“You may not feel it, but your body is using a lot of energy as it ramps up for the Ascension.”
I thought about how I’d dozed off after waking up and picked up my fork, shoveling several chunks of meat onto the thin tines. I was definitely feeling it. “Thank you,” I murmured.
“You don’t need to thank me.”
“Well, I did.” I ate the forkful of chicken as I peeked at Nyktos. His head was bowed, the hair I’d cut in the courtyard brushing his jaw. The grin was there again. Peace. I squirmed in my seat. “And what of the Pools of Divanash? Have you given any thought to that?”
“I have.” He chewed his food as neatly as he carved it.
Trying not to get my hopes up, I took a sip of the sweet port wine. “And?”
“And it’s also a risk,” he said. “That hasn’t changed.”
“Just because it’s a risk doesn’t mean something will happen.”
He raised one eyebrow as he looked over at me. “True, but I’ve learned to be cautious—overly so.”
I bet he had.
“But,” he continued with a deep breath, “we have no idea when Kolis will summon us. It could be tomorrow. It could be a week from now or even longer. Time isn’t a luxury.”
I nodded in agreement. “But maybe Kolis delaying the coronation is a blessing. It will give us some time to remove the embers before Kolis summons us.”
“I’ve considered that, even before this afternoon.”
I speared a carrot. “But you were being overly cautious?”
His glass partially hid his smile. “I talked to Nektas after returning from Court,” he continued, and I really hoped the draken hadn’t mentioned what he’d said to me. “He’s on board.”
Excitement hummed through me, but I was still cautious. “Are you on board?”
“I don’t like the idea of you being out there without the protection of the title, whether that is here or in the mortal realm.” He set his glass down while I tried not to attach any deeper meaning to what he’d said. “And it’s not because I’m trying to control you—”
“I know,” I cut in, and I did.
“I’m relieved to hear that. I’ve feared…”
“What?” I asked when he didn’t finish.
“I’ve feared that this situation we’re in could make you feel that way.” Nyktos stared at his glass. “That I’ve made you feel that way because I’ve used my authority to stop you from doing what you want, and I…” His brows furrowed as he shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
I stared at him for what felt like a small eternity, unsure what to say. He had used his authority to stop me from doing a pretty long list of things—stuff that would have likely resulted in me being injured or ending up dead. “There is a difference between someone trying to control you and someone trying to protect you. I know I may not behave like there’s a difference, but I do know there is one.”
Nyktos’s softly lit eyes lifted to mine.
“There just needs to be a balance, you know? When the need to protect what’s valuable doesn’t get in the way of what needs to be done.”
He nodded slowly. “I’m discovering that balance is not easy to find. But I’m on board. We have plans for tomorrow, it appears, and Nektas will be unavailable the day after that, but in two days, you will go to the Pools of Divanash with Nektas.”
I tried to fight the smile, but there was no stopping it from spreading across my face. There was no hiding it from him either. His eyes had lightened even more, and I wondered if he was aware of how they’d changed.
Nyktos’s gaze flickered away as he took a long drink of his wine. “Anyway,” he said, clearing his throat, “I heard Erlina brought by the clothing she made. Were you pleased?”
“They are all beautiful.”
“Hopefully, they’re less distracting.”
“They are.”
“Thank the Fates.”
I leaned back in my chair, eyeing him over the rim of my glass. In the loose, untucked black shirt he wore and with his hair free, he reminded me of how he’d been when I’d been with him beside my lake. A powerful, otherworldly being, but not one that existed outside my reach.
He is how you wish him to be.
It was hard not to see him as Ash in these quiet moments.
“I have a question for you,” I said.
“Ask away.”
“I’m not sure I should. I feel like manners dictate that I not.”
“You have never struck me as the type to give much thought to manners.”
“I have been known to pay heed to manners a time or two.”
His eyes warmed as they settled on me. “What is your question?”
I took another drink of what I hoped served as a wee bit of liquid courage. “I’m surprised that you’re here.”
“That doesn’t sound like a question, Sera.”
The way he said my name… Muscles low in my stomach coiled even tighter. “You’re right. It really wasn’t a question. More of a statement. I just didn’t think you’d have dinners with me.”
“I was under the impression that you didn’t believe I would meet any of the demands you made today,” he said.
“Am I that transparent?”
“Usually, you are not. But in this, you are as transparent as a window,” he remarked.
I rolled my eyes.
“Joining you for supper is a small thing,” he added. “And an easy one to accommodate.”
“That has to be the first thing you’ve done with me that you’ve found easy.”
His eyes met mine. “It’s not the first thing.”
Silence stretched between us, and it felt like time slowed to an infinite crawl as I took in the softening of his gaze and the harsh lines of his features. He started to tilt forward and then caught himself. Clearing his throat, he looked away, breaking whatever strange spell seemed to have fallen over us.
In the quiet, I searched for something to say. Luckily, I remembered something Attes had said yesterday. “Were you friends with the Cimmerian? Dorcan?”
His attention shifted back to me. “I told you before. I have no friends.”
He had said that, but I thought of his guards and Nektas, who considered him family. “Did he consider you a friend?”
“I cannot answer that.”
“But you knew him,” I persisted.
Nyktos shifted in his chair, his attention dropping to his glass. “I’ve known him for a while. He wasn’t always a part of Hanan’s Court.”
That was more of an answer than I expected. “You said that he could’ve chosen another’s Court to serve. But he said that wasn’t possible. Why was he serving under Hanan if he was part of Attes’s lineage?”
“Attes is not just the Primal of War. He’s also the Primal of Accord. He prefers agreement over discord, so Vathi is mostly peaceful. At least, his half is,” he explained. “The Cimmerian can get a bit…antsy if there’s no blood to spill, so many leave Vathi to serve in other Courts. Hanan has a lot of them.”
“Because Hanan is a coward and needs others to fight for him?”
Nyktos chuckled roughly. “Hanan loves the hunt if he is not equally matched. So, yes, that was a rather on-point observation.”
I cracked a small grin as I tugged the edge of the napkin to my chin. “It’s strange to me that a Primal can be a coward.”
“Strength and power only go so far, and it rarely changes a person for the better.” Nyktos dropped his hand to his chest as his words caused a shiver to curl down my spine. “Anyway, Dorcan likely pledged a blood oath to Hanan—one that can only be broken by death. That would be the only reason he couldn’t leave Court. Stupid move on his part. I would’ve expected him to be smarter than that.”