Page 21 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

“Then why was she letting another man touch her?” he said bitterly, his forehead pinched to lines of stress and anger that seemed very deep and dark for such a young man.

A small pang jangled through my chest—I didn’t want another man touching her either! But in this case, I knew he meant Hanson, and their flying here and… Bren had already told me the Lord had been very eager and taking every opportunity to touch her arms and cup her thigh.

I sighed and nodded. “I know it’s hard to see, Benji. But sometimes the work we’re doing… it isn’t always as… straightforward as patrolling borders or—”

“Sir… She let the man touch her, and she told him he couldn’t tell you that she came out here with him. She’s a liar.”

Oh God. The tension of the entire day—having to let Bren go with Hanson, Ruin’s appearance, losing Ruin, Bren now sitting over there with her dragon, shaking and fearful—it was all more than I wanted to deal with. But now, to have to explain to a child that I wasn’t being cuckolded?

I knew it wasn’t Benji’s fault that I was tense and exhausted. It wasn’t him who’d put us at risk, but for a moment, I wanted to growl at him to mind his own fucking business.

I swallowed it back. “Benji… I’m very grateful that you’re looking out for me,” I said as carefully as I could. “And I’m glad we have your help—I’m going to do everything I can to get you in contact with these dragons again because I think they need us. They need you. But there are so many challenges of which you aren’t aware, and so many things that we, as adults and Furyknights, are responsible for, I’m going to have to ask you to trust me on this: Bren isn’t a liar. She is my mate. And I’ll need your help to keep her safe in the coming days.”

“But, sir—”

“No buts, Benji!” I barked. The boy jumped and I muttered a curse under my breath. But rather than shaking, or looking fearful or teary as he might have months ago when we’d first met, his eyes fixed on the distance. He raised his chin and his jaw flexed.

“Yes, sir,” he said quietly. Resolutely. Like a man who didn’t like what he heard, but held himself to a higher standard.

I ran a hand back and forth over my hair, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, Benji. It’s been a… difficult night. Not just for you—though I know Bren is very sorry for leaving. She was deeply worried when she realized you’d been left behind.”

His lips pressed thin, but he just nodded and didn’t meet my eyes.

“Benji,” I sighed. “You did well tonight. I mean that.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I waited, but he didn’t say more.

Fuck.

I cleared my throat. “The dragons… you did the right thing speaking with them even when you didn’t know what had happened. It’s very useful information you’ve gathered for us.”

Benji nodded once, but didn’t reply.

I gave him a pointed look. “At ease, soldier,” I said quietly. He let his chin drop, but he still didn’t look me in the eyes. “Benji, listen. I meant what I said: You did well. And I’ll tell Furymaster Barak so, whether these dragons come with us or not. You’ll have a home with us—as will these dragons—always.”

“Oh, I don’t think they will,” he said. “They don’t trust people.”

“They trusted you.”

Benji nodded. “A little bit. But I’m not like other people.”

“Well, that’s for sure.” I clapped him on the back and he seemed to relax. But the air between us was strained.

‘Help me remember to explain everything to him when things have settled down,’ I sent to Kgosi. ‘We can’t risk him innocently blowing our cover.’

My dragon rumbled, but didn’t reply.

After I woke Bren, Kgosi allowed Benji to curl up with him for a rest while she and I walked together and made a plan. She’d calmed and was thinking clearly. But in the end, no matter which way we looked at it, there was no choice.

We didn’t know where Ruin was. We didn’t know how many here in Fyrehold he was already connected to—or who he might try to trap. To abandon our roles now would be to do nothing but give him free-rein. Which, if he was the mole, would bring war on all our heads.

And if he wasn’t the mole—which reluctantly, I was inclined to believe purely because he hadn’t been placed right for it—we needed to learn what he knew.

If we fled, Alexi wouldn’t believe Ruin deserved to be abandoned unless we had proof of his betrayal.

Either way, we had to find him, follow him, and figure shit out. But, with my role here being open, a known political figure, I would struggle to do that myself.