CHAPTER14
AGONAK
I'd thought I could get through the feast without incident. The fact that a human was attending was nothing more than a footnote. A trivial matter, really. Especially when she was our prisoner.
She was lucky to even be invited to a banquet of this magnitude. Such events were sacred to our people and we didn't often share them with outsiders.
But the moment I stepped out into the gathering and caught sight of her sitting there all alone, an unquenchable fire took root in my heart. Here, among all my clansmen, there was nothing I could do about it. Tonight, however, once I got her in bed...
No. I frowned and shook my head. The weight of the crown had never felt heavier as I looked out among my subjects. I had a job to do. I had a people to lead, to protect. And consorting with those who would do my family harm, especially after hearing the scouts' report?
Unthinkable.
I took my seat. Launched into the same speech I'd given a hundred times before. Raised my chalice and toasted as was customary. These were my people. My kin. My brothers in arms that I'd sworn my life to protect.
So why, in the chill of the night, did I feel so alone?
The feast was lively and delicious as ever, but tonight it felt empty. I toasted and laughed and told stories with my countrymen, but that didn't stop me from scanning the crowd every so often hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
But she wasn't there.
Was she avoiding me? Or perhaps she had changed her mind? Had realized what a beast I was after all and had broken free to take her chances in the riftlands?
No, that couldn't be it. Rosa was defiant, but she wasn't foolish. That, and my guards would have picked up on it immediately if she'd strayed too far.
Perhaps she'd returned to the palace early. It had been a long day, after all. With that hope in mind, I hurried back to my chambers, only to find them bare and empty as ever. My heart rate lurched upward with each place I checked. Each guard I asked. None of them had seen her.
Had she really slipped through our defenses that easily?
That's when I thought about the scouts' report again. If humans were nearby, perhaps they'd taken her back with them. Perhaps this was all part of their plan.
I bared my teeth at no one, a possessive growl rumbling deep in my chest.
They would not have her. Not while I still drew breath.
A knock at the door startled me and I ran to it, wrenching it open. Sidre stood there, face stricken.
"Sidre!" I bellowed, ushering her inside. "What news? Have you found her?"
She studied me for a moment, arms crossed, lips pressed into a thin line. "I 'ave."
A splinter of hope. "Is she okay?"
There was that thin-lipped smile again. "You could say that."
"Take me to her." The words tumbled out without thought to the consequences. All I knew was the way my heart lurched when I thought of something happening to her, and the fragile spark of hope that strained toward the light.
"Where is she?" I asked again when she didn't answer. My heart fluttered with every second that passed. "Tell me, I order you!"
She hissed and bared her teeth, something that would be instant death for anyone but my most trusted confidantes. "May I speak plainly,my king?" She spit the last words like venom.
I could have ripped her head off right there and then. Had it been anyone else, I might have even considered it, too. "Say it," I gritted out at last. My palm gripped the shaft of my axe so tightly that the wood creaked from the pressure. "And make it quick."
"Tha' prisoner is more than meets the eye, I see..." Her lips quirked up in understanding. "It all makes sense now."
"What are you talking about?" I no longer cared about keeping my voice down.
"You 'ave fallen for her." Sidre said simply. She didn't back down. Normally I admired that about her, but right now it set my teeth on edge. "You 'ave lain with her, 'aven't you?"