Chapter 117

"Will that need stitches?" I asked, hovering over Creed's shoulder, then Silas'. I slid my hand along my rogue's arm, rubbing up and down as if to persuade myself he was here in one piece.

Mostly.

"Creed—"

"Jessalyn, Silas will be fine." His heavy hand on my shoulder felt like he was keeping me from floating away and I quickly covered it to give it a squeeze. "I've healed him from far worse. Now, I'm going to brew up a tonic—"

"Gods, no…" Silas groaned, then shot me an almost shy smile. "I think I'd rather take my chances healing naturally."

"You'll be singing another tune when your arm starts to rot and we have to cut it off at the shoulder because it stinks so much," Roan said. "Then you've only got one arm to hug our girl…"

"Hmm…" Silas' snaked his uninjured arm around my waist, tugging me closer. "He makes a compelling argument."

We'd made love in the early hours of the morning, and yet now, I felt curiously shy. The two of us seemed to skirt each other, getting closer and closer until he pulled me in. His forehead pressed against mine, his lips dropping down before—

"So I see you are in good hands, Brother?"

"Where the fuck did you come from?" Roan spluttered as Selene strode through the door.

"Through the door, just like anyone else." Her cool green gaze took in the wound, Creed working to clean it and the guard room where we all clustered.

"And you should be in a strong pair too," Silas replied, standing up despite Creed's protests. "The only thing I can think of that would drag you out of Rose's bed is Guild business. What news can you possibly have to share now, Raven?"

"You're the…?" Roan's finger poked the air. "You're…?"

"The Raven?" She strolled forward, pushing his hand down. "Why yes, I am."

"But you're a sister of the Temple—" he said.

"I've just come from a meeting with the Holy Mother, and a treaty between The Guild and the Temple is being drawn up as we speak," Selene replied coolly. "The sisters have some ideas about how to improve the lot of women that I find most compelling. I'm to bring them to the next meeting of Guild families." Her focus shifted to Silas. "As well as your expulsion."

"They want to kick me out?" Silas chuckled then shook his head when his sister just stared back at him.

"There were calls to execute you," she replied. "You know our ways. You challenged the Raven and lost. Father should've killed you for the dishonour but he was…" Selene smiled. "Otherwise engaged. I argued that because you didn't win or lose, instead your contract would be revoked."

She produced a scroll with a flourish, a great splash of black wax sealing it closed, a stylised raven impressed into it.

"My contract…" I watched Silas move towards it as if she held a holy relic, not a wax splattered document. "No one gets their contracts cancelled."

"The new royal spymaster can't be seen to be influenced by any outside organisations." Selene pressed the scroll into Silas' hands, watching his fingers close around it. "That idea helped me get the vote through to relinquish your contract. You're free, Brother."

"Well, don't start letting your guard down now." We all looked up as Arik joined us, the lines in his face now deeper. All of us were trying to bear up despite not having nearly enough sleep, but with an invasion impending, he couldn't exactly slip away for a nap. "By the mumblings in the war room, we'll need every scrap of information you can find." Arik noted the wound down Silas' arm, but when he didn't see any more, he seemed satisfied, clapping him on his uninjured shoulder. "It turns out starting a revolution is a lot easier than trying to bring about stability again. Do you think you're up for the job?"

"Working out which of Magnus' cronies deserve to keep their lands? Bringing the most egregious members of the aristocracy to trial? Identifying who would be the best people to elevate in the power vacuum that creates?" Silas smiled. "I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for just that role." His eyes narrowed as he took in Selene. "The previous kings of Khean outsourced most of the work of the spymaster to the Raven. That won't be happening this time."

"But we will talk," she linked her arm in his, "as family. I think weekly checkups are in order, just until things settle down again."

"Sorry to break up this touching moment of sibling love, but I walked out of a strategy meeting when someone brought word that you'd returned to the palace," Arik said. "I could use your support there." His focus shifted to the rest of us. "All of you." His hands raked through hair that looked considerably less blond now, whether from stress or lack of washing. "The general and his officers are getting… excited. I gave them free rein to defend Khean from attack, but they are starting to talk about invasions."

"Invading Lanzene and Matteau?" Roan scoffed. "Are they insane?"

"The elders won't support that," Creed said with a definite shake of his head. "The army would be crossing the border on its own."

"And right now they'd welcome the challenge." Arik sighed. "They are flush with victory and starting to think they can tackle any enemy that dares get in their way. If the wolf shifters won't sally forth, then they'll just find a way around that, but…"

I frowned, listening to the four of them discuss that idea, seeing what they didn't. Motherless children, weeping widows, because what they saw as potential for glory would come at such a high cost, I wasn't sure how anyone could consider it. When my eyes lifted, I caught Selene staring at me, a small nod indicating that she was thinking something similar.

"Anyway, I have to get back, but I don't have to do it alone. It was always the Bastard and his band." Arik smiled slowly. "No reason why that can't continue. No Magnus, no Raven…" He winked at Selene. "Or a new Raven at least. Seems like this mission would be a hell of a lot easier than the ones we were sent on before."

"Watching the general's face when I walk in and take a seat?" Roan said with a grin. "That'd be worth sitting through an interminably boring meeting all on its own."

I wondered at that, at the tension it would create. Arik valued Roan's counsel, which meant he deserved a place at the table, but if Stormare had a rigid social hierarchy, so did Khean.

"I need to represent the interests of the wolf shifters," Creed said, "until the elders arrive. Word was sent to them?"

"A raven was sent last night," Arik informed him. "So, my band must attend, but…"

I felt like a little girl who was sitting with the adults, not a woman with her four mates, so when his attention transferred to me, I almost took a step backwards. What did I know of war, or spying, of being a shifter or a soldier? No one had bothered to teach me anything about the art of war, because why would they?

"You need to rest." Arik stood before me, hands so gentle as they brushed my cheeks, forcing me to turn my face into them. "You're still healing and haven't had nearly enough sleep. We must spend more time than we'd like in the war room until our borders are secured, but that doesn't mean you have to. Creed has handpicked your royal guard. They'll keep you safe until we return in time for dinner."

Dinner? It wasn't even lunch now and the thought of sleeping the day away was both tempting and horrifying at the same time. My fingers worried the brocade of my dress, tracing the prickly shapes stitched in gold thread in rapid circles, but I didn't dare say anything. I'd spent a lot of time in my own room, enjoying my own company, but the thought of doing that now set my teeth on edge.

"Men are brave on the battlefield, my daughter," my mother had said to me as we watched some of our soldiers march off to give aid to whichever of our allies had wrung a concession from my father. "Women need to be brave when they say goodbye to them with no tears, no pleas for them to stay. We each have a difficult role to play during times of war."

I didn't want to be brave. It was like a muscle inside me that had been used too much and now, it was exhausted. My body felt shaky, my head too light, but I pressed a kiss into his palm and then nodded.

"Be here for dinner, or I'll be forced to break into your war room and drag you out by your ear," I said in a terribly waspish tone that had the lot of them chuckling.

"No rest for the wicked then." Silas placed a gentle kiss on my lips before pulling away. "But will you be all right? After yesterday—"

"I'll stay." Creed nodded decisively. "I care not for the war or the invasion, just you, Jess. A moment in that room away from my mate?" As his hands flexed, I saw his claws form and then fade away. "I can't bear it. I won't."

"And the wolf shifters won't listen to us," Arik reminded him with a regretful look. "Kern is trying his best in there, but…"

"Go." My training reasserted itself as I injected all the warmth, all of the assurance I could muster into my voice. "I will be here, waiting. Perhaps I will talk to the cooks…" My heart lightened a little at that. Busy, yes, that was just the ticket. "See if Desiree is working and if she can make you your favourite foods."

"Anything but her bloody steak and kidney pie," Roan said before pulling me close. "Do not let her convince you to put that on the table."

"No steak and kidney pie." I nodded, then went up on my tiptoes, my hands landing on his broad chest, marvelling at the breadth of it, that it was all mine to touch now. "I promise."

I tried to focus on what they would like to eat as they filed out the door. Mother had spent considerable time on her menus. Her dinner parties were complimented by ambassadors from all over the world, but I… Selene turned to me then, that cat-like smile of hers evident.

"You've survived a murder attempt from a king and my father's not so gentle attentions. Planning a menu for your men?" She shook her head. "That's nowhere near exciting enough for you. If you want to see how Desiree is doing, you'll need to come with me to Cheapside, Princess."

"Cheapside…" I looked around the room, trying hard not to stare at the shadows. Selene and Silas asserted their father was dead, but I couldn't seem to stop looking for a sign of him. I shook my head as if to dislodge those concerns. "I can't. I said I'd ensure they had a hot dinner on the table when they returned, and a war council is no doubt exhausting and frustrating work."

"Those idiots were eating mouldy bread and cow's arsehole when they were at the front," she replied. "They can fend for themselves in a palace well stocked with food. And anyway…" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "There's some things I need to show you."

Walking out of the palace covered in one of Sister Selene's voluminous robes made clear I hadn't learned anything from my previous experiences. She'd pulled it over my head to disguise me from the guards that were stationed outside the room. The further we walked away from the palace though, the faster my feet moved, as if they barely skimmed across the ground. Selene noted this and then waved down a carriage, the two of us climbing in before it set off for Cheapside.

The stink of the place, the pools of disgusting looking water pocking the muddy roads were still there and more beside. Evidence of the chaos from before was shoved against the shoulder of the roads. Broken carriages, splintered wood, even discarded weapons and armour marked the places where the royal guard had fled and were stopped by the masses. Some people picked through the mess now, looking for something to salvage. We, however, rolled up to a small but neat cottage, two familiar children appearing.

"Selene!" Benny shouted, running up to throw himself at her legs, his nose now clear. "And sweeties lady!" My heart couldn't help but warm as he grinned up at me. "Got any more lollies on you?"

"Benjamin Harold Kilmister!" a familiar voice called out, Desiree's flushed face appearing in the doorway right as her eyes went wide. Her hand strayed to the head cloth she'd tied around her head to cover the mess the Raven had made of her hair. "Oh goddess…" She rushed over and took both our hands. "You're all right? I sent word to the palace, to that blasted brother of mine, but…" A great sigh escaped her. "Come in. Come in! The place is in a riot and all of my sisters are here to witness my shame, while getting all the gossip, so you may as well come and meet the lot of them."

She paused for just a second, her smile small.

"You're to become one of us, after all."

"Seven sisters-in-law?" I asked, linking my arm in hers. "Did Roan have that right?"

"Oh there's seven of us, all right. Da kept on Ma, wanting another son, but he got all of us instead."

"Eight," I corrected as Selene followed us silently inside. "No, make that nine."

Would Fern come to the city, perhaps with her pack in tow? Would Saffron and Hazel? That all seemed a million years ago, and yet I hoped to see them again.

"I'll just put the kettle on," Desiree said in a loud voice, one that was necessary as she competed with the clamour inside her house. I'd never seen so many women with red hair in the same space in my life. "Everyone, you know Selene and this poor thing is Princess—"

"Just Jess, please," I said, blinking as the crowd fell silent.

"Well, just Jess was the one they were after last night, as I was telling you," Desiree said as she bustled around the kitchen. "We were merely the bait. That king, he wanted something to bargain with the Bastard… with Prince Arik, and our bloody brother—"

"You're the one that's caught Roan's heart?" She was tall, stunningly pretty with amber eyes that sparkled and a long plait of thick red hair. The woman looked like a much better mate for Roan, like she could join him in battle, acting as his shield maiden. Instead of looking me up and down and finding me lacking, her arms shot out, collecting me in a hug. "Oh you've got our condolences. Our brother is an idiot. How do you put up with him?"

I thought then of the waterhole and the catamount and then found myself smiling. "Well…"