The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,48

the true weight of the word. She'd spent her entire life doing everything Malek said. Now, just this once, she wanted to live for herself. Why was that so difficult for him to understand?

"And if I won't do as he commands? What then?"

"That's not in my power to say."

She snarled, disgusted by the man before her. Was this what she had been like before? Yes, my liege. No, my liege. Whatever you say, my liege. He was empty. No emotion. No personality. No thoughts aside from the ones Malek had put there.

Cassi refused to be that way again.

"The king demands you visit his dreams tonight. If you want to beg for the raven prince's life, it's your last chance to do so, or his next orders may not be so friendly. He also told me to remind you what exactly it is we're all fighting for."

"And what's that?"

"The world."

Her hands were a silvery tan in this light, yet all she saw were the bloodstains on her fingers, a vision no bath could wipe clean. The mark was internal, a wound carved into her spirit, something not even Malek's magic could heal.

"What's so great about this world?" she asked as she folded her fingers into fists. The unnamed man stared back at her like a mirror, reflecting all her awful deeds. "If we're willing to kill honest men, good men, then we're no better than the dragons. Why are we worth saving?"

"That's not up to me to decide."

"If the knife is in your hand, it should be."

A flicker passed over his eyes, there and gone before she could see exactly what it was. Maybe they weren't so different after all. "Speak with the king tonight. Your answers lie in him. When you return to the castle, say I got away and all you saw were my raven wings. My family lives in a village far away from Pylaeon, where they won't think to look. In the meantime, the royal family will believe one of their own has turned against them, a rebel after the crown. They won’t suspect it was an assassin sent by our king."

Cassi nodded.

No matter Malek's beliefs, she was still loyal to the prophecy and to Lyana, if nothing else. The avians wouldn't learn the secrets of the lands beneath the mist from her. She did want to save the world—she just didn't want to lose herself in the process.

The man left. Cassi waited for his outline to disappear into the night, then followed suit, making her way back to the castle and its tallest spire, still lit by a soft orange glow. The wrong end of a sword was the first thing to greet her upon her return. She frowned at the blade and landed inside the broken window, arching her brow at the guard with unmasked disdain.

"Put the weapon away, Dimos," Xander drawled.

He sat shirtless by the fire, a healer kneeling by his side while the queen watched with a furrowed brow. He was thin, as expected, but not in an unpleasant way. The ridges of his abdomen caught the golden glow of the flames, muscles lean and defined, forming two distinct lines that disappeared into his waistband. Shadow and light danced across his skin. It took more effort than Cassi cared to admit to shift her attention to his wound, which was already cleaned and nearly bandaged. Not quite able to hide his grimace, he rested his head in his palm, his onyx hair in disarray as it spilled over his forehead.

"How do we know she can be trusted?" Queen Mariam asked her son, a sharp look in her violet eyes as they cut toward Cassi. "All we know about her is that she came with the princess. A bird without a flock can be a dangerous thing."

"Mother." Xander sighed with a heaviness Cassi felt to her bones. "If she wanted to kill me, she's had ample opportunity. She's given us no reason not to trust her."

I'd be a terrible spy if I had, she thought, stifling her frown. His was the worst sort of reasoning, foolish and naïve, and if they were alone, she would have throttled him. Yet part of her envied his infallible ability to see the good even in a viper about to strike. I'll have to add this to the long list of things to teach him.

"Put it away, Dimos," Xander ordered again, a bit more forcefully this time. The guard glanced between his prince and his queen, then slowly