Had I told my men that teeny tiny fact? No. Not yet. But Iwouldtell them. Eventually. As soon as I found a good time. Itwasn’t exactly something to bring up over breakfast, like, ‘Hey, guys. Turns out, my dad was the prince who pissed off Haran, broke the treaty, and sent the two kingdoms back into war. Can you pass the sugar?’
A prince who’d been hunted down and killed, along with my mom. A fate that possibly awaited me should the wrong person learn who I was.
The feel of lips on my brow pulled me from those dark thoughts. “I sense you fretting.”
Maddox loved teasing me and, more recently, pummeling me with snowballs, but he read me so well without me needing to say a word.
“Muffin lords don’t fret,” I said. “We just think deeply about things.”
“Mhm.” Another brush of his lips. “And what has you so deep in thought right now?”
“Betcha I know the answer.” Rowan hopped up on the counter and brought one knee up to rest his arm. He had a habit of perching on things instead of sitting in chairs. “He’s counting down the seconds until he’s back in my arms.”
“Dreading that moment sounds more plausible.” Maddox placed me on a barstool. “You’re like a gnat that won’t stop buzzing around our heads. No amount of swatting deters you from being a pest.”
Rowan smirked. “What I heard in those words? You think I’m resilient. Quite the compliment.”
Maddox scowled.
“Here.” Briar placed a leftover pumpkin muffin in front of Maddox and kissed the edge of his brow. “Today’s not a day for fighting. We finally have our male returned to us.”
Our grump of a captain softened with the kiss. “And he brought a stray with him.”
“A former stray.” Rowan’s topaz eyes shifted to me. “I finally found a home.”
My heart knocked against my ribs. Rowan had a sharp tongue and enjoyed riling people up, but beneath his many defensive layers existed someone who just wanted to be loved. To belong somewhere.
He’d found that place with us.
“This will help warm you.” Lake set a cup of coffee in front of me.
“Thanks.” I reached up to scratch behind his fluffy wolf ears, and he closed his eyes, welcoming the touch. A sign of his trust in me. “So. Anything exciting happen while we were gone?”
Briar and Maddox exchanged a look.
“Uh oh. I’ll take that as a yes.” Worry gnawed at my chest. “Good exciting or bad exciting? What about the infiltrators from Haran? Did you catch them?”
Before the trip to Exalos, Rowan had used his shadow magic to eavesdrop on conversations whispered in the dark corners of the kingdom, learning about Haran’s plan. He’d then shared the information with Maddox.
“Nothing to worry over, love,” Briar said, eyes tight. Which did the opposite of what he suggested. “All is well.”
“He’s not a child,” Rowan snapped. “Stop babying him and give him a real answer.”
“I’m not babying him, simply wishing to avoid causing him undue stress.”
Maddox turned to Rowan. “The intel you provided proved to be valuable. Several of the infiltrators were identified and… dealt with accordingly.”
Ah.That’s why Briar had tried sparing me the details. Death, even that of an enemy, made my heart sad.
“So they were caught?” I asked.
“Yes.” Maddox sat on the barstool beside me. “Upon interrogation, they gave us the names of other conspirators that we’ve since looked into.”
“What about the mages?” I asked. “The ones who attacked the Third Order knights.”
One of the infiltrators had lured a patrol party into the dark wood under the guise of fending off an approaching demon horde. When really, mages from Haran were lying in wait and ripped the knights apart with spells intended to resemble a demon attack. All to keep Bremloc’s focus on fighting Lord Onyx and his demons. A smokescreen that would allow Haran to slither in and destroy our defenses from the inside.
Because of Rowan, that plan had failed.
