my mother was a threat, they wouldn’t have united.”
Blue reclined against a fallen log. “That’s true. But we haven’t seen any sign of Sedara. No ships. No elves. They have some gargoyles of their own. Why haven’t they come? And then, the three rulers leading this—how united are they? How much do they trust one another?”
I watched my newest knight as he considered the possibilities. His eyes were sharp and calculating. “My father trusts no one. Even those who owe him wishes, whose families he could devastate with that wish.”
I’d long heard of how twisted Sultan Raj was. But Cerena hadn’t. Growing up in the Cerulean Forest, away from politics, she didn’t know just how heartless the monarchs around us could be.
“Come again?” she asked.
I leaned forward to explain, but Blue beat me to it. “My father loves when peasants can’t pay their taxes. He accepts a wish in place of payment. And his favorite punishment—should anyone in that family upset him, is to call in that wish. He forces the family member who gave him the wish to wish evil things upon the others.”
Cerena sucked in a breath. “Like what?”
“Can’t wish death on someone. But lost limbs is a favorite. Barrenness.”
Cerena stared down at her bread and shook her head. “Awful.”
Declan said, “I think we need to get our focus back on Isla. As awful as Raj is, he’s not the closest possibility, if we’re going to try what I think you’re suggesting.”
“Agreed. Focus on Isla. But how can we figure out where she is?” I asked. Quinn couldn’t talk to his spy network, which he thought had been compromised anyway. What could we do?
“I could see her if I had a scrying stone,” Cerena shook her head regretfully.
Connor held up a hand. “Hold on. I studied our maps extensively for her recent visit. And we’ve flown past Rasle’s lone river—” He stood up and glanced around us at the hills to our north, then he pointed inland. “If I’m not mistaken, I think there used to be a hedgewitch lodge just east of here.”
“Used to be?” I asked.
“Supposedly, it hasn’t been used since the last Fire War,” he responded.
Cerena nodded. “Many of us have refused to gather since then. Too dangerous. Too tempting for someone to erase the local magic in one fell swoop.”
I looked over to her. “Will they have what you need?”
She shrugged. “It’s likely been ransacked, but scrying stones are heavy. Maybe.”
I eyed my husbands. “Worth a try.”
Ryan was the only one who looked uncomfortable with the arrangement. He walked over to me and extended his hand. I stood and he led me away, weaving through some pine trees, so that we had a little bit of privacy.
The smell of dry pine wrapped around me as Ryan’s deep eyes seemed to drink me in. “I don’t like the idea of being separated,” his voice was a low rumble.
His words pinched my heart. But emotion and reality were two separate things. We both knew it.
He took my hand and his giant fingers stroked my palm.
I enjoyed the sensation, and let his fingers circle my wrists, then trap them, push them to my right side as he stepped in and leaned down for a kiss. His lips pressed hard on mine. His tongue plundered my mouth and desire surged through me. Ryan always had the ability to make my body melt in pleasure at the slightest touch.
But Ryan didn’t press further. He ended our kiss with a rough nip and pressed his forehead down to mine.
I sighed. “I don’t like the idea of separation either,” I admitted. “But we need to act quickly. Those gargoyles … if we could control them easily, think what we could do. Right now, Evaness is too vulnerable.”
