Page 134 of Master of Storms
Ardís took a seat between Haakon and Ishtar, and the Blackfrost leaned back in his chair, his boot kicked up on the table as he smiled at Talon. Malin kept shooting him small looks as if she wanted to kick his foot under the table and tell him to stop provoking the other warlord, but Sirius looked like he was having too much fun doing so.
There was an ancientdrekisaying about something like this; onedrekiking in a room is a bracing wind that sweeps away all in his path; two is a clash of storms; and three is a hurricane that devastates everything in the vicinity.
Her arrival seemed to break some kind of tension.
“Your Highness,” Draco greeted, tilting his head to her.
“Solveig,” Rurik said, his eyes flat and neutral, even as his tone and choice of greeting indicated an intimacy between courts that Draco didn’t own.
So it was going to be like this.
“Your Highnesses,” she replied, stalking toward the only remaining chair left in the room—the one right next to Marduk.
The last time they’d met, Rurik had promised Solveig the dissolution of her mating alliance, so when Marduk’s head whipped toward her, she saw Rurik’s attention lock upon them. It stalled her a little, for she couldn’t fight the feeling that every move she made would be analyzed.
“What are you doing down here?” Marduk whispered furiously, shooting Ardís a scathing look.
“Plotting war,” she replied.
The flash of his amber eyes told her this discussion wasn’t over, even as he held her chair out for her.
Solveig sank into it gratefully, even as his mind brushed against hers.
“Youshouldbe in bed. I bloody knew I shouldn’t have left Ardís in charge—”
“War waits for no king. Or queen. And how did you think she was going to stop me?”
Marduk growled under his breath and cut the connection between them.
She was far too aware of the hard body at her side, his thigh pressed to hers. Even as Marduk’s attention locked on Draco, she couldn’t resist examining his profile.
Her true flame?Her heart skipped a beat.
Goddess, what was she going to do?
She couldn’t have himandher throne.
To choose him meant giving up everything.
You can never go back there.Not without killing him.
You can never return home.
How can you be your father’s successor if you can’t even walk the halls of your court?
Why is he not fighting for me?
Marduk gave her a strange look, as if he was curious as to why she was staring at him. “What’s wrong?” he whispered, sliding his fingers through hers.
“Nothing.” She jerked her attention back to Draco, who appeared to be speaking.
“Liar.” Marduk sent the thought to her. “You haven’t heard a word Draco’s been saying, and since he’s talking about objects with world-shattering consequences, Iknowyou’re distracted.”
“I’m tired,” she replied curtly, before unlacing both her thoughts and her fingers from his.
This time it was Marduk’s turn to watch her.
She could almost feel his gaze as a caress on her skin.
