She flinched, and he immediately regretted the harsh words. Gods damn, he wasn’t good at this. Saying shit like that wasn’t going to help her nerves.

But she was already squeezing his hand and starting back down the hall before he could smooth it over.

“It’s all right,” she said. “You’re not wrong. I couldn’t even read a book about our history without help.”

Her lips twisted as she stared at the passing sconces, watching the flames flicker. “I don’t desire the crown, not in the way I would have if I’d have grown up here. But I made a promise to Eithan, and I want to keep it. I want to help both our lands, and I doubt I can do that without accepting my role.”

Jaren stiffened at hearing the chinbi srol’s name on her lips, but he somehow convinced himself to keep his mouth shut. He might’ve wanted the bastard dead, but that didn’t mean she was wrong. They stood a better chance at garnering peace with him than Sulian.

“I’d like you to be there tonight.”

His heart flipped in his chest at her sudden, soft admission, and the way she’d subconsciously tugged at their bond while she’d said it. He’d have gone tonight either way, but her words pleased him enough, he opted not to point that out.

“Always, little star.”

Chapter 23

TREY

“What the fuck are you doing back?”

He glared at the giant of a man peeking past the doorway, his scruffy face whipping back and forth as he checked to make sure the coast was clear. “Don’t fucking ignore me, Jensen.”

“Shut up.” He glanced into the hallway one last time and then shoved inside, leaving the door cracked open an inch behind him.

“All right, listen up. You’re about to have company. If ever there was a time to act like the pissed-off man I last saw, and not the mewling infant you started off as, it’s now.”

“Fuck off,” he seethed. What company could he even be talking about? Lesta?

“Perfect,” Jensen said, shooting him a shit-eating grin that boiled his blood. If Trey ever got out of these damn restraints for more than a few minutes to use a chamber pot, he’d track the asshole down and break his fucking nose.

Jensen just continued to smile, his best friend of decades knowing what he was thinking without him even having to word it.

Raising both arms, Trey gave him a double vulgar gesture, happy he had the energy to do so this time.

He’d actually felt better in the last few days than he had since before everything had happened. Healer Perry was annoyingly good at his job, and he’d even replaced his full-body restraints with smaller ones around his ankles, giving Trey the freedom to push up into a sitting position.

All of that combined with the regularly appearing meals, he’d even started to put weight back on. Nothing like the muscle he’d once had, but it was something.