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They would all die by my hands for hurting my mate.
I felt eyes on me, and when I glanced over my shoulder, a furious Tomaz Valintin glared at me as if he wished he could shove his magic down my throat and suffocate me. To his right, Vaklav Luzak’s reddened face dripped sweat, and his horrid daughter Kamila perched on the edge of her seat behind him. We had succeeded in foiling their plans, and with the thousands of Fae gathered for the funeral, there was no way to challenge our statements. They should count themselves lucky that Tibor had a good heart and left their abominable actions out of that speech.
The High Priestess finished the rites with a blood sacrifice, the bleating goat’s blood pouring off the sides of the altar, caught in small bowls by the young priestesses and flicked from their fingers as they danced relentlessly around the pyres. Once the ruby river that flowed from the sacrifice ceased, the High Priestess dismissed us.
The war council remained seated as the rest of the Noble houses wound their way through the massive metal doors marking the entrance to Este Castle. Valintin and Luzak shot one last death glare in our direction before ushering their sniveling children along. They were defeated, but I had nodoubt they’d try their hands at another scheme, so long as a power vacuum remained in the Night Realm. We needed to get Izidora back.
By the time the crowd thinned out, hundreds of males milled about the courtyard, whispering to one another as we approached. We gave the pyres a wide berth, though my eyes lingered on the one second from the end, where the roses that lined my father’s body had already become nothing more than ash. Vadim and Liliana jogged to join us after bidding their parents goodbye, and I was glad for their assistance, especially since Vadim could easily tell which males were fit to join and which were not.
“Thank you for volunteering for the war efforts,” I began. “Lord Vadim Arzeni will assess your fitness and select those best suited for our mission.”
The males nodded, and Vadim began shouting instructions.
Kaztar slid to my side, a sly grin splaying across his face. “That was quite the speech. It had its intended effect. Congrats on not being engaged.”
I smirked in response. “Yet. I am never letting Izidora out of my sight again once we find her.” I’d save her, then chain her to me so no harm would ever come to her again.
He laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “Like any good male should do. You’ll make a fine king consort, Kazimir.”
As his words sank in, a hint of an idea sparked in my mind. “I think we should promote House Arzeni to take the place of House Vaszoly, should that ever come to pass.” Vadim and Liliana’s family deserved a higher status for everything they had done for us.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Kaztar grinned.
The future High Lord Arzeni assessed our potential warriors with his keen eyes. Though our Knights were prepared for battle at a moment’s notice, we’d lost too many during the feast andmany others were spread throughout the Night Realm. We needed more bodies, especially because a battle in the mountain passes leading to the Iron Realm would be deadly for those unaccustomed to fighting among the cliffs. Though Night Fae could fly, the Iron Fae had a strategic advantage: the ability to hide among and shift the giant boulders that perched precariously along the sheer rock faces.
In the end, Vadim only dismissed a handful of males, leaving a solid number to join our ranks. He instructed them to return to their families, say their goodbyes, pack their belongings, and return tomorrow at dawn for further instruction. The war council watched the males disappear into the streets of Vaenor before returning to the castle.
Liliana seized the opportunity to speak once we’d begun our trek through the halls. “I’m coming with you,” she announced.
“No fucking away,” Vadim shot back. “War is no place for a lady.”
“Females fight in the Iron Realm!” she challenged.
“Yeah, because they are bigger and stronger than other Fae females,” he retorted.
“Exactly. Iron Fae are bigger and stronger. So what is their weakness? They are slow. And I am small, light, and agile. I can dance around them all day. You need females like me to help you win this war,” she argued.
She had a point. I had watched her and Izidora both outmaneuver Viktor, who fought similarly to Iron Fae with his brutal strikes. He could be light on his feet, but when he focused on using his strength to overpower an opponent, he was slow to move.
Vadim shook his head. “I am not letting you join us. You’ll die, and mother and father will kill me for putting you in harm's way.”
“I think she has a point,” Viktor added. Vadim whipped hishead to Viktor, the former’s eyes threatening violence if the latter uttered another word.
“I’d be your secret weapon, a female that is stealthy yet deadly. Plus, I could get to Izidora easier than any of you,” Liliana pointed out.
Kaztar saved us from witnessing the siblings’ brawl in the middle of Este Castle. “Domi would love to be a part of this. No one will expect it, so we have the element of surprise. Besides, we’re supposed to arrive as a neutral party first, right? Liliana is already known as Izidora’s ladiesmaid, so we can explain their presence easily.”
Vadim had no choice but to agree. “Fucking Fates. Fine, but all the females are training daily, vigorously, with me. You will fight faster, harder, and more fearlessly than any male in our company.”
“Deal!” Liliana beamed, bouncing to Vadim’s side and wrapping him in a hug.
“But you have to tell mother and father this was all your idea,” he warned as Liliana bounded away, off to find Goddess knows what trouble.
“Let’s convene the war council after lunch. We have much preparation to do if we plan on leaving tomorrow,” Kaztar said. We parted ways in the main hall, promising to meet again in a few hours.
Fatigue, both physical and mental, washed over me as all the adrenaline that had been fueling my body the last few days dried up. Sleep sounded better than food, so I said my goodbyes to my friends and jogged to Izidora’s room. Her scent called to me the moment I opened the door, and my knees went weak as I lifted the blankets on her bed and scented her lingering arousal. Stripping out of my finery, I crawled between the sheets, burying my face in a pillow that held a few wayward strands of her chestnut hair.
My groin heated as I remembered her seduction, how she dragged me to the shower and sucked all of me down before bending over so I could enter her. I crushed a firm pillow against my body, imagining it was her laying in front of me. My hand found my hardness, and I pumped into it as if it were the wet core of my mate.
