Page 88 of Blood and Fate

She laughed quietly. “He also said he didn’t think Shala and Miram would bond two people who would not work together.”

She felt it when he stiffened slightly beside her. She turned to focus on him more fully. “He said to talk to you.”

Kais’ eyes stayed focused on their feet for several strides, his face a mask of contemplation. She could feel his indecision, as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to speak, or that he did want to speak but wasn’t sure how to say the words. Her stomach tightened.

“Kais?”

He looked at her at the sound of his name.

“What is it?” she asked.

He was making her nervous with his silence.

“I don’t mean to make you uneasy,” he said quickly. “It’s just that there is something I need to tell you, and I’m not sure how to say it. Or how you will take it.”

“If you don’t mean to make me uneasy, this is not the way to go about it.”

Kais lifted his eyes, surveying the area around them. Finally, his gaze came to rest on a large boulder off to the right of the path. “Would you mind sitting with me for a few moments?”

She looked from the rock to the men behind them. “Won’t we be holding up the group?”

“No, they know where they’re going. They’ll just get there before us.” He pulled his lip between his teeth, dipping his chin to level his gaze on her. “Please?”

Her chest tightened, unease clawing at her insides. Whatever he wanted to discuss with her was serious. She couldn’t even form words, such were her nerves; she only nodded at him.

He held out his hand and led her toward the boulder. She didn’t miss the look he shot at Teague or the approving nod Teague returned it with. If Teague looked like that, this couldn’t be a bad conversation, could it? Unless Teague thought it was a bad idea for them to pursue any kind of relationship? But it hadn’t seemed that way when he had been speaking to her earlier.

She took a seat on the rock, Kais seating himself next to her. For a few moments they watched the rest of the men pass by, most lost in their own conversations.

When her stomach had knotted to the point where she could stand it no longer, she broke the silence. “Kais, I’m sure you already know, but just in case, I’m going to tell you anyway: you’re making me nervous.”

She was hoping he would laugh her nerves off, or assure her there was nothing to be concerned about, but when he looked at her, she felt the same from him. He was just as nervous about this conversation as she was. And he knew what he was about to say.

She disliked the delay. “Please?”

Kais pulled in a long breath. “I’m afraid you’ll view me as deceptive when I tell you this. Please understand that was not my intention. I never started out to deceive you, and my men were given no orders on what to say or what not to say. We simply continued our lives as usual, even after you arrived with us. And you can check that with any one of them. This is just how we live.

“I did wonder how we made it through the stay at the village without this coming out. But, again, this is the way we live. We don’t acknowledge any special status and the people of the village know I prefer it that way.”

She squinted at him, trying to understand what he was saying. Special status?

“Satori, I have a title other than the General of these men.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ve no doubt heard of King Lexon?”

“King of Evandor? Of course.”

Kais swallowed deeply. “He is the king of Evandor. He’s also my father.”

The air left her lungs. Father? She could have been knocked off her seat with the slightest touch, the slightest breeze. She shook her head slightly. But she knew the King’s sons’ names.

“I’ve never met the King, but I’m not ignorant, either. King Lexon has two sons, Octavian and Leopold.”

“Yes,” Kais answered softly. “Leopold Theron Silas and Octavian Roland Kais. My brother and myself.”

Now it was Satori’s turn to swallow. Octavian Roland Kais, son of King Lexon. Son of the King. Prince. A prince. Kais was a prince. The longer she sat staring, processing, the farther her mouth fell open until she felt the touch of Kais’ finger, lifting her jaw back into place.

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