“So I’ve heard.” She reaches out and straightens the top of my leather armor.
I freeze under her touch, having never made much contact with a woman who wasn’t a healer or my mother.
“Ra’Salore is charming, but I think I will call you… Ra’Sa,” she says as her hand slides from my collar to my arm and lingers.
I stare down at her, emotions building and compacting like the layers of rock beneath our feet.
“That’s not my name,” I say and step back.
She grins and peruses my form. Her smile grows wider, and those molten eyes sparkle.
“No, but I think it fits you well. Do you have a wife?”
I frown and shake my head once.
“No?” She bats her lashes. “I’m shocked. There’s no woman in your life at all?”
Is she mocking me?
“I care for my mother,” I grit out.
She looks surprised and then smiles.
That’s all it takes for me to straighten my shoulders, stretching the tightness, and leave.Might as well follow after Niht and find a task.
Finding King Teo near one of the supply bags doesn’t take long. His mouth is turned down as he surveys all of us. Already, I can sense a speech coming on. He will be particular about the humans.
What do I care? There is nothing there for me.
“My King,” I say. “Do you need anything?”
My leader looks up at me with wild, haunted eyes.
He frowns. “What was that?”
“How can I help?”
“Oh. Hmm.” He sighs. “Could you keep watch tonight?”
I nod. “Understood.”
He’s not finished.
“Gods. It’s all just so awful.”
King Teo rakes a hand over his face, smearing a bit of soot over one of his cheeks.
Conflicting emotions war within me. On the one hand, he’s my king. He thinks of his people, and he’s the entire reason that any of us have survived this long in any semblance of a home.
On the other hand, he can be a real bastard.
He can be impulsive. Authoritative. Not to mention the insufferable favoritism he shows Lord Vann. He doesn’t realize the sway he has over others, particularly the way he was able to influence my brother.
Sure, he never asked Tirin to give up his life. But Tirin trusted him. Looked up to him.
King Teo turns back to me. “What do you think?”
I take a deep breath. “I think we did the right thing by bringing them with us.”