Page 95 of Poisoned Kingdom
‘I told you it won’t work . . . Don’t trade one weakness for another. I can’t be what you need.’
She turned her face away from me but the flush creeping up her neck and the hitch of her breath betrayed her. I bent down, fingers sliding to the back of her neck, guiding her closer.
She didn’t push me away. If anything, she leaned into me, rising onto her toes, and that was enough for me.
I kissed her.
And gods, sheyielded. Beautifully. Sweetly. Her lips parted beneath mine, and I groaned into her mouth, gripping her tighter as I held myself back by the thinnest of threads. I wanted her so fucking much—all of her—but her heart hadn’t chosen me yet.
My tongue traced hers, and the mischievous woman responded wickedly, sucking it between her lips before pulling away just as my hand tightened to keep her close. I nipped her lower lip in protest, a teasing punishment for breaking the kiss before I had my fill of her.
‘I didn’t come here to make sense or hold a meeting, my light. I just wanted to see you,’ I said, gently tracing my thumb overher lips, slightly swollen from our kiss. ‘I fought Irsha out of jealousy . . .’ I continued, wrapping a strand of her hair around my finger. ‘I needed you to understand that before I go.’
Her nostrils flared in frustration as she swatted my hand away. ‘And what am I supposed to do with that? You know who I am, what I’m going to do. Why do you act as if there could be something more between us?’
‘Because I know what I want,’ I said, voice firm. ‘I want you to choose me, Sana. But how can you do that if you don’t know what the possibilities are?’
Her breath came faster, her pupils blown wide, and I realised I might have pushed her too far. I stepped back, giving her the space she needed even if it killed me.
‘When I return to Truso, we’ll talk again,’ I continued. ‘Stay safe, little Viper. I hope you use this time to get used to the thought of being mine.’
‘In your dreams,’ she muttered, rolling her eyes as she shoved me through the door. I let her push me, a grin spreading across my face. As much as I wanted to stay, she needed to rest, but I couldn’t let her have the last word. Not this time.
‘In my dreams, we do far more than kiss. When I return, I’ll show you just how much.’
The door slammed hard enough to nearly clip me on the way out. I inhaled deeply before striding through the sleepy city, unable to contain my grin.
Fate had pushed us together from the very first moment I’d seen her in the forest.
And like a fool, I had spent the last month tormenting myself, unaware that the woman I sought—a woman who would take a blade for me—had been right under my nose.
1.Navia— an afterlife where all spirits come to rest after crossing the Veil that divides the spirit world from the living.
Chapter 34
Reynard
Two weeks we’d been trudging through the swamp, and I’d had plenty of time to remember the real drudgery of soldiering. We’d visited every spot that Sana’s tinkerer had identified on the srebrec merchants’ routes, either bolstering the garrisons with trusted men or, in some cases, building small outposts in the ruins of abandoned villages. Despite the hardships, I found myself standing taller and even smiling occasionally, though I tried to refrain from the latter after seeing the uneasy looks on my men’s faces.
My kingly duties still followed me, appearing as if by magic in my tent each night, which is why I found myself once again hunched over a portable desk that sat like a child’s toy on mylap. Still, I felt free for the first time in years, with the problems we faced overcome with blood, sweat, and more than a little cursing.
Life, however, seemed to have other plans for me. The latest reports sat before me, their presence bringing my scowl back full force.
Duke Tivala was building an army.
Even if I took the numbers with a pinch of salt, travelling along the border had given me a clarity the palace never could. The villages we visited were filled with women and the elderly. Their husbands and sons were gone—conspicuously so.
‘That will be a costly mistake,’ I muttered, feeling like a fool. I’d let the enemy arm himself under my nose, dismissing the old duke’s antics as someone jostling to improve his family’s position. Now, I had to recognise he wanted more than just gaining power through his daughter’s marriage—he wanted that power for himself.
‘Well, I dodged that arrow,’ I said aloud, rubbing the bridge of my nose. The marriage contract still sat locked in my desk back in Truso. When I returned, it would go straight into the fire. Pacifying the South with an alliance was no longer an option.
Is that why he’s raised an army? Because I didn’t agree to the marriage?
I closed my eye, the dim light in the tent needling at my skull. No—his plans were too far along. This had started before I ever took the throne.It seems I’m not the only one who’d planned a coup.Why else would Tivala have asked my predecessor to grant his duchy principality status?
A loud cough interrupted my thoughts, and my adjutant walked in carrying the accounting ledger.More headaches to come, I thought with resignation, but it had to be done.
I needed to recall the veterans of the Necromancer’s War for the traditional New Year manoeuvres. As king, it was my right todecide which dukedom would host them—and this year, they’d take place beneath the very walls of Ernesto Tivala’s castle. A little trick to bypass the law. And when the troops marched out again, the old duke would be in chains. That would silence the whispers of Tivalaran secession for good.
