Page 25 of Clash of Storms
He stared at her, nostrils flaring at the noncommittal answer.
If I were a dreki princess who needed to flee, I'd want that bracelet removed. And with no allies or friends to turn to, I'd run straight into the arms of the one man who might protect me.
She'd bet Sirius's entire golden hoard the princess had fled directly toward her husband—who had been due to sail from Reykjavik.
"Malin? What's wrong?"
You'll be going in the wrong direction. "Nothing."
They weren't allies, after all.
Boots echoed on the timber floors, coming closer. Malin spun around, trying to brace herself to push him away.
But he halted several feet away, his eyes narrowing. "You lie to me on a shockingly regular occasion."
"I don't lie," she protested.
He rolled his eyes. "Do you think me a fool? Almost every word you said to me yesterday at court was a lie."
Her heart skipped a beat.Drekicould lie, but the consequences were sometimes disastrous; something to do with their magic giving life to their words if they weren't careful.... And so they didn't. To speak the truth was the first law that bound them.
But she wasn'tdreki.
And while drekling tended to emulate their pureblooded relatives, sometimes Malin chose to skirt the truth.
"Not directly," she mumbled. "Not a single word was an untruth."
"You quibble like a lawyer. You must be partdreki. Malin, I am not the enemy," he growled. "Have I not proved that?"
She wrapped her arms across her chest. She didn't knowwhathe was. He'd deliberately thwarted his father—not once, but twice—in order to protect both her and the princess. But why? "If you don't hurry, then you won't catch the princess. Isn't that what you want?"
The muscle in his jaw flexed. "You have no idea what I want."
But at least he seemed to sense the urgency of the situation.
"There's coin in here." He tossed her a small leather pouch that clinked. "Use what you need. I have more, if necessary."
"Adrekiwillingly parting with his gold?"
Would wonders never cease?
Sirius gave her a smoky look. "When I get my hands on Roar, I'll take the reimbursement out of his hide."
"Only as long as you let me watch."
"I didn't know you were so bloodthirsty."
I'm not. Though I could make an exception for your brother.Malin looked away. "It's almost afternoon. If you don't leave now, then there shall be no point in debating what Árdís is doing."
He gathered his travel bag. "You promise you won't leave these rooms?"
"What need would I have to leave? I'm safe here."
Blue eyes incinerated her. "You also have difficulty obeying orders. Don't think me a fool."
"I never think you a fool," she replied, without a single hint of inflection in her tone.
Sirius shook his head and laughed softly. "How did I ever mistake you for meek and shy?"
