Page 36 of The King is Dead
“Gall, I won’t make you come with me if you don’t want to,” I told him reluctantly. “But… is there a message I could give him?”
“I don’t think so,” Gall said, his voice wavering a little bit. My heart went out to him, and I had to swallow a pinch in my throat.
“I’d like a hug, Gall. Would you like a hug, too?”
He nodded and leaned down, opening his arms to wrap me in them. And for the briefest second it felt like falling into Melek’s chest, being circled byhisarms, and that pinch in my throat turned into an ache.
And of course, that was when the door behind me opened and Turo stepped inside.
His eyes went wide as he found me wrapped in the massive arms of a Nephilim, but to his credit, he only balked for a second.
“Your Majesty,” he said, clearing his throat roughly. “The prisoner is asking to speak with you.”
Nerves cut a jagged line through my chest. Gall didn’t know Melek was being held prisoner. I shot Turo a cautionary look as Gall released me.
“Thank you,” I said carefully, then urged Gall to go back outside and rejoin my sister who would be waiting impatiently.
Gall stared at Turo, then at me. “He doesn’t like me.”
“No, Gall—”
“I do not like any risk to my Queen, or her sister,” Turo said stiffly. “If you prove yourself trustworthy with them, I will like you a great deal.”
Gall looked at him again and I saw that flash of protectiveness in him that made my chest swell.
Unfortunately, it was also the look that made his sheer size and strengthveryapparent. Anyone would be unnerved catching sight of Gall assessing another male as if he was measuring how easily he could kill him.
My General, who believed I was his betrothed, and that he’d almost lost me to this man’s compatriots, caught it immediately and his hand went to his sword.
I raised my hand, about to caution him, but Gall spoke from behind me first.
“I’ve killed a man to protect her. Have you?”
Shocked, I whirled to gape up at Gall and warn him not to say anything else.
But Turo replied. “Yes, as a matter of fact I have. And if that is true, we are allies, not enemies,” he said quietly.
I was torn, wanting to tell Gall to be careful with his words, but also wanting to reassure Turo that…
God, this was a mess.
“And I’m grateful to both of you,” I said, clearing my throat as they stared at each other. “I trustbothof you and look forward to the day when you’ll trust each other.”
I touched Gall to break his focus on Turo and to urge him back to the garden. But as I turned, I caught Turo staring at me with a very strange expression.
I wasn’t sure what he would say, but I knew I needed to get him away from Gall. So, I raised a hand to silence him, walked Gall out the door, and then hurriedly ushered Turo into the grounds. I walked so quickly I was almost jogging. I wanted to put as much distance between them as I could before Turo spoke.
11. Crashing Down
~ YILAN ~
“I can’t get you to stop for a short, personal conversation, but the prisoner calls for you and you attend him as if he is the King.”
That word, in reference to Melek, zinged through me and stole my breath. I made myself stop trotting, and my skirts swished around my ankles as I slowed to a somewhat normal walk. I had to figure out how to soothe Turo so he could stopburningabout this.
“What is your obsession with these creatures?” he asked quietly.
I stopped walking and turned to face him.
