Kyon’s blue eyes narrow dangerously as he addresses Trey. “Are you responsible for the bruises on her neck?”
“I am,” Trey replies, staring back at Kyon and he’s not lying—he must really think he’s responsible for the restraint put on my neck by the Regent agents.
“I should’ve made sure you were dead. What did they do, regenerate you?” Kyon asks. He takes a step closer to Trey as his nostrils flare in anger.
“Something like that,” Trey replies smoothly. He takes a step nearer to Kyon as they do that male stare down thing.
My mind whirls, realizing that Kyon and Trey must’ve fought each other in the war between Alameeda and Rafe. “Trey is not responsible for the bruises on my neck,” I state quietly.
“Is he responsible for bringing you here?” Kyon asks me in a tight voice.
“Yes,” I answer, watching his frown deepen.
“Then, he’s responsible for your bruises.”
“No, I’m responsible for what happens to me and what I do next,” I correct him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m hungry because I’ve been running through the jungle for the past few rotations and eating protein bars that taste like cat poop.”
Dismissing Kyon and shifting toward Trey, I ask, “Do you think they’ll be serving pheasant?” Taking his arm, I wait calmly for him to lead me into the Gold Dining Room.
Looking down at my hand on his arm, Trey seems to relax a little, losing some of the tension he had as he smiles. Kyon, on the other hand, looks like he’s about to have a tantrum.
As Trey leads me away from Kyon, I whisper to him, “Why are you here?”
“We were all summoned by the Regent,” Trey replies, his eyes focusing on mine. My heartbeat speeds up more, seeing how lovely his eyes are.
“Oh,” I murmur, tearing my eyes away from his and feeling disappointed that he didn’t come here specifically to see me.
We enter the Gold Room together and it doesn’t fail to live up to its name. Every fixture in the high-ceilinged room is golden, not to mention the gold chargers beneath the dinner plates lining the long, highly-polished, wood table.
At the other end of the room, a group of three men are standing by the mantel of the fireplace. The taller, athletically built, commanding man is definitely Rafe, judging by his dark Rafeish-brown hair. This must be the Regent. The smooth skin of his face is unblemished and lightly tanned; he’s used to being outdoors and active, but I can’t tell what he does to make it so. His short hair doesn’t cover his eyebrows and barely touches his collar in the back—closer to a military cut than I’d expect. His attentive violet eyes watch me. He smiles at something the man next to him says, but it seems more calculated than genuine; it also makes him extremely handsome and younger-looking than I’d first thought—maybe late thirties in human terms. He doesn’t need to be a regent to get a lot of what he wants, I assess, he’d just have to employ that smile.
He’s dressed elegantly, just like Trey, except that his belt is larger, with a bigger, shinier, buckle in the front. The other two men he’s with don’t look Rafe, judging by their hair, which are blond and light brown. “His name is Manus. He’s the Regent. You need to make him see you as a Rafe citizen—make it hard for him to treat you like a commodity,” Trey coaches me. His mouth nears my cheek and I shiver again as I react to him, remembering the taste of his lips against mine. Heat steals to my cheeks as I acknowledge his comment with a nod.
“How do I make him see that I’m not a commodity?”
“Just be you…but be respectful.”
“Do you know the blond with him?” I murmur, tilting my face nearer to his and feeling a surge of desire for Trey plow through me.
“Yes, his name is Nark…” Trey trails off when I begin giggling. “What’s so funny?” he asks me, his breath tickling my ear, causing crazy things to happen inside of me.
“Um…where I come from, a narc is someone who tells your secrets,” I reply, seeing him smile.
“That’s apt then, because he’s an Alameeda ambassador—he has many secrets. You’ll address him as Em Nark,” he advises, and I giggle again. “Try not to laugh when you speak to him. He has no sense of humor.”
“You’ve met him?” The Regent is still watching me from his conversation with “the Narc.”
“We’ve met a few times. He likes to gamble, let’s leave it at that,” he says, making my eyebrow arch before gazing back at them.
“The other?”
“Is Sam.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s too normal a name for you guys,” I smile.
“He’s Wurthem,” Trey shrugs.
“Ah. Ambassador?”
“Yes, but he’s an Alameeda puppet.”
“I hate puppets—they’re creepy,” I reply softly, feeling his hand tighten on my arm.
“Yes,” Trey agrees. “Let’s make sure you don’t become one.”
Nearing the Regent and the ambassadors, Trey and I stop in front of them. I mimic Trey as we both kneel in a sign of respect to the leader of the Rafe clan. Em Nark immediately speaks up, as I begin to rise. “Kricket, you do not need to kneel before Haut Manus. You simply incline your head to him as a sign of respect.”
Trey narrows his eyes at the ambassador while I watch Manus studying me. “With all respect, Em Nark,” I say, smiling, “Manus is not only my Regent, he is also my guardian and therefore I will show him my respect.” For now, my mind whispers.
“You are an Alameeda priestess,” Em Nark responds sourly, frowning at me.
“I’m a Rafe citizen,” I keep smiling, “and I’ve just returned home.”
“We have been discussing your home,” Em Nark says, his pudgy face jiggling. “We have not decided where you will reside.”
“Is that so? Let me pull up a chair then so we can continue the discussion,” I watch his face go from pale to flushed.
“Perhaps there will be time to hear your thoughts on this matter after dinner, Fay Kricket,” Manus says, his eyes softening in the corners as they take in everything about me.
“I will look forward to dessert then,” I reply, seeing a real smile twist Manus’s lips. Trey leads me away from them so that the others can be introduced.
“That was perfect, Kricket,” Trey breathes in my ear, guiding me over to the table. A member of the Regent’s staff indicates that I’m to sit on the opposite end of the table facing the Regent. I reluctantly let go of Trey and the security I felt at being by his side wanes with each step I take. Trey is much closer to the Regent’s end of the table. An attendant pulls my chair out for me, but as I begin to sit another member of the Regent’s staff rushes over and whispers in his associate’s ear.
“Fay Kricket, please excuse me, but you’re to dine next to the Regent this evening,” he says in a formal voice, gesturing to the other end of the table.
“Oh,” I murmur, my eyes find Trey’s as he stands by his seat next to Victus. His eyes widen in surprise, too. I thank the footman as he escorts me to the other end of the table. Seating me beside the Regent, who’s at the head of the table, I smile at him when he takes his seat. Everyone else sits as well and I cringe, realizing that Kyon is next to me, too.