Page 14 of Winds of Ruin
I picked a rose and smelled it.
“El?” Krait waved his free hand in front of me.
“Sorry,” I sputtered out. “The flowers look gorgeous.”
Fuck it all.
I hated lying to him, of all people.
“You nearly leveled us,” he said. “Where are you rushing off to?”
Why did he always have to be so damn perceptive? I finally answered, “I’m fetching Leo and Angeline. Emmerick was groaning in his sleep when I passed by on my way to your office. I felt maybe their presence would do him some good today.”
Krait’s gaze softened, and he nodded. “That’s kind of you.”
He’d accepted my half-truth.
Wanting badly to run from my dishonesty, I leaned down and placed a quick kiss atop Lark’s head and then tiptoed to peck Krait’s cheek.
“Plus, I have lords’ disputes in Helos to settle, an estate to renovate, and a muddied tunic to change before dinner. Maybe then your wife will let me hold this little one. I must hurry.”
I’d been appointed as advisor to the North Corridor. Krait and Sybilla couldn’t be in three places at once.
“I heard about the orchard,” Krait said as I skirted around him. “Else, wait.”
I pivoted and waited for him to call me out on my horrible lie.
Larkspur tugged on a lock of Krait’s dark hair at the nape of his neck. Fatherhood had softened him some. He hadn’t become full of sunshine and butterflies, but he also couldn’t look as domineering as he once had with a babe tucked in one arm, trying to yank his hair out.
“That reminds me. Sybilla and I have put together some agreements regardingourestate.” He paused and swallowed hard. “When Fen told me and Sybilla about Lamoreaux, it got me thinking…”
My posture slackened; this felt serious.
“We’ve decided that should anything ever happen to us, or when things naturally run their course—”
“Kraiiit.” I groaned, interrupting him. His mortality was still too new. We had years before he should plan his deathbed wishes.
“Just listen, El,” he snapped.
Therewas the grump I’d known for most of my life.
He pushed on. “Lark needs a guiding hand in early immortality—someone to be there for her when we cannot. We’d like that person to be you.Alive. I won’t have you at the bottom of a ditch, or crushed within the closing walls of some dusty tomb.”
My heart sank. I knew what he was asking—let someone else search for the relics.It had proved to be dangerous work, though I’d never give it up.
“I will do anything for your family, Krait. You know that,” I said. He seemed satisfied with my response, which made my throat burn. “But I won’t give up looking. I do that for him.”
I didn’t need to say Ryn’s name. Krait understood the loss.
Centuries ago, he’d lost his Source Match. Freya, Ryn’s sister, had fallen during the Great Wars—executed just days after her marriage to Krait, by her own father. The dreadful Phynnic King had grown wary that his children would try to usurp him.
“I would never ask you to stop. In all honesty, we need you out there. But I’m begging you, as a member of this family, no more trips alone. Fenris told me what happened today. Without him there, you could have…” The words died on his tongue, and my guilt mounted.
I sighed out, “Alright.”
Being slowed down wasn’t ideal, but I understood his concern. I’d had one too many close calls; I’d be no good to our cause dead.
“I won’t go at it alone anymore,” I agreed.
