Page 85 of Wild Flame

Selasi matched my stride, keeping a few paces behind me.

I just had to make it to our rooms.

Unfortunately, Malik and his much longer legs caught up with me before I could reach my destination.

“Leida!” he growled, pulling me to a stop. “Leave us!” he commanded without looking away from me. Selasi and Malik’s guards moved further down the corridor, out of earshot, and halted.

“What you saw . . . it’s not what you think—” he began.

“What I think?” I scoffed, yanking my arm from his grip. I was so angry and hurt that for once I couldn’t keep my anger contained. “What IthinkI just saw was you letting another woman touch you and put her hands all over you mere days after we . . .”

“Siren,” he murmured. The placating tone disappeared and was replaced with the tender one I normally loved as he reached for me.

But I quickly stepped back.

His arms dropped, and his too perceptive eyes studied me closely. “Nothing happened.” He sighed and wiped a hand down his chin. “I was on my way to greet my new queen properly after a night apart when Priya stopped me in the hall.” He stepped closer, and I tried not to be affected by his nearness. It made me even angrier that he could make my body betray me even when I was this angry at him. I folded my arms across my chest and turned my face away.

He bent down and his heated voice feathered across the shell of my ear. “All I have been able to think about since I left was our night on the roof and that kiss you gave me before I left.”

I fought to repress a shiver at the memories his words evoked. My core heated, but then I remembered what I had just seen—him in the arms of another woman—and my rising ardor cooled quickly. I turned back to face him. “From what I saw just now, it appears you were able to forget it all rather quickly.”

Frustration sparked in his eyes, and he straightened. “Nothing happened with Priya,” he said again, matter-of-factly. “And nothing would have happened. I was removing her hand from my person when you—”

“From what I heard, it appears as if something has alreadyhappenedwith Priya.” I couldn’t keep the angry accusation from pouring out. “Why should now be any different? Why let this stop you?” I held up my binding mark.

His eyes which normally held such warmth, shuttered, and he stepped back. And I knew I had gone too far.

“Is this truly what you think of me? That I would dishonor you by entertaining the attentions of another?”

I clasped my elbows tightly to my chest and didn’t speak.

What did you expect?My mother’s cold voice intruded.Of course, he would seek another. Of course, you aren’t enough.I hadn’t heard her cruel words in so long I had thought they were gone altogether.

Malik’s jaw flexed as he stared back at me, and I could see the anger in his dark amber eyes. For a moment, I thought he would reply, but instead he barked, “First Warrior, attend your queen.” Then he turned on his heel and strode back down the corridor.

Malik did not return to our rooms that night, and lying in the large bed by myself again, I felt more alone than I ever had. The sting of tears threatened, but I forced them back.

The next morning, my maids kept shooting me worried glances—well, Astrid did.

Deciding that I did not want to brood inside any longer, I went for a walk in the garden. Of course, all it did was make me think of Malik. Frustrated, I finally just sat on a stone bench I found under the shade of a willow tree.

Yesh and Brunara, who were guarding me today, came to a halt a few feet from me. The guards didn’t usually speak unless spoken to, so I was surprised when after a few minutes Yesh addressed me.

“My queen, may I speak freely?”

I frowned, but nodded. “Of course.”

Brunara shot him a warning look, but he cleared his throat. “It concerns what happened yesterday with His Majesty. He would never—”

“Please, Yesh.” I cut him off with a hand. “Do not make excuses for him.”

“I am not, my queen. But I do not think you understand what a grave offense it is to a Zehvitian man—to a warrior—to imply that he has been unfaithful.”

I scoffed. I had seen how open and free Zehvitians of both sexes were with their affections. It was probably commonplace that one or both members in a relationship would stray. In Halmar—especially my father’s court—it wasn’t uncommon for a man to be unfaithful to his wife. The affairs were always discreet, to avoid shame or public censure, but they happened.

“I am sure that is not true,” I argued dismissively.

To my utter shock, Yesh turned and took a knee beside the bench where I sat and looked me straight in the eye. “No, my queen,youdon’t understand. Among our people, other thanpolitical matches, which are really only common among nobility and those with dragon rider bloodlines, there is no reason to bind yourself to another if you do not wish to. I cannot say whether your binding started out for political reasons or not, but based on how our king looks at you, I would say not. Bindings are a sacred commitment. As such, infidelity is seen as the height of dishonor.” He stared at me, a bit of censure in his usually jovial voice. “I know our king. He and my brother have been thick as thieves for years, long before Harun was Fangdar. Our king is not dishonorable, and he would never disrespect you in such a way. I cannot say the same for Lady Priya, however.” His face contorted and he spat on the ground, something I had noticed his people, and even Baldorians, did when they were particularly disgusted by something. “She is a snake in the grass. Jealous and conniving and she has always wanted our king for her own.”

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