Page 50 of Amidst the Insidious Courts
Achill blooms across my skin as the gleaming spires of Pavellen draw closer. I’m weak. Every muscle in my body aches, and the tight, itchy feeling has transformed into a whole-body ache, despite Lore eating me out until I screamed myself hoarse less than two hours ago. My wings are so sensitive that I can’t lean back against Drystan, let alone complete my exercises.
Worse, a deep cramp is starting low in my abdomen.
We’re so close, having crossed the grand delta of the Renfraw the night before. Now the vast capital of the Spring Court stretches out before us. All I have to do is make it an hour longer.
All four of my Guard are sparkling under a generous coating of my dust—even Bree, though he hasn’t made any advances. The stuff iseverywhere, dripping from my wings with even the slightest brush against them.
“Rhoswyn.” Drystan’s voice has an edge to it I haven’t heard before.
“I’m fine,” I promise, taking a deep breath as if that alone will help me control my fever.
Jaro looks back, disbelieving. “Are you going to make it until we reach the temple?”
How should I know?I want to snap, but bite back the words.
I’ve been crabby since I woke, and I just don’t understand why.
“I’ll make it,” I answer. “I’m more concerned that…”
“What?” Jaro demands. “Are you in pain?”
“Caed is there,” I admit in a guilty whisper, ignoring his question because the answer will only upset him. “I… I can feel him.”
The curse that leaves Drystan’s lips turns the air blue, and aggression pours off the four of them in a great stifling wave.
“He won’t do anything,” Bree promises. “Kitarni would never allow you to be hurt, and neither will we.”
“This is too close for comfort,” Jaro argues.
“Close enough that I can stab him?” Lore asks, his face taking on a dreamy expression.
“If he comes near the cloister, yes,” Bree says.
“He wouldn’t.” Only… do I really know what Caed would and wouldn’t do? A second’s deliberation later, I nod. “For all that he was responsible for, he never took advantage of me like that.” My mind flashes back to that one night we spent together—the one where I ended up snuggling him—and I resolve to never ever bring that up with the others.
Lore’s brows shoot into his hairline. “You mean to tell me he didn’t so much as kiss you? How dumb can you get?”
“Personally, I think it was a smart fucking choice,” Drystan snarls.
“The least he could do,” Jaro agrees. “Given his betrayal of everything his oath stood for.”
They fall silent, and I regret bringing the subject up. Without their chatter, all that I have to focus on is the abrasive fabric rubbing across my body and the uncomfortable wetness saturating in my underwear.
If not for the fact that we’re about to ride through one of the largest fae cities in the realm, I might seriously consider removing all my clothes just for some relief. Keeping my hands on the pommel of the saddle is becoming an exercise in self-restraint, and the rocking motion of Blizzard beneath my thighs isn’t helping things.
Hold it together, I order my body.
“Hail!”
Every single member of my Guard draws a weapon at the unexpected greeting, and I flinch at the suddenness of their reaction.
That voice didn’t sound threatening; in fact, it was almost familiar…
“Ambassador Neila?” I ask, peeking around Drystan’s sword arm.
I only met the selkie once at the ball before the inner city fell, and I forgot all about her, but she’s changed. Her fur is still wrapped around her shoulders with the chains from before, but she’s more unkempt and wild now.
Behind her, four dozen other females are mounted on horseback, spears strapped across their backs with their round shields emblazoned with a delicate hellebore design. There’s no way they could’ve snuck up on us, which means they have to have been waiting here, glamoured, for us to arrive.
