Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

DACRE

The thunderous pounding of a fist against my door woke me abruptly, and I groaned in frustration. My eyes felt heavy as I blinked them open and saw the dull lantern light from outside streaming in through my window.

My muscles were stiff, and my shoulder throbbed slightly from how I had slept on it. I attempted to shift position, but a soft warmth pressed into my skin.

I squinted against the light as I took in Nyra’s sleeping form next to me. Her pale skin was illuminated with a golden hue as her chest rose and fell with each breath, and I could feel the plushness of her curves through our clothing. My chest was flush against her, and the rest of us were intertwined, her thigh grazing mine as she snuggled closer.

She had made sure to keep her distance from me last night before we fell asleep, and I had been thankful.

That was, until she didn’t.

Having her in my space had been a bad idea.

I didn’t trust her. Hell, I didn’t even like her, but there was something about being surrounded by the scent of her in my room, about not being able to look anywhere without seeing her curves, that drove me crazy. Even now, I found myself glancing at her full lips before tracing down her body to the deep curve at her hip.

The knocking at the door came again, and I cursed under my breath before carefully untangling myself from beneath Nyra and sitting up in my bed.

I pulled the blanket up to cover her body, her body that was covered in my clothing, before I quickly moved to the door.

I grasped the cold brass handle and heaved open the door. The warm glow of the lanterns spilled into the dark room like liquid sunlight, casting shadows on the wall. Taking care to be as quiet as possible, I stepped out into the hallway and gently pulled the door closed behind me.

My father stood before me, fully dressed in his leathers with all his weapons strapped to him, and his face was unreadable as always.

“What time is it?” I asked, my voice rough with sleep.

“Early.” He crossed his arms, and I could feel him assessing as his gaze ran over me. “One of the new recruits gave information about how to access the palace from beneath.”

My gaze shot up at that. “Beneath?” We had been searching for different ways to get into the palace for my entire life, but with the way it was surrounded by water and the massive falls, there had never been any way other than going through the front gate and being met with the king’s army.

“The tunnels.” My father’s answer was clipped as he shifted on his feet.

Legends told of a secret tunnel that led directly beneath the waterfalls, but we had searched high and low without finding any trace.

My mind automatically went to Nyra who was still lying in my bed. If she had worked in the castle all that time, there was a good chance that she knew.

She was one of the first recruits we had gotten that had spent her entire life in that place, but even though I knew she could be the key to the answers we sought, I didn’t want to bring her up to my father.

Not when she was currently sleeping in my bed.

“Okay. Let me get dressed. I’ll meet you at the training grounds.”

My father nodded without saying another word, and I quietly slipped back into my room. Nyra was still sprawled out where I left her, except her left arm was now wrapped around my pillow and she had it tugged tightly against her chest.

I let myself stare at her as I undressed and pulled on clean leathers. I should have probably woken her to let her know I was leaving, but it was still early, and I was almost certain that she would demand to go back to her room.

Knowing Wren, she had probably already kicked out whatever man she had in there last night. Nyra could have easily gone back there and slept the rest of the morning in her own bed, but I didn’t wake her.

And that frustrated the hell out of me.

I strapped my daggers into the sheaths on my chest as I looked over the smooth curve of her neck.

As she lay in my bed, her small frame seemed to sink into the soft sheets. My gaze traveled over every inch of her body, lingering on the way the sheets draped over her breasts and the way her hair fanned out on my pillow. Desire flooded through me, and I felt desperate to learn if she would have the same boldness when I spread her open and tasted her with my tongue.

I snapped my gaze away from her body and started lacing up my boots.

I had no business thinking about her like that. I had no business bringing her back to my room at all, but when she had mentioned Eiran and going to find him, I was consumed with the sudden desire to drag her back here.

Eiran was a jackass. He had been placed into the warrior unit simply because his father was close with mine. I didn’t trust him or his slimy hands anywhere near her.

But he had clung to her the moment he saw her with me.

I wasn’t surprised. He had never been able to stand for me having anything that he didn’t.

It was why he had become so close to my father the moment he saw us drifting apart.

I allowed myself another moment, memorizing the details of her face, the way her dark lashes pressed against her soft cheeks, before dragging my eyes away. A heaviness pressed against my chest as I pushed out of my room and into the hallway. The air felt thick and damp, making it difficult to breathe as I thought of her and the way she had looked in the springs the night before.

Fuck, those damn springs.

That had really been a bad idea.

I stepped out of the building and breathed deeply in an attempt to clear my mind. I had a job to do, and I couldn’t do it while thinking about the way she would have looked in my bed if I had stripped her of my clothes and touched her in the ways that flooded my mind when we were training.

The city still slept around me, and I should have been eager to find out the information my father had been fed.

But all I could think about was her.

I crossed the path and headed toward the training grounds where my father was waiting for me.

The buildings I passed were ancient and worn, and the pathways were crumbling from years of being hidden with no one to care for them.

I slowed my steps as my eyes fell on a lowly lit lantern in the shop across from me.

My eyes fell on the etching on the glass window, and my heart lodged in my throat. My chest ached, and I swallowed a hard lump as I let my eyes fall over the stained glass.

Light pink camellia flowers covered the window and thoughts of my mother flooded me.

My mother had been a warrior in every sense of the word, but she had always been mine and Wren’s mother first. It was a job she took seriously, and I hated that everyone in this city celebrated her for the way she fought, for the way she died, rather than the way she loved us.

Even my father.

Part of me wondered if he could even recall the way she had loved all three of us before the raid.

I could.

She wasn’t a warrior to me.

She was my mother, and as I passed by the glass and left it behind me, grief threatened to cave in my chest.

I reached the training grounds and ducked beneath the low-hanging rock as I tried to tuck the memories of her away. I shoved down thoughts of everything except what would be expected of me when I stepped foot onto the training grounds.

My father was there on the other side waiting for me, and he stood with Eiran’s father, Reed, and three others that were always at his side.

“Let’s head out,” my father commanded as soon as I made my way to them.