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“Then let me show you what other suffering has happened in your name, and maybe you can appreciate for a mere fucking second, what we’ve done for you.” Rokath unbuttoned his tunic and stripped it from his body. Tossing it on the floor, he turned and flashed scars I knew all too well.
“Here,” he pointed to a spot on his ribs inked more heavily than others, “is where I took an arrow. It nearly hit my lungs. I fought for three hours with it embedded in my side. And here,” he gave us his back and pointed to a spot just above his hip bone, “an Angel stuck a dagger as I fought off four more in front of me.”
Sorrow sank into my bones as Rokath detailed the myriad of ways he’d brushed death. Of course, I’d known he never held back from the fighting, but this?
This slashed my heart in an entirely new way.
Rokath flipped his palms up and shoved them outward, one for Xa
“Zaph staked me to the ground while he slaughtered all my soldiers. Their screams echo in my dreams when I manage to sleep. For years, my life has been nothing but death and blood. My body, my mind, my soul have absorbed it all and cha
Xa
Is he finally seeing reason?
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. A hand smoothed back his tangled hair, and he worked the leather from its lengths. No one spoke as he fixed it again. “I never should have said that, Rokath. I am sorry. So fucking sorry. To you and to Kiira.” He paused, his throat working while she held her chin high. “I ca
My brows shot up my forehead at his almost-apology.
“You were right, Rokath.” His voice was hoarse and no louder than a whisper. “This all spiraled out of control because of my ambition. But you can’t say it’s the only thing that started it. Our fathers couldn’t have protected us like you have.”
Silence reigned among us for many minutes. An inferno of emotion twisted inside Rokath at Xa
“I’ll make an appearance tomorrow during training hours and declare my support for the integration.”
At Xa
“Afterward, I will depart for Uzhhorod, and I will find other powerful females for your army, Rokath.”
I could only blink at the Kral.
Rokath was less convinced, his jaw still clenched. “Will you?”
Xa
A beat passed, and then Kiira spoke. “I will stay behind once you go. I am tired of pretending to be the most pious female in the whole Demon Realm. I need a break.”
Xa
I scrutinized the Kral. His words, his posture, all of it seemed sincere. And yet I couldn’t shake this sick feeling in my stomach when I looked at him.
“We have been, and always will be a team,” Kiira added, glaring at him as if she too struggled to believe his words. “You just need to see all of it again, Xa
“You’re right,” he told her. “I won’t let that happen again. We can do anything so long as we do it together.”
“Aye,” Rokath affirmed, though he regarded the Kral with wariness.
“Why don’t we sit now that cooler heads are prevailing and speak of what we need to do next?” Kiira suggested. Tension still hung like a thick fog in the air, but the four of us managed to settle around an expansive dining table off to one side without killing each other.
Honestly, Kiira’s admission had thrown a bucket of ice water over these two hot-headed males. Their sober expressions as they cleaned their faces spoke to how deeply they cared for their cousin.
“If I might make a suggestion,” Rokath started, shifting in his seat. “To sell the idea to the nobles of integrating the army, we can say the best fuck you to the Angels is to allow our powerful magic-wielding females to overwhelm them on the battlefield. Since so many already believe them to be second-class citizens, it will stroke the egos of many Nayúr.”
Xa
“Let me put it this way. If we let them fight too, we show the Angels just how powerful we really are, that we don’t need males to defeat all their forces. We raze our way through the northern part of their realm, setting each city ablaze.”
Rokath paused, shooting me a wink. I sent him a devious grin back. Oh, I really liked his reasoning here. Even if Xa
“Then we surround Sivy and execute the Koron and Korona. You sit on both thrones, you give the Angels one less reason to hate you, one less reason for them to resist your rule, and then every fucking day you show them we are the superior race.”
Xa
Is Rokath really convincing him?
“It is an…intriguing possibility,” Xa
Because, much like Xa
“Once we win a few battles, they’ll believe even more,” I pressed, determination swelling within me. Rokath gave a subtle nod, and I continued. “Most of the females Kiira brought have powerful magic. With the High Priestess as witness, everyone will believe the stories she writes back to you about the glory we are claiming for the Demons.”
“They will crave news from the front. Stories of the Szélhámos, the mate of the Halálhívó,” Kiira added in a rush. “Especially with how I write of them. It has been some time since I was able to craft stories of our mystique, Xa
Xa
A scoff slipped out before I could stop it. My nails dug into my arms. How fucking dare he question that I’d want his Fates’ damned throne? Was that why he’d sent an assassin after me in the first place?
“For fuck’s sake, Xa
I held up a hand to silence my mate. Then, holding the gaze of the Kral of all the Demons, I rose, splaying my hands out across the polished wood, one finger at a time. I leaned forward, lifting my lips from my teeth. “You may be the Kral, but I am the Szélhámos.”
A riot of shadow swirled around me, and I pulled Xa
Then, I dropped my power and eased back into my chair.
Rokath’s hungry gaze caught my attention out of the corner of my eye, but it was nothing compared to the utter distraction coming down our bond. Gravel rolled through his tone as he spoke in my mind. “I don’t know whether to be terrified or impressed. Those insults were sharper than my sword.”
“Don’t forget I can aim them in your direction anytime,” I shot back.
A dark chuckle echoed in my mind. “I never will.”
Kiira covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her amusement, as Xa
After a moment, he cleared his throat, shifting in his chair like my words had set it ablaze. “All right then. You have all made your points. I will ensure the nobles believe in this story, as well as the unveiling.” He glanced sidelong at Kiira, and I recalled our conversation about her not asking for forgiveness for sending that missive. “So long as you can continue the omnipresence of us, adding Assyria to the mix now, I will do my part.”
Tension visibly bled from Kiira’s shoulders. My own chest eased too.
“Done,” Rokath and Kiira said at the same time.
Resigned, Xa
“There’s one more thing,” Kiira added softly, twisting her long hair around her finger and securing it at the nape of her neck.
A muscle jumped in Xa
“I had another prophecy,” she stated, bringing her hands to rest on the table in front of her again.
He sat up straighter, arms dropping. “When? Of what?” His voice was laced with more enthusiasm and excitement than it had been in his entire time at the military academy thus far.
“Rokath and Assyria in the streets of Sivy. With an army of males and females at their backs.” Kiira smiled, though it wasn’t one of her warm and kind ones. No, she looked like she was moments from lunging across the table and ripping her cousin’s throat out with her sharp teeth. “So it is a good thing you chose the right side of this fight, Xa
His mouth hung open. “But I thought–”
“That the visions couldn’t change?” she finished for him.
He nodded, disbelief etched into his expression.
“As did I. But after discussing the timing with Rokath and Assyria–”
“You told them before me?” he snapped, eyes darkening.
She glared at him. “It concerned them, so yes.”