Page 83 of A Dance With Fire
Weylyn nodded but otherwise didn’t speak.
“Great.” Clay clapped him on the back again. “Let’s go. King Ashera needs us.” And he guided him in the same direction the king had gone.
Shula watched them go, questioning what the hell all that had been about. It had been an odd encounter, and she swore Clay had been slightly wary around him.
Too tired to guess, Shula filed inside after them.
Now that the king was here, her fate would be made clearer. Perhaps she could demand he release her. She had no idea where she’d go, what she’d do, but she knew she at least had to try.
29
Freedom Comes with a Price
The feast was set out before Valerio’s father on the rickety table of their meeting room. Roasted boar, potatoes, and onions dripping in gravy made it a simple affair. Black eyes scanned the meager meal without much reaction, but Valerio knew his father well enough and could see the disgust shimmering behind the mask.
This was only a fraction of what they could have had. Of what they once had so long ago when the courts had still been intact and the Ashera family bathed in riches. This meager meal would have been much different two hundred years ago.
Besides roast pig, there would have been fish bathed in the richest cherry sauce, oysters, soups, desserts filled with chocolate and fruits, sweet tarts, and an abundance of Fae wine.
Now they were forced to survive on scraps.
The resentment in his father ran deep. Valerio could feel it every time they spoke. Sometimes Valerio felt the very real, very heavy weight of their future upon his shoulders, and sometimes, he felt as though his father was merely looking for the scattered Fae, not because he particularly cared that they were going extinct, but because he missed the richness of the life they’d had before and needed them to help get it back.
Of course, Valerio never said that. They were thoughts that were purely his and his alone. He lifted his head and caught Weylyn’s gaze from across the table. The Fae male was as still as a marble statue, his golden eyes looking but unseeing in a way that made Valerio grit his teeth together.
Fuck.
He needed to remember to guard his thoughts better because now, surely everything he thought would be repeated to his father.
Careful to keep his mind blank, he faced his father again. After the king was served a hefty amount of food, he picked up an onion between his thumb and forefinger. The gravy slid down to his wrist, but he ignored the subtle lack of decorum as he plopped it into his mouth and crunched.
When he finished chewing, he faced his only son. “Speak,” he ordered.
As if he didn’t already know what had happened.
The night before when they’d arrived, Weylyn had contacted Valerio with his mind-linking magic, asking for all the details. So Valerio gave them. Now, he would give them again.
When he finished recounting the events, he waited with bated breath to see what his father would say. He could never gauge the mood the king would be in. Sometimes he was volatile, explosive, and those were tiring days.
“The human is in the dungeons?”
Valerio grit his teeth together. “Yes, father.”
“Hmm…” He was quiet another moment, chewing and contemplating in silence. Finally, he swallowed and stroked his chin.
Valerio held his breath the entire time, too afraid to interrupt his father’s musings yet too impatient to hear what he had to say. He adjusted his posture.
“Find out what he knows.” The king turned to Ryker. “Keep him conscious enough to find the truth and take Weylyn with you.”
Valerio swore he could hear Julius groaning.
Weylyn wasn’t their favorite Fae simply because none of their secrets were safe with him around. He knew too much. But in this instant, he’d be perfect to help interrogate the human. Any secrets he held, Weylyn would be able to pull them out of his mind.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty?” Shula’s voice piped up from down the length of the table.
Every single eye in the room turned towards the Fire Dancer. Valerio held his breath. She hadn’t interrupted the king, but she was an outsider. Everyone currently in the room was a part of King Ashera’s inner circle. She was their hostage; however well they treated her, she wasn’t a part of this. The only reason she was in the room was because his father was intrigued, because the Emperor of Illyk wanted her. Valerio’s father wanted to know why.
“Yes?” the king asked.
