Roan's commanding and authoritative voice as I did.
Set in the middle of the room was a long wooden table. From where I stood, I could only make out papers and small figurines on top of it. Around it though, there were plenty of massive Fae—all clothed in the same leather coverings I knew soldiers wore beneath their armor.
I stepped closer to the door, placing my palm against the surface and leaning my ear into it. The second I did so, however, the door creaked open and several heads lifted and turned my way. Heat rose to my face as Roan turned and caught me standing there.
Whelp, I'd never been much for stealth anyway, I thought, deciding to push forward. I crept into the room, shifting the door open even further to allow me access. I lifted a hand and waved.
The corner of Roan's lips twitched and he shook his head at me before waving me forward and continuing on with his speech to the soldiers. As I moved forward, heading for the outstretched hand he offered me, my mind was catapulted back to a time not that long ago, when I'd snuck in here and been caught just like I had moments before. Though I knew it wasn't, it felt as if that event that had happened so long ago. As if it had been a different life, like it had happened to a different person.
"I want three on this wall, two on this one, and at least one lookout," Roan was saying when I finally made it to his side. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Roan asked as soon as I was close enough for us to have a private conversation and not have to shout over the soldiers.
"It will be done, Your Highness," an older Fae with a silvery beard said.
"See to it," Roan said before glancing down to me. "And give me a moment. I'll be back."
"You don't have to stop for me," I protested as Roan’s hand touched my side, rounding it as he led me several paces away from the table.
"It's fine," he said. "The men needed the mental break anyway. Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine, just taking a walk," I reassured him. "I was trying to find Sorrell, but he's—"
"Don't worry about Sorrell right now, Cress," Roan said, cutting me off. "You need to rest and recover from what happened to you."
I frowned up at him. "What happened to me?" I repeated, confused.
Roan's eyes darkened. "What you experienced at the hands of the human King—"
"King Felix," I corrected him again.
He glared at me, and I shrugged. "I'm fine," I assured him. "Really. Now that I'm back, I feel better than ever. I'm golden, really."
"You're sure you don't need anything?" Roan pressed, his hand tightening on my side.
I liked the hot pulse of his palm against me even if it was over fabric, and if he'd meant in any other way, I would've said I needed him to take me to his chambers and fuck me until I couldn't see straight. But I knew his intentions and they had nothing to do with anything other than my wellbeing. "No, Roan," I said on a sigh. "I don't need anything. I was just searching for Sorrell"—I eyed him with a glare, wondering if he knew where he could be and was keeping it from me—"and I got curious as to what you were strategizing in here."
He sighed, sounding exhausted. "I'm just concerned," he said, finally. "Word of your almost execution has reached the other Courts and we've received communications from them indicating their concern."
I arched a brow. "Really?" I deadpanned. "Your mother is concerned for me?" If that wasn't a bald faced lie, I'd eat my left shoe—and though I could pack in the rolls, shoes … not so much.
Roan's lips twitched for a brief moment. "Fair," he said. "Perhaps she doesn't much care for you, but she and the Frost Queen are concerned. You may not have been my mother's choice for me, but you will be the future Crimson Princess and eventual Crimson Queen. You were abducted and almost executed by the human—"
I eyed him and he sighed.
"By King Felix," he said, correcting himself before he even finished. "Our race was betrayed by one of our own. This showcases that it's no longer our guards or our soldiers that are very much in danger; we all are. King Felix is no longer happy to just sit back and murder our brethren on the field of