"Better," he praised when her next breath only shuddered a little. He pressed a kiss to her temple, his protectiveness making him every bit as tense as his mate. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, but choked down the useless fae growl that tried to form this time.
Faint threads of power hung in her voice when she buried her face in his chest and rasped, "Zamanya, you can move. I'm so—so sorry."
Ark watched as Zamanya resumed movement all at once, her brows slamming down over her eyes and her hands curling into fists. She looked absolutely furious, but Ark shot her a quelling look. He knew Zamanya was the victim, but Maia was traumatised from her time at the palace and she was nowhere near recovered. Not to mention the iron in her blood was poisoning her soul if Evrille was right.
Zamanya raked a hand down her braids, growling a sigh as she seemed to remember everything that had happened last week. Her eyes went to the ragged black edge of Maia's wing and she cast a frustrated look skyward.
"It's fine," she ground out. "Just don't do it again."
"I didn't mean to do it this time," Maia growled into Ark’s chest, breathless but furious. "I shouldn't have lost control—"
"Enough of that," Ark cut her off, kissing the top of her head to soothe his raging instincts. "It was an accident. No one's to blame except your aunt for making us all so on edge."
Zamanya let out another rough sigh and Maia pulled away from Ark just in time to catch the flash of dark emotion across her friend’s face. Helplessness, Ark suspected, and complete and utter hatred of the emotion.
"Maia," Ark began, but she tore out of his arms, a shutter slamming down over her emotions.
"It was an accident, it's not my fault," she snapped. "Yeah, I heard you the first time."
Ark straightened at the harshness of her voice, a prickly feeling in his stomach. He stood as still and stiffly as if he was on guard duty, and watched Maia race across the courtyard like a tornado, people parting to let her through.
She’s been manipulated, used, and torturedhe wanted to scream at them. But Maia would hate their pity every bit as much as their distrust. Zamanya was their general—one of them. Maia was a newcomer, a stranger. Nothing she did would make them trust her, but using her magic against their general, accident or not, would certainly turn them against her.
And if they took so much as a single step in her direction, Ark would take up his sword to protect her. Against the people who'd taken him in, and promised to househis familyso they wouldn't suffer for his desertion. Against men he’d trained alongside this morning, keeping his body sharp in preparation for whatever hell found them next. He groaned, pulling at his hair, and set off across the courtyard after his mate.
She wasn't angry with him; she was absolutely fucking terrified, and he'd be damned if he let her endure that alone.