Page 177 of The King's Man
“Yes, yes of course,” I stammered, mentally scrambling for the speech I’d prepared to convince Gall of my loyalty. But he didn’t give me breath.
“Excellent, then join us for the hunt.”
I blinked as he returned to the balustrade. A wave of rumbles and growls rose from the men around us, and all turned back to watching the women with hunger in their eyes.
I did everything in my power to keep my stance relaxed and not betray the racing of my heart. Ignoring Diadre at my side—just as Gall had.
“What do you think, Jann? Who’s the strongest of them?” Gall asked, leaning in like we were staring at horses.
I looked at the women below and lifted my upper lip as if I fought a sneer. “I’m not sure, Gall. I doubt any of them are strong enough—and anyway, I’m not done with this one.”
I lifted Diadre’s hand as Gall finally turned to look at her. He bowed with that slight awkwardness he’d always had with formal manners, but his smile for her had an eerie edge.
“Diadre. It’s good to see you. Istral will be pleased.”
Diadre opened her mouth, but I grabbed for that chain at her throat and pulled it tight with a quick jerk even as I shoveled an apology at her through the bond. “Do not speak without permission,” I growled and the men around me nodded their approval as her hands flew up to that choker and her eyes widened.
But Gall laughed—a pompous sound I’d never heard from him before. “Let her speak. We’re friends.”
Diadre’s nerves spiked in the bond, but she did an excellent job of appearing both afraid, and hesitantly eager to please as I nodded at him and pretended to obey him, letting the slip-chain loose so she could speak.
“It’s…” she said hoarsely, then cleared her throat. I cursed myself. “It’s good to see you, Gall,” she rasped. “Does this mean… is Istral is here? I’d like to greet her if—”
“My love!” Gall called, turning away from us to look in the opposite direction. The men behind him eased aside as Gall reached out, beckoning, then pulled Istral to his side. And suddenly the Gall I knew was back—beaming, eyes shining when he looked at her. “We got married!” he said with childish glee. Istral looked warily at the men around her, and I felt Diadre’s heart drop. But Istral clung to Gall tightly as he went on. “She’s here. But don’t think about getting her away from me. She’s my mate. If anyone else touches her, I kill them,” he said with the frank, childlike tone that the Gall I’d always known would have used for explaining why a soldier would be punished for not shining their boots.
Diadre blinked, but recovered faster than I did. She curtseyed to Istral and dropped her head. “It’s so good to see you, Lady Istral.”
Istral nodded, but she was plastered to Gall’s side as if she feared even allowing air between them. Then she looked up at Gall and when he leaned down, she whispered something in his ear.
“Of course you can speak to your old friend. Just don’t move away,” Gall stage-whispered in return, then as Istral turned to meet eyes with Dee, Gall looked at the men around him and announced, “Now that Jann’s here, let’s get started. Release the prey!”
The men cheered and rushed for the balustrade, jostling Diadre and Istral and I, while on the grass below, the two guards stepped away from that cluster of women. One of them drew a horn that was hooked behind his belt, tipped his head back and blew it.
A long, mournful cry rose to echo over the trees and the vast gardens of the Palace as the men around us cheered and snarled, bellowing at the women torun while they can.
And run they did.
Forgetting their nakedness. Heedless of bare feet, the women cried out and sprang away from the watchers and into the trees like startled rabbits.
My stomach churned, and I felt Diadre’s sickness, too. Oddly, as the men rushed forward—they had to give the women thirty minutes to run and hide or attempt to escape before they would be allowed to hunt them—Gall turned to me and folded his arms in a posture so reminiscent of Melek it made the hair on my neck stand up.
“I’m glad you made it. I could use you for an Advisor,” he said, watching me closely, proudly, obviously wanting to see me impressed thathewould bestow tasks to me.
“Of course, of course,” I muttered, preoccupied by the snarling crowd around us, howling and calling threats after the women, urging them on.
“Don’t worry about them,” Gall said. “Wehave mates. We don’t need them. This is just to prove that I have control and find out which of the women are—Oh, Jann, have you met my Grandfather?”
The diversion of topics was so sudden, I blinked and had to think.
But Gall was smiling proudly. “He’s here. He’s helping me too.”
“Your… grandfather?” I asked, frowning as Gall tipped his head in the other direction and when I looked, the men parted once more, this time to reveal the tall, handsome form of the most powerful of the Fallen angels… Lucifer.
He stepped towards me with an easy smile—cunning and sly.
Gall, completely unaware of the crackling energy in the air, continued. “He’s been a great help to me and Istral. I’m very glad that he’s back now that Father is dead.”
Forcing myself to smile, I gave the Fallen the obeisance he’d expect, yanking Diadre down into a curtsey by the choker.
