Page 51 of Silver & Gold

“But why Raider?” Seth burst out. “Why the hell didn’t Kahzir implant the quicksilver in someone sympathetic to his cause? I mean, I get that it must have pleased him to use his brother’s lover, but surely an ally would’ve been more useful.”

Julian stared at him like he was an idiot. “But all his allies would’ve been human.”

That took a long, long time to penetrate.

Even then… “What the hell did you just say?”

Julian took on the startled rabbit look that Seth remembered from the past. “Um … I mean … that was Kahzir’s speculation. And it’s the only possible explanation for Raider surviving not only the surgeries but also the quicksilver’s toxicity. I thought you knew. I thought surely Raider would’ve told you.”

Seth’s ass hit the ground. Julian scuttled up from his stool and came to crouch by Seth. His slim hands hovered uncertainly. “Gods, Seth, are you okay?”

Seth’s mind raced through the facts, trying to sort them. “That’s why he heals so fast.”

“Presumably. His body is constantly repairing damage from the quicksilver. That’s why I think it would be dangerous to remove it. It’s been part of his system for ten years. Suddenly remove it, and who knows how his body might react.”

“But he’s in pain.”

“I know,” Julian said quietly.

Seth closed his eyes, thinking about the way Raider had gritted his teeth this morning as Seth had helped him stretch. Raider was sleeping better, with fewer nightmares, but that meant he was waking up stiffer. Hurting. It fucking killed Seth to see it.

That was what mattered. That was why Seth had come here to talk to Julian.

He hadn’t come here to dig into Raider’s secrets, which he obviously still had. Another layer of them.

Seth shouldn’t be angry. He shouldn’t be hurt.

He really shouldn’t be.

CHAPTER 18

RAIDER FROWNED as he watched Seth in the training yard. Something was wrong. Nasrin, sparring with Seth in one of the chalked circles, didn’t seem to have noticed. The female warrior looked like she was having a great time, and who could blame her? She was damned good and probably didn’t often get to spar with someone of Seth’s caliber.

Nasrin’s wristwork was incredible, expertly deflecting blows and adapting her strikes on the fly. She grinned as she danced away from Seth, gold rings flashing below her knees and along her arms.

In a real fight, a fair fight, Seth would surely win. Nasrin might beat Raider (if he didn’t use his quicksilver), but Seth was so damn strong, with the skill to match, and quick for his size.

This, however, was just sparring, and Seth was tightly controlled. Too tightly controlled.

There was a sharpness to his movements, like he kept cutting them off. And, as Raider’s arcane eye enabled him to perceive, Seth’s face was still, even stern. He wasn’t enjoying himself.

Raider was about to leave his perch on the parapet and go down there when movement caught his eye. He blinked away the arcane zoom and refocused on the approaching figure. His heart skipped.

Between the low, crenelated walls of the parapet, Empress Zarina, unattended, was walking his way. Her gown’s heavy brocade, crusted with jewels and gold, barely shifted as she walked. She must be dying of the heat in that gown, but she did look magnificent. In place of a headdress, her dark hair, ornately braided and studded with pearls, crowned her head. More pearls gleamed at her ears and throat. Gold flashed at her wrists and on her sandals as they peeked out from the hem of her gown.

She had her father’s hawkish nose and dimpled chin. But she had her own poise. She always had, even at twenty-two. And now, ten years an empress, she had not only poise but grandeur.

“How did you get up here?” she asked, sounding more amused than annoyed.

“Probably not the same way you did, Your Immanence.”

“I took the stairs through the watchtower.”

“I did not take the stairs, Empress.”

Her lips tugged then she said, “Let us speak as friends. As we used to.”

They had been friends, in their way. Once, when Zarina had found Raider sitting in the sun tower, the highest peak of the palace, looking out across the Gold, she had said, Don’t fly away, pretty bird. He’d laughed and replied, But wouldn’t you like me to? And she had answered, Not at all. He hasn’t been this happy since my mother died—and at least you are not a woman, with a womb to threaten me with.