ADULT CONTENT WARNING
"Not bad, for a dungeon," Ban muttered.
Not bad, but still a dungeon, with all the trappings the word suggested. His cell was dark, dank, and carried a musty smell only barely masked by the ammonia that'd been poured over the masonry to cleanse the filth away. Wherever Hugin and the others were being kept, it was far from here.
Ban sat with his back against the wall opposite the cell door. His hands remained manacled, a chain preventing him from moving more than a couple paces from where he sat, and a collar had been placed around his neck to keep the Dekaam spike in place. If he stretched his arms behind his head, he could get his fingertips on the spike, but pulling it out was impossible so long as these steel clamps were over it.
He'd spent the first two hours in his cell trying to wriggle the spike and loosen it. All he managed to do was give himself a headache. After one attempt nearly made him pass out from a sudden wave of nausea, Ban worried he might be inadvertently rupturing his own imprint. He just didn't know enough about Dekaam to know if that was even possible.
He remained in uniform. The Melcians hadn't even provided a prisoner's smock and instead let him languish in his dirty uniform, smeared with dust and grime.
All in all, Ban thought he preferred his last visit to Adezu. That hadn't been altogether pleasant, either. He'd been the object of competition between Nkeoma and Omolade, but the taverns had been great. Ban could still recall the first one Zoputan took him to, a lively sort of performance hall with a bar, and the attraction had been a troupe of nymph burlesque dancers from Nadia.
Even back then, the Akazewis toyed with Ban. Omolade only saw a match to advance her house's connections with the south. Nkeoma saw a diversion. Zoputan... Ban had thought there was honest friendship there, but recent events had made the Boy General's character plain. Ban hated them. He hated all of them.
He planned to kill them and make the killing as costly as he was able.
There was only the question of how. Locked in this cell, awaiting trial at the Warrior King's leisure, there wasn't much Ban could do.
Think twice, then think again, Ban recalled from his mentor's lessons.
He thought about it, then he set his elder magic to the task. It worked slowly, the Dekaam suppressing his hydromancy, but a few tendrils of ether managed to leak through. Ban let his elder magic flow. He sighed in relief as the cost it exacted claimed him.
Not the cost. No, this was the real gift.
Ban opened his eyes and found himself sitting with his bare back to a pine tree. The ground was soft beneath him, and he'd cleared the snow away with a sigil. The grass was still brown, but at least it was dry. He didn't think he'd be able to get any rest if he tried sleeping on damp or frozen ground while he was this naked.
Moon came around the tree in a similar state of undress. She'd taken her hair out of its little braids and let it hang long and free down her back. That shade of platinum blonde was unlike anything Ban had seen on a mortal. Common talk spoke of Southrons and Teulites often having pale blonde hair, and the two Aleesh he knew of were more golden. No offense to the Lady Yora, but Ban preferred Moon's hair.
Everything about Moon was another reason to adore her.
Waves, but she was beautiful. Ban took Moon's hand as she sat beside him and rested her head against his shoulder. He put his arms around her back and ran his fingertips over the short fur on her thighs. Moon sighed in contentment.
It'd been their first time together, and they lazed the remaining hours before sunset in the afterglow. This was a perfect day.
A loud clanging snapped Ban back into the present. His back ached as it pressed against stone, and his nose burned from the stench of ammonia. His teeth still hurt, too. Reality reasserted itself, reminding him of how he'd lost the woman who'd mattered most to him.
Losing her again, Ban ground his cracked molars together and snarled like a rabid animal at the cell door as it opened.
"Be wary about this one," the guard warned her assistant. "The prince names him dangerous."
Ban's jailers entered, looking down their perfectly sculpted noses at him. One woman was dark-skinned with white hair, the other pale-skinned with black hair. Both had eyes that burned with yellow light, slit pupils like a beast's or an assassin's. Ban's jailers were seely fey. They were the same height as an average mortal. Their bodies were lithe and graceful, and they were crowned by a pair of spiraling horns that rose a foot above their head. Ban curled his lip at them.
For the bright folk of the seely fey, succubi had a dark reputation.
A succubus was said to be born from a spirit of love. That might've been the original intent of the spirit caller who first pulled their race into being, but the stories Ban heard of them wouldn't account for such a soft origin. Succubi were fierce when trained for battle, cruel when tasked as guards. Depraved was among the kinder words the enemies of House Akazewi gave to one of Melcia's favored servitor races of fey. Succubi were born from spirits of lust.
For prison guards, they didn't dress accordingly. Both were in backless silk gowns that hung from halters around their necks. It almost looked like they were taking a stroll from a gala to gawk at a new attraction.
The younger, black-haired succubus approached Ban. He tensed.
"Lemia, careful," the other, seemingly the one in charge, said harshly. "Take his scent. Know the danger he poses. The prince demands an accurate assessment of the prisoner's health."
Bending at the waist and bringing her face close to Ban's, Lemia's nostrils flared. The slit pupils of her yellow eyes dilated. "Ash-blessed."
"Mind your tongue," the white-haired succubus said sharply. "You will speak properly while in the capital, or you will nay speak at all."
Lemia looked back at the other and bobbed her head. "As you say, Gorga. Your forgiveness for the lapse."
"See it nay happens again, or worse, in the presence of our lords."
Lemia bowed her head.
That was good enough for Ban. Inexperienced, she'd dropped her guard inside his reach. Ban kicked up with his legs and wrapped them around Lemia's waist. He drug her down and sat straddled on top of her, pressing the chain linking his manacles down hard across her throat. Ban bared his teeth as he looked up at Gorga.
"Keys," he spat, "or I'll snap her neck."
Lemia choked and wheezed as she fought to pull in air. She struggled underneath Ban, but he was too heavy and too strong for her to push off. Ban's legs were still wrapped around her waist, and she couldn't find purchase with her legs while her lower half was raised up off the ground.
The other succubus, Gorga, remained in the cell's doorway with her arms crossed. She wore an unconcerned expression and said nothing.
"Release me!"
Lemia's struggles grew steadily weaker as Ban throttled the life out of her. Her fingernails dug shallow furrows across Ban's forearms.
Gorga took a slow step backward and closed the cell door. The sound of the latch locking preceded her light footsteps fading down the dungeon corridor.
"Wretch!" Ban shouted after her. "Next, send your undertaker! You'll only find me and a corpse waiting!"
He looked down at Lemia underneath him. Her face had passed turning red and was starting to go purple. Helpless tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and her struggles were barely more than a token resistance. Ban yearned to press down harder with his chains and crush her throat. Smash his fists down and destroy something beautiful before he paid for it. He wanted to deserve what Adeyemi had in store for him.
Waves, but he already did.
Ban gnashed his teeth and pulled his chains off her and got to his feet. He paced the back of his cell and beat his manacles against the wall repeatedly. Wild and past the point he could rein in his rage, Ban smashed his bindings against the stone again and again to no effect.
Lemia coughed as she pulled in a lungful of air. Weakly, she crawled towards the cell door where Ban's chains would keep him from reaching.
Seeing something weak attempting to escape awoke a predator's instinct in Ban. He lunged for her and grabbed her ankle. With a heave, he drug her back into his clutches. Lemia kicked and screamed, but she was overpowered in moments. Ban held her down underneath him, one hand gripping one of her horns to press her face into the stone, the other held to her neck."
"Black slayer scents of blood," she whimpered. "More blood than a hundred hearts can hold."
Ban brought his mouth close to her ear. His voice was menace. "Black as black gets."
Lemia was unable to move for her terror.
"White-scented are ashen," Ban said. "Must be cleansed by blood. Will be cleansed. I will scent of more blood. My ashen hands will be black until end of days. Nothing can cleanse me!"
Lemia was desperate. Her fey powers struck out at Ban, seeking to bewitch his mind. She attempted to awaken desire in him, stoking the fires of his lust. Ban felt it strike him like a hammer, the sudden and immediate awareness that Lemia was beautiful and helpless. He could do anything he wished to her before the other one brought more guards.
It was a paltry attempt. Ban had weathered powers far stronger than hers ever since he first met Reyn. Against a selkie's Voice, Ban had been able to resist Reyn's allure by knowing beyond any doubt where his heart belonged. He resisted a succubus' enchantment now by knowing he no longer had a heart at all.
"A true name gifted to me by empty one of forest-kith," Ban said. "True name sighted in my black flames. His eyes were clouded. The name he sighted was true name, yet he was clouded for why my name is true."
Lemia gurgled as Ban's grip tightened on her throat.
"I can only be what I am," Ban whispered.
The struggles beneath him all but ceased.
Ban's eyes sighted black. "I am Death Fire."
The cell door burst open, and the haft of a spear struck Ban in the temple. He was thrown to the side. A Melcian armsmen stood over Ban with his spear raised and ready to drive downward.
"Nay move, beast," the boy ordered with a trembling voice. "Nay move or I'll slay you where you lie."
A second armsmen knelt beside Lemia. Gently, the young man assisted her to sit up and held her to his chest as she coughed and wept against him. Lemia's supervising succubus stood in the doorway with a frown on her lips as she glared down at her subordinate.
Ban laughed. "Train your apprentices better, floundering hag."
Gorga scowled his way. "All further maintenance of this prisoner and cell are suspended. Let him rot. Mayhaps when he is near death of thirst, he will prove more compliant."
Ban's mouth widened into a rictus grin. "Drop by yourself and find out."
Gorga ordered the armsmen to bring Lemia out and away from the cell. Once the younger fey was on her way to the infirmary, the door slammed shut and left Ban alone with his hatred. His enraged howls followed them.
Once his fury was spent and he'd shouted his throat raw, Ban looked down at the wounds Lemia's nails left on his arm. He grinned. As his elder magic told him, there was a way to have his vengeance on House Akazewi.
"Think twice," Ban said as he used his own nails to cut a new line to connect the wounds. "Then, think again."
Ignoring the ringing in his ears from the blow to his head, Ban shrugged his uniform coat down to his shoulders and set to work.
oOo
Jin winced as Enfri dabbed a ball of cotton soaked in alcohol against her cheek. The sutures looked to be holding, but the flesh was still red and angry. Enfri was worried some of the lake water had gotten into the cut and would cause an infection. Tough as Jin was, Enfri had noted on several occasions that her immune system wasn't as strong as it could've been.
As pressing as the cut on Jin's face was, Enfri had needed her to wait a little before being treated. Lady Thal was still in rough shape and had yet to regain consciousness. Enfri had given her another round of alchemical treatments before leaving Odjualla to watch over her in a different guest room. Once Thal was that much closer to recovery, Enfri was able to give Jin her undivided attention.
"I better not hear any complaints," Enfri huffed. "Far as I'm concerned, you're lucky it wasn't worse. If Lido Fifth Summit hadn't stopped that man, your head would've fared about as well as a melon."
Jin's eyes were on the floor of Enfri's room in the Velahrai manor. She sat on the stone bed platform, her hands folded in her lap. "You are cross with me."
"I should blustering say so," Enfri exclaimed. "Winds and storms, my light. If you... I thought..."
She hadn't yet worked through the experience, and the lingering fear poured out of her as tears and gasping sobs. It'd been awful, one of the worst moments of her life. Winds, it beat even her brief death by a league. She'd thought her brashness in rubbing their betrothal in Chaya Domun's face would cost Jin her life. Enfri had nearly killed Jin with her naive belief that everything would turn out the way she wanted.
Jin was on her feet immediately. She held Enfri to her chest and stroked her hair. "It's alright, my heart. I'm alright."
Enfri sniffled. "I can't lose you. I don't know who I'd be without you. I don't ever want to have to find out."
To say it'd been a mess would be the mother of all understatements. Most of the Gladiator's and the Corsair's crews were itching to find Tola and put him in chains. Enfri was already regretting voicing her suspicions that he'd had a hand in inciting the mob and giving it nudges towards a violent confrontation. Besides a strong hunch and a wayward monkey, Enfri didn't have any evidence that was the case, and she wasn't a hydromancer who could trust her insight implicitly.
The elders condemned the violence shown to Jin, though half were more furious at Enfri for allowing Jin into the enclave in the first place. It'd taken Enfri's most solemn promises to convince them to allow Jin to stay. As for Elise, she was remaining quiet on the matter. Curious and unexpected, but she hadn't yet tried to use the incident to her advantage. Perhaps the truce was holding Elise back, or she didn't want to jeopardize the cure Enfri was offering. Whatever the case was, Elise told the elders she had no objections to Jin's presence.
Gradually, Enfri mastered her tears and wiped her eyes. She pulled back from Jin. "I'm sorry. Just when I think I'm used to all this, I turn into a blubbering mess again."
"Never apologize for being human," Jin said. She caressed Enfri's cheek with her thumb to wipe away the last of her tears. "Forgive me, my heart. I should not have done as I did."
"No," Enfri said adamantly. "As much as it gave me a heart attack, you... I've never seen anything like it. You calmed a blustering mob."
Jin grimaced and touched at her sutures. "I could have handled it better. I shamed your people. I presumed to tell them what they needed to do. After all they've been through, I had no right."
Enfri frowned. "Honestly, they should be ashamed. There's no excuse."
"There is. They've every excuse and every reason to be angry towards my house."
Enfri raised an eyebrow. "Put some thought into this?"
"Recent events have led me to think often and at length of my father's rule. I've come to believe the rise in violent resistance against him is symptomatic of a larger problem than mere demons."
"Excuse me? Worse than demons?"
"Mortals are far worse than the old masters," Jin said quietly. "Without our failings, the demons wouldn't have the tools to further their ends."
"Jin, where's this coming from?"
She backed away from Enfri and turned towards the window. Jin let out a slow breath as she looked out at the early afternoon light coming in through the jungle canopy. "I... am ashamed, my heart. I'm ashamed of what I've done."
"At Sandharbor," Enfri said softly. She could tell when Jin was especially upset by how she dropped her usual formal mode of speech. She'd done it when she shouted at the mob, and she was doing it again now.
Jin's nod was almost imperceptible. "I cared greatly for Omolade once. I've confessed to you before that I once convinced myself I was in love with her. When I learned she was dead, I felt nothing. Nothing but anger at what she'd done. Yet at the same time, I understood her. Better than any other in your empire, I understand why the kings of the Continent would fear you. My life was dedicated to preventing the rise of a new Shan Alee, so I know what led Omolade to sacrifice herself. It's a choice I'd have once made in her place." Jin made a fist and tapped it lightly on the window sill. "I punished the Melcians for doing as I would've done. My heart, how can you stand to look at me? I'm a killer."
Enfri drew closer and placed a hand on Jin's shoulder. "My light, you do as you believe you must. That's always been what I've loved about you. You say you'd be on Adeyemi's side if things were different, but you learned a better way. The Jin I first met wouldn't have taken those punches and say she deserved worse. She wouldn't believe the Aleesh have a place beside the Althandi. The Jin I first met was a royal assassin. The Jin I love, she's..."
"I'm not a knight," Jin interrupted, breathless. "I wish I could be, but I'm not."
"It's more than not wanting a dragon bond," Enfri said, realizing something she felt she should've known from the beginning. "All this time, I've thought you didn't want one because you were raised to hate dragons. But that can't be it. Winds, you love Deebee as much as I do. You're friends with Kimpo and Grimdar, Saveen and all the others. You respect them, and they adore you. My light, is it you don't think you deserve one?"
"I know I don't." Her hand rose to hold on to Enfri's on her shoulder. "I have received so much I don't deserve."
Enfri shushed her. "That's my line."
Jin turned away from the window to look into her eyes, and Enfri smiled.
"I don't deserve your love," Enfri said, "but maybe it's not about what we deserve. I'm sorry, Jin, for all I've put you through. You didn't sign on for any of this, and you've lost so much ever since you came back to me."
Jin's brow furrowed as if she couldn't comprehend what Enfri was talking about. "I never once regretted it. Never once."
"Winds, but I think I believe you. What a rare and precious woman you are, Jin Algara."
Jin sniffed and blinked back a tear. "Don't get used to that surname."
Enfri giggled and pulled her into a hug. "We're going to be married. We'll be happy. We're going to have all the children you want, and your sister can teach them how to put on cosmetics, and Deebee can tell them stories, and whoever pops out of her egg can be one of our babies' partner one day, and we'll be a family forever."
Jin snorted. "One of our children forged to their mighty uncle? It'll raise some eyebrows."
"Come off it. Every bond is different. Mine's a mother daughter thing, Kolbat's is a marriage, and Ban's is... some sort of... bizarre sibling rivalry."
"As you say."
"And another thing, why've you always been so certain Deebee's hatchling is going to be a boy?"
"She told me so. Deebee plans to incubate on a high flame so her son may one day sire dragonets with Vollo the Redeemer's daughters." Jin chuckled. "She's already told me the name she and Kimpo chose for him."
Enfri pulled back and gasped. "She told you and not me?"
"You were busy."
"Tell me, tell me!"
Jin smirked. "It comes with the assumption that he will be affected by nesting with his red sisters."
Enfri was ready to start swatting. "Out with it. What's my brother's name going to be?"
"Shaia," Jin said with a wide smile. "Deebee and Kimpo wish to name him Shaia."
Enfri racked her brain, but it appeared her affinity for the Aeldenn Tones didn't extend to the ancient dragon songs. "Shaia the..."
"Shaia the Gambler."
"Oh ho, they're expecting a rapscallion, are they?"
"Bracing for one, yes. Kimpo anticipates Ban will be an influence on him."
"And Kimpo's eggs? Have they picked any names for them? Winds, I'm going to have dragon sisters, too!"
"Kimpo's having a hard time deciding, but they've settled on naming their eldest daughter Anura the Paladin."
Enfri got a flat look. "You're joking."
Jin seemed surprised. "I thought it a lovely name."
"Yes, me too, and that's why I was going to say we should name our first daughter Anura. It's Aeldic for summer. I never thought it'd be a dragon word, too!" Enfri thumped her fist into a palm and got a sour look. "Drat. They've got a head start. There's no beating them to it."
Jin covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes were sparkling with amusement. "Winds save me. You're a lot more eager about it than you were a few days ago."
Enfri flicked her wrist dismissively. She was still annoyed at losing first dibs to Anura. "Papa and I had a chat about Mother. Put some things behind me I needed to."
"That was why you were so hesitant?"
Enfri swallowed and nodded. "Maybe I should've said. Wasn't the easiest thing for me to talk about."
Jin tucked a strand of Enfri's hair behind her ear, then leaned in for a kiss. "I love you, Enfri. Thank you for reminding me of just how much I love you."
Suddenly bashful, Enfri mumbled something that might've been an appropriate response, but Jin's kisses had a habit of putting her out of sorts.
Jin's hand played across Enfri's bare stomach, and the contact caused her to shiver.
"When'd you get abdominals?" Jin asked between kisses as she guided Enfri towards the bed. "I would have noticed."
Jin's affection was only growing more insistent, so it was difficult getting out an answer between kisses. "I don't... really know. Maybe... a few... weeks ago? Lots of sit-ups... a hundred... every morning."
"What else?" Jin's hands moved to Enfri's backside and got a firm grip.
Enfri needed to concentrate to keep her thoughts in order. Grabbing her backside was the surest way to get her heart racing. "Push-ups? Spear kata. Jog a quarter-league."
Jin moaned.
Enfri drew back in shock. "My workout routine gets you hot and bothered?"
"You blustering know it does." Jin dropped to her knees and tugged Enfri's skirt and smallclothes off. Her teeth nipped at her inner thigh, eliciting a gasp. "Let me watch?"
"Will I survive the aftermath?"
"Debatable," Jin said. She pushed Enfri into a sitting position on the bed and put her legs over her shoulders.
Enfri arched her back as Jin's tongue found its way between her legs. She bit her lip to stifle a moan and held the back of Jin's head. Her fingers tightened their grip on Jin's hair, and that seemed to encourage Jin to be more forceful.
"Privacy wards," Enfri panted. "Jin, privacy wards."
Jin was too preoccupied to speak, so she gave Enfri a thumbs up.
With nothing stopping her, Enfri cried out. She felt Jin pull away and heard a frantic rustling. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Jin had whipped off her leather armor faster than it should've been possible and tossed it over her shoulder. Jin returned to her work with a manic energy. Enfri screamed again.
Writhing on top of the bedsheets, Enfri thought she ought to get the rest of her clothes off. She unbuttoned her blouse and tried pulling it over her head, but the buttons got caught in her hair. An undignified squawk came out of her. "Help?"
Jin's hands quested up the length of her torso. They paused at Enfri's breasts. Then they stayed there. They kept staying there, and Enfri decided she'd receive no help with her dilemma while Jin was distracted. Getting her hair free of the dratted buttons would've been hard enough, but it was all the more difficult because Jin insisted on massaging her chest the whole time.
This was different from their usual rendezvouses. Jin rarely took the initiative and usually wanted Enfri to take the lead. Enfri didn't mind changing things up. Winds, but who could argue with Jin's foreplay? It was just out of the ordinary and left Enfri wondering what had gotten into Jin to make her assume the dominant role.
Jin was always so controlled, so focused on maintaining her sense of discipline. It must've come as a relief to her when she gave herself over to Enfri, letting someone else be the one fully in control of the next few moments. Jin was allowed a surrender where she needn't concern herself with anything but enjoying Enfri's touch. On the other side of the coin, Enfri admittedly took a great deal of satisfaction from assuming that control when most of her life had been spent having none at all over her own life. They'd ended up being as compatible in the bedroom as Enfri could imagine two people being.
Which wasn't to say Enfri wasn't excited by this sudden change in their roles. Winds, no. This was phenomenal. She'd have to draw the line at getting tied up, though. Enfri didn't think she'd enjoy that a fraction as much as Jin seemed to. She needed to be free to flail a bit.
Jin stopped her tongue play, and Enfri nearly started pouting. She'd been enjoying that. There was no time to dwell on it, because Jin flipped her onto her stomach and climbed up to lay on top of her. One arm wrapped around Enfri's neck and pulled her head back while the other reached down to continue the good work she'd begun.
"Not so rough," Enfri whispered.
Jin hummed as she eased her grip, and her fingers slid in and out of her with a little less vigor. She kissed Enfri's neck in ways that were likely to leave bruises. Jin's hips rose and fell against Enfri's thigh, and Enfri wished her arms were just an inch or two longer so she could reach back and lend some assistance. There wasn't much she could do for Jin in this position. She was utterly powerless.
Enfri gripped the sheets. She kept her eyes closed as the sensations grew more intense. She needed to concentrate just to remember she needed to breathe, and Jin's kisses had fallen into a single sustained bite on her neck that was starting to turn painful. It was a good pain. Far too good.
One of Jin's fingers then went somewhere completely unexpected, and Enfri climaxed right then and there. She was glad for the privacy ward, because her cry would've drawn the attention of everyone on the next tree over.
"Already?" Jin laughed into Enfri's hair.
"Winds, it's been a while."
"Lush."
"Said the girl with her finger up my arse."
"You liked it. Don't argue."
Enfri scrunched up her face. She'd never admit it. Never.
Jin hugged Enfri from behind, going for her breasts again. Enfri squirmed and kicked but couldn't fight her off. Jin knew her sensitive bits got ten times more sensitive after a climax, and she went for them anyway. Enfri would've been angry if it didn't feel so blustering good. She buried her face in the blankets and moaned as she pounded her fists against the stone slab of the bed.
The second climax was much more intense than the first. How? How'd Jin do that just by playing around with her nipples? It defied reason. It defied biology! Blustering how?
"Sorcery," Enfri said, muffled by the blankets. "No other explanation. Sorceress!"
Jin rolled off of Enfri and lay on her back beside her. "Naturally. I use every tool at my disposal, my heart. I would have taken a second pair of arms if I could."
Enfri groped blindly about her before her hand came to rest on Jin's stomach. She adored Jin's abdominals and could spend hours tracing her fingers along their contours if no one stopped her. Enfri forced herself up onto her arms before flopping down with her face on Jin's stomach. She ran her tongue over Jin's skin as fingers twined through her hair.
"I saw to myself," Jin said.
Enfri grunted a negative. "This is still for me."
Jin's contented sigh was all the permission Enfri needed. She'd see to every inch of Jin if she had the energy to. She kept up her worship of Jin's muscles while getting her back stroked. It was the best way to end a rendezvous Enfri knew of.
"Why the switch?" Enfri asked, resting her cheek on Jin and staring up at her face.
Jin had her eyes closed and smiled. "Felt right."
Enfri giggled. "Fair enough."
"It is still the middle of the day. We should find Saveen."
"Ah, yes," Enfri said in anticipation. "You think she's finished?"
Jin nodded. "Pacifica's plan will work. Lord Darian is privy to things a prisoner might not question why he was allowed to overhear. He didn't appear to find it at all out of the ordinary that Saveen left Grimdar to 'scout ahead' as we told him."
"Our little Bastion certainly works hard. Remarkable how often we end up relying on her since she showed up."
"You should put more thought into who her Sapphire will be. In my estimation, Saveen has already earned her place among your knights."
Enfri pursed her lips and nodded. She'd always held out a little hope that Krayson would eventually consent to having their bond reforged. As time went by, it no longer felt like it was something that would or even should happen. There'd been another Enfri thought would be a good match for Saveen, but that was just as unfeasible.
Jin slid out from underneath Enfri and got out of bed. "Time to rise, my heart. We have an exile to entrap and a people to win over. Let us get to work."