Gilded Serpent Danielle Jensen (i can read with my eyes shut .TXT) 📖

ladies while flattery poured from their lips and allowing the men to pound him on the back while they offered congratulations for his rise to command, all of it holding a false, calculated air.

Servants with trays of delicacies circulated, the expectation that one eat their fill on endless tiny mouthfuls, and Killian’s stomach instantly began to ache beneath the onslaught. His constitution was more used to rations than this rich fare.

“Lady Ria Rowenes.”

The herald’s voice split the air, and Killian turned to watch Ria come into the room. Her hair was woven into a coronet around her head, the dark red gown she wore high-necked and long-sleeved, all the skin he’d seen earlier now covered by brocade. She nodded at those who’d dropped into bows and curtsies, then squared her shoulders and approached him.

What Killian wanted to do was flee the room and whatever conversation was to come, but he stood his ground. “My lady.”

She inclined her head. “My lord.” And though she wore cosmetics, color bloomed on her cheeks. “I wish to apologize for my earlier conduct. It was inappropriate, and I clearly misjudged your character.”

Gods, this conversation was to be worse than he feared. And this time, Finn wasn’t here to rescue him. “Put it from your mind.”

Her amber eyes were fixed on his chin as she said, “I fear I cannot, for the motivation that pushed me to act remains.”

His skin prickled, his mark warning him of something … “I take it your actions were not driven by—”

“No.” Ria’s color burned even higher, but the eyes that flicked up to meet his were uncowed. “Not that I’d be averse.”

“You flatter me.” A lie, because mostly she made him uncomfortable in his own skin.

Malahi’s cousin huffed out an amused breath, seeing the truth he hadn’t given. “Will you walk with me? There is something I wish to discuss with you in private.”

Part of him wanted to avoid any circumstance that involved being alone with her. But while his mark warned him of a great many things, incoming seductions wasn’t one of them. This was bigger than that. So he offered her his arm. “As you like.”

Ria said nothing as she led him out of the dining room and through the palace. They exited through a side door, moving through the darkening streets of Rotahn to the exterior wall, where they mounted the stairs to the ramparts. The soldiers on guard bowed low but did not interfere as they walked down its length. Ria finally dropped his arm to lean her elbows on the stone, her eyes on the sun setting in the west.

“The border Mudamora shares with Anukastre is longer than that with any other nation,” she finally said. “It’s also the most poorly defended.”

“It’s not the threat that Derin or Gendorn are.”

She was silent for a moment, then murmured, “My people who suffer to defend Mudamora’s wealth would say otherwise.” Turning, she looked up at him. “The King is my uncle and High Lord of these lands, but he does not hold them as close to his heart as I do. And the decisions he’s made in recent years might well be good for Mudamora, but they have not favored Rotahn.”

“Such is the nature of being king.”

“I don’t deny that.” She sighed. “But my duty is to protect these people. And without soldiers and resources, I can’t do that. With every passing week, the Anuk grow bolder in their raids, attacking the mining camps and stealing our gold. Any attempt to resist is met with steel, and those fighting are miners, not soldiers.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “They are terrified. That’s why I begged my uncle to send us help.”

Guilt twisted through Killian’s stomach, because he’d believed Serrick had sent him only to keep his coffers from being harmed. Not once had he considered that it wasn’t just gold the Anuk were taking, but lives. “The five hundred men with me know their business, and the Anuk are no fools. Once they’ve word of our presence, they’ll desist.”

“And once they do, my uncle will only take his soldiers back to rejoin the main army. And it will all begin again.”

Which was precisely what Killian had been hoping for. To spend a few weeks fighting raiders until they decided that the cost was not worth the reward and retreated.

“I thought,” she said softly, “that if I gave you reason to want to be here, that you might convince the King to allow you to remain.”

Killian’s skin was prickling like an army of fire ants marched across him, every instinct in him screaming danger. The Anuk had never been considered a significant threat in the past, their numbers too few, the terrain too difficult to bring large forces across. But that was before Mudamora had nearly lost the war with Derin. The Anuk knew they were weak.

Your duty is to Mudamora. To your people.

What his heart wanted didn’t matter.

Taking Ria by the shoulders, he looked into her eyes. “The Anuk have taken advantage of the Corrupter’s actions by choosing to attack Mudamora now. They act not only against us, but against the Six. And I think it is high time there was a reckoning.”

 32TERIANA

The camp was located not too far from the xenthier, near a waterfall that toppled down the cliff into a deep pool. The crystal water called Teriana’s name after a long day of walking through humid jungle.

The camp itself was small, but strangely familiar, the men working to fell trees and build walls to surround the perimeter. A fire burned, and the char of grilling meat filled the air.

Tossing her pack on the ground next to Quintus’s, she said, “I’m going to have a swim. And then I want some of whatever it is that’s cooking.”

“Stay close,” Marcus said, then his eyes flicked to Quintus. “Don’t let anything eat her or I’ll feed you to it next.”

Laughing, Quintus led her down to the water’s edge, exchanging greetings with the legionnaires they passed.

“Anything swimming in