Instead of answering Tomas’s question, I asked one of my own. “Do any of you besides Amber know Nolan?”
“I know of him,” Chami answered. “He is reputed to be a great warrior, a most gifted fighter.”
“I saw him fight once long ago. They say none can best him with a sword,” said Aquila, speaking in his usual precise and clipped manner. Everything about Aquila was neat and tidy, including his thin mustache and Vandyke beard. His gentlemanly appearance was odd only if you knew what he’d been before. Not just an outlaw rogue, but a rogue bandit serving under the infamous Sandoor. The confusion cleared up, though, once you knew what Aquila had been prior to becoming an outcast rogue—not only a warrior, but a man of business, a profession much more suited to his precise and tidy nature. Aquila and my brother, Thaddeus, had overseen all my business affairs in my absence. Were still continuing to do so, actually.
“I’ve seen them fight, also,” I said. Had in fact briefly fought Quentin, though I thought it prudent not to bring that up just now. “And I’m impressed. Nolan has graciously offered his help in training our men. Dontaine, the guards’ training falls under your province, right?”
Dontaine nodded.
“I’ll leave it to you then to see how best to use them.”
“Them? His sons also?” Something flickered in Dontaine’s eyes, and I wondered for a moment if he might be jealous or threatened by Quentin and Dante. Or rather more specifically, by Dante.
“I misspoke. Just Nolan. Quentin and Dante will be—” I still didn’t know quite how to say it. “—seeking positions with other Queens at the next Service Fair.”
Something eased in Dontaine and I knew then that he had felt threatened by my intimacy with Dante, and wanted to laugh…or maybe cry. If Dontaine knew how much I feared Dante—instinctively, unreasonably, something I’d been able to hide thus far—he would not have wasted any time at all worrying.
“Do the men have practice tonight?” I asked.
“We train every night.” Something I would have known had I been paying any attention, which I obviously hadn’t.
“Fine. His sons can join the other guards in practice, and you can assess Nolan’s skill and see how best you would like to work with him. If you do not wish to involve Nolan in the men’s training, I will abide by your decision, Dontaine. Hannah’s healing talent alone is more than enough contribution to our people.” That was a fact no one could dispute.
Dontaine inclined his head, pleased that I was leaving the final decision in his hands, and seemingly reassured by it.
“I will be happy to accept the assistance of one of whom everyone, including my Queen, speaks so highly,” Dontaine said, confirming that any reticence he had felt resided with the young virile sons, not the married father. “Will you come watch practice tonight?” he asked me. “The men and I would be pleased to see you there.”
There was only a brief pause before I nodded. Curiosity to see how Nolan and his sons fared against my guards won out over my instinctive need to avoid Dante.
TRAINING, I FOUND out, took place in the twilight hours just before dawn, after the men had finished their patrols and other duties.
Amber had to leave before then, and return to the small slice of my territory that he ruled on my behalf. He’d left there abruptly when he had learned of my disappearance.
“I will return and make sure that Nolan does not bring you more profit with his single twenty percent than I do with all of my businesses that you have entrusted me with,” Amber said with a tiny smile.
My giant had made a joke, I realized, and felt tears prick my eyes.
“Why do you cry?” Amber asked, lifting my face gently to his.
“Because you’re leaving.”
“Do you wish me to stay?”
Yes, stay with me always. “No, go back to your people.”
“They are your people, Mona Lisa, as am I. You do not have to wait for me to return here. You could come down and acquaint yourself with the businesses and people in that part of your territory.”
I shook my head. “No, I can’t go back to that place. Not yet.” It was where Gryphon had been killed and bad memories still lingered there for me. To turn our thoughts away from that, I brought up what I had been considering for quite some time now.
“I will be petitioning the Queen Mother to make the Mississippi portion of my territory officially yours, Amber. Your rule, separate from mine.”
Amber stilled. “There is no need to do that,” he said. But he was wrong.
“There is every need. You are my backup for our people. I want to know that there’s someplace safe for them to go if anything should happen to me.”
“Nothing will happen to you,” Amber said gruffly.
But so much already had, I thought sadly.
He stroked a gentle hand down my melancholy face. “Dontaine is now by your side. I am pleased that you are allowing him to take up residence in the house.”
“You don’t mind?” But my real question was: How did he feel about my taking Dontaine as a new lover? We had not spoken of it yet.
“No, I do not mind,” Amber said softly. “He is a good man and a strong warrior.”
“And Halcyon. Did Dontaine tell you of my arrangement with him?”
Amber’s eyes darkened with the mixed feelings he had always had about the Demon Prince. “I know of what you have agreed upon.”
“Do you approve of that as well?”
“It is not for me to approve or disapprove,” Amber said neutrally.
Smacking his thick arm, I glared up at my giant. “Don’t give me that bullshit. Tell me what you think.”
His eyes crinkled as he grinned down at me. Amused, I think, more by the girly way I’d hit him than my unladylike language. “Very well. I believe that the protection Halcyon offers by his public claim of you will be a good thing. Hurting you will risk his wrath. But I also think your relationship with the Demon Prince is a dangerous thing. Not just because you are a way to get to Halcyon, but because of the nature of demons themselves. They are blood drinkers, Mona Lisa.”
He hardly needed to tell me that. I was achingly aware of that fact.
“And they are dead, truly dead, while you are of the living.”
Not entirely true anymore. And one of the reasons why I wanted Amber safe and far away from me.
“Many Monères will be outraged by your union,” Amber continued. “And they will fear you even more because of this alliance.”
“Does it matter? You just said that hurting me will be risking Halcyon’s wrath.”
“That only means they will not risk doing so openly. They will be more devious if they choose to move against you.”
“Well. Isn’t that a thrilling thought?” I said dryly.
“Why could Halcyon not simply be with you discreetly?” Amber asked. “Why must he lay so public a claim on you?”
“He has to,” I told him softly, “for my protection.”
“You are in danger?” Amber’s face darkened.
I am the danger, I thought.
“Not from anything that you or anybody here can protect me from,” I told him. “Things are changing in me, Amber. Having Halcyon publicly claim me as his mate is more like a necessary diversion.” And would become even more so as the changes occurring in me became more apparent. “It will keep me safe.”
“I am not the one being ambiguous now,” Amber rumbled.
“It’s a demon matter,” I said solemnly, with utmost seriousness. “If I speak of it to anyone, I risk my life as well as the one I tell. Just know that whatever happens, none of it is Halcyon’s fault. It’s mine, through something I did.”
“Mona Lisa—”