Page 104 of Of Blood and Fire
Their riders and their ground forces retreated not long after that. Unsurprisingly, Kaia wanted to chase and cinder every single one of them, but I’d had enough of war and all the heartache and pain and loss that came with it. The drakkons and kin might not have suffered any more deaths, but there were few others in either fortress who were untouched.
It would take years to rebuild everything that had been destroyed. And years, perhaps, to restore the trust between the two great fortresses... but at least we were taking the first steps here today.
Though not, perhaps, the steps Zephrine might wish.
I followed Garran through the great chamber’s grand old doors, ignoring the soldiers who walked to the left and the right of me. They were ostensibly there to guide us through Zephrine’s myriad of red stone halls and rooms, but all of us knew their main purpose was to stop me attacking the men who waited at the head of the table.
Of course, two men would never be enough to stop me if murder was indeed my intent.
Sitting to Damon’s right was Makki, and I had to clench my fists against the heat pressing against my fingers. I might not want to kill Zephrine’s king-in-waiting, but if Makki ever gave me reason, he was a dead man.
Tayte sat to Damon’s left. Surprisingly, I actually liked him—he was affable and a good soldier besides. He wasn’t the brightest flame in the fire, and he didn’t have the family looks or build, but he certainly wasn’t the ninnyhammer everyone had made him out to be. Even Damon—myDamon—had ended up agreeing on that.
Tayte’s wife, on the other hand, was the opposite—utterly gorgeous, but self-centered to the point where nothing and no one else mattered except her own wants and needs. I could see why Damon had said so very early on that his younger brother was already regretting the decision to marry in haste.
We reached the closest end of the long table. Garran dragged a chair from the left side, shoved his aside, then placed mine next to it. We both sat. The inference was, of course, that I held as much weight in this discussion as he did, and when it came to the drakkons that was certainly true.
You ride queen, is queen, Kaia said.
Where are you?
Hunt with Gria. She hungry.
That was a continuing condition with her, mainly due to just how fast she was growing. She would end up being every bit as big as her mother, and likely also to be a queen. She certainly had the attitude down pat.We’ll be heading home soon.
Good. Esan aeries bigger. Better.
More befitting a queen?
Truth.
I smiled, twined my fingers, and stared down the table at Damon. He returned it evenly, amusement lurking around his lips.
It would die soon enough.
He motioned to the roll of papers Garran had placed on the table in front of him. “You’ve not spent much time viewing the trade documents. Esan’s previous kings were finicky to a point and never took less than a week.”
His voice was a cool echo of his father’s, colored with the same hint of contempt.
“It doesn’t take a day, much less a week, to understand one party in this room is attempting to take advantage of the other.”
“Oh, I would hardly call just compensation taking advantage.”
“Just compensation?” I growled. “Esan saved your asses, you ungrateful?—”
Garran kicked me under the table. I cut the rest off and met his gaze. The warning was clear—not yet. I sucked in a breath and did my best to ignore the anger that still bubbled deep.
He returned his attention to Damon and said, “Compensation for what?”
“My father’s death. We all know his disappearance was no accident.”
“And you deduced this how?” Garran replied evenly. “We’ve not found his body, and the tunnels under the Black Glass are many and dangerous. In fact, could not General Makki here be held responsible, given it was his duty to protect his king?”
“Makki was forced out of Esan by that bast—” He stopped, glancing at me briefly. “By my half brother.”
“Considering you tried to rape his wife, you’re lucky Tayte is not now undertaking these discussions.”
“Tayte would have at least stopped dancing about and just gotten down to negotiations,” Tayte murmured.
