Page 72 of Hearts on Fire
“How young? Were you a child?”
That bred even more questions. Unfortunately, Voron didn’t look inclined to answer any of them. He spun the flower in his hands, staring away before turning to Elex.
“That’s not to say that my men don’t needa trueleader,” he said. “They are an army without a general.”
“But aren’tyoutheir general?” I asked again.
He brought the poppy to his nose and inhaled deeply, then stroked its crimson petals with his long fingers.
“I have no cause for them to follow. I’ve no goal in Dakath, no aspiration. I’m content just where I am. But they aren’t.” He tipped his head back toward the tunnels where his men were going about their daily routine. “They need a purpose. Andyoucan give it to them.” He pinned Elex with his steel-gray stare.
Elex’s chest rose with a deep breath, but he said nothing as Voron continued, “You are of royal blood. You could be the just, noble king Dakath needs. And it needs onenow. Not a century or so into the future.” He tossed the flower out of the cave, then leaned toward Elex and me. “The future isn’t written in stone. Otherwise, we’d all be just moving along like puppets in a play. The future is not a detailed picture. It is but a sketch, left for us to fill it in with color and substance. It can be tweaked. You have the power to make life better for your people, Lord Elex. Use it. Why wait?”
Elex returned his stare. “What’s in it for you, Lord Voron?”
The sky fae smiled, reclining against the wall again. “Let’s say I feel like I owe a debt to my men for saving me so many years ago. I can’t repay them, but I wish for them to have a better life.”
“Is that it?” Elex sounded skeptical.
Voron’s smile stretched wider. “There may be one more thing. I’ll give you an army in exchange for a royal favor.”
“I’m no king.”
“You may be one day. I won’t collect on the promise until you are.”
“What kind of favor?” Elex didn’t look enthusiastic about that request.
Voron vaguely waved his hand in the air. “I haven’t decided yet. I just want you to promise that you will fulfill a wish of mine, any wish, once the time comes.”
Elex laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll give you no such promise.”
Voron jerked an eyebrow up. He looked disappointed but not overly surprised. Really, what fae would agree to tie their life to a promise like that? It was way too vague.
No fae would. But I wasn’t a fae.
“Will you takemypromise instead, Voron?” I asked.
“Amber. No.” Warning sounded in Elex’s voice as he held me to him tighter.
“Human promises don’t come with the grim consequences like the fae’s do,” I reminded them both. “Nothing binds us to fulfill a promise but our honor. I’ll make the deal with you, Voron. But you’ll have nothing to hold me to it. You’ll just have to trust that I’ll fulfill my part of the bargain.”
Voron’s calculating stare focused on me. Of course, he didn’t trust me. Why would he? He barely knew me. This was a gamble for him. But I hoped he would take the risk. After all, wasn’t it just a game for him, and we all were his game pieces?
“Well…” His eyes measured me as if assessing my worth. “I said I needed aroyalfavor. I see no reason why it couldn’t come from the queen rather than from the king.”
The queen?
I shot a glance at Elex over my shoulder. His eyes held a promise of their own, a promise I didn’t need him to voice. No matter what happened, we were together, he and I, either as vagabonds, hiding in some distant parts of Nerifir or, as it might be, the royalty of Dakath.
Voron chuckled, rubbing his hands together. “It’s a deal, dear Amber. Your man now has an army if he wishes to use it.”
Elex huffed a breath, not pleased by the pressure.
I stirred in his arms, racking my brain for a compromise.
“Can we maybe wait with the attack until after the king’s wedding and the baby’s arrival?”
Voron frowned at my words.