Page 89 of Golden Queen
"Enough, Britaxia!" Io's deep voice interjected. I was sure, then, that the woman had been speaking old Withian to keep me from understanding her.
Whatever she said caused Io to become very angry. I could hear him speaking in the common tongue, but the words were too low to make out. His tone was clear, though. He was reprimanding her.
Had she spoken against me somehow—against the familiarity that he had openly shown with me? Or had she spoken against his plans to defend me with his forces and his plea for aid from Nightfall?
Before I could consider it further, Britaxia ducked out of the tent, her eyes a vivid, blood-red. She gave me a cursory nod before striding angrily across the camp, her long, dark hair streaming out behind her furiously.
Io stepped out of the tent a moment later, and I watched the dragon riders on the periphery of the camp suddenly stand at attention. Just his presence elicited a change in the air around us, so it was no wonder they picked up on it and grew rigid.
"Why is Britaxia angry with you?" I asked as we started toward Veles, who was lounging in the godsgrass.
Io's jaw went taut as he clenched his teeth. "Britaxia sometimes forgets who she serves. She is here as a representative of my brother. She and Aben both are, actually."
That surprised me. I thought they were his subjects.
He must have seen that confusion on my face, because he elaborated, "They are both from Darkwatch, but they serve in my brother's court in Orin, much to Aben's chagrin, especially. It was my father's command, but I sometimes think my brother keeps him in his service just to spite me. Behr has always resented the fact that I was closer to Aben than to him."
"Why were you closer to Aben? Is your brother very much older than you?"
"No, we are quite close in age. But the second child always goes to Darkwatch, so I was raised by Aben's parents from the time I was a very small child."
"That's...well, barbaric to take you from your family like that."
"I suppose that's one way to look at it, but I've always believed I got the better end of the bargain. I got Darkwatch and my aunt and uncle. My parents were cold. My mother still is, especially after my father died. But Vidar and Yadala—they are warm and kind. They are where Aben gets his good nature."
"Well, what's your excuse then?" I teased. But the attempt was half-hearted at best. He might appear cold, dark, and brooding to anyone from the outside, but I had already come to find that he was pure, warm fire on the inside.
He surprised me, though, when his smile faded in response to my question. "They tried," he said solemnly. "Gods know, they tried. But I was a difficult child. And I'm afraid no one really knew what to do with me. Before I learned to control it...the darkness inside me terrified them all." He laughed, but it was a humorless sound.
I suddenly had a striking image of him as a dark haired, sullen-eyed little boy, wreathed in shadows with that death's mask showing through. My heart broke at the idea that he might have lived his life with half the people around him terrified of what he might do—or afraid just to look at him.
I reached out and took his hand. He smiled, and it was warmth and sunshine and fire.
I didn't care who might be looking, I went to him and reached up to kiss him.
He obviously didn't care either as he pulled me closer and kissed me back, deeply, running his hands down to my hips.
I heard a whistle from behind us and turned to see a few of the dragon riders standing at the edge of the camp, smiling and looking our way.
Io shifted us so that his body was shielding me from view, but he was laughing. "Get on the dragon before I shame us both and toss you down into the godsgrass, Sera." He kissed me once more and then turned me toward Veles who was waiting with what I thought looked suspiciously like a look of reproach.
We returned to Juriae's manor house as the sun began to set across the godsgrass plains.
Even though the specter of war hung over me, over my people, I thought I had never had such a good day in all my life.
We ate dinner in the formal dining room of the manor house.
Juriae and Cazmiri were seated together at the end of the table, so close that their shoulders touched as though they did not like the feeling of any distance between them.
They looked at each other with true affection, each paying careful attention to the other's wants and needs.
The rest of the guests—the Radune councilors and later, Aben and Malach still in their scale armor—were rowdy and cheerful.
Aben gave me a wink as he plopped down at the table, snatching a roll from a basket in the center. “Stab anyone today, Aelia?”
I grinned, raising my brows. “Not today. But it’s still early.”
Aben laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Easy there, killer. I’m not looking for any trouble here.”
