Page 72 of The King is Dead
I was proud of my restraint. And annoyed with him. But I couldn’t deny that he looked stunning. Whatever the others thought when they saw him, there would be nohumbling.
He was every inch a warrior. Every inch a male to be respected.
My mate was a glowing coal of desire.
And fucking intimidating.
Also irritatinglyright.The fighters would have kittens when they saw him prowling the halls of the Palace looking like that.
Unaware of my admiring gaze, Melek ran a hand over his handsome face that was dark, shadowed with the beginnings of abeard because he hadn’t shaved in days. It made his eyes seem even brighter as he locked on me, and I was reminded of that presence he had… the sheer force of will that inhabited him so that anyone in his spherewantedto follow.
It was magnificent.
And quite annoying.
“So, you want to just walk out of here?” I said tightly. “Stretch your wings—figuratively—and just walk out into the halls? Do you have any clue the… theagitationthat will create?”
“More than the agitation of your guards and Captain learning I was free without their knowledge?” he asked pointedly.
Unfortunately, he’d been in Turo’s shoes, responsible for the rank and file, as well as the security of the King. He knew—and had explained in excruciating detail—the immediate response thathewould employ if he were to learn that his prisoner was loose, within arm’s reach of the royals, and had managed it undetected. The speed with which military could issue and follow orders in an emergency, and how quickly the news would spread among the fighters. He'd made it abundantly clear how rumors would mingle with truth, and the protective reactions the fighters would instinctively have well before we could get ahead of it and soothe them.
Chaos,he’d said, his chin low, but eyes locked on mine.The kind of chaos that gets people killed.
I had rolled my eyes, but I knew he was right.
“How deep does your conviction run?” I asked petulantly, cursing myself for not making the words stronger. “I thought we could leave in the night so fewer people were in the halls and—”
“Yilan,” he said softly, firmly. Why were his eyescompassionate?“If they’re going to see me as an ally and not a threat, we can’t begin in the dark. Surely you can see that?”
I could. But I didn’t want to.
I pursed my lips, fighting the urge to argue just because I didn’t like it.
“So… we’re leaving? Remember, they aren’t expecting me until tomorrow. We could wait—”
“I need toattendthat Council meeting tomorrow and prove my worth, not disrupt the entire Palace at a time they had planned to focus and solve problems.”
I turned away from him, back to the window.
Leaving in this way meant leaving soon. It meant being out of here before the dinner hour so that the inevitable disruption could be soothed and I could host him as a guest at the meal.
And that meant we didn’t get another night here, alone. Uninterrupted.
I didn’t hear him move, but suddenly he was behind me, the new leather creaking slightly as he leaned over me and wrapped his arms around me, curling himself to drop his chin and brush his lips against my neck.
“Won’t it be wonderful to befreetogether in the sight of others?” he whispered. “I am proud to claim you, Yilan. First your people, then mine. Let them all see me and my mate. Let themknowshe is mine,” he whispered fiercely.
I turned in his arms and had to crane my head back to keep meeting his eyes when he straightened.
“Except, once again, we don’t get to do that. Once again I have to keep some distance from you. Not let them know how connected we are. Deal with accusing eyes andworried whispers.And that doesn’t begin to cover the Council and how they’ll question this.”
“I know, I know. I only meant… days, Yilan. We can count this in days. And until then, we can be in each other’s presence. And face these challenges together.”
I sighed heavily. “I love that idea, but the moment we walk out of here, I’m a Queen and you’re a General—of our enemy. There will be very littletogetherness.We will have meetings, and responsibilities, and challenges and—”
“And a son who doesn’t want to speak with me, and a betrothed who wants to save you from me, and wars on the horizon,” he said grimly.
I nodded sadly.
