The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I need to talk to you about something,” Dalsharan said to me over dinner that night.
“Look, he called me your whore, okay?” I huffed. “It's not a big—”
“What?!” Dalsharan roared as he stood up.
“Dal, it's okay. Calm down.”
“He called you my what?” Dalsharan growled in a low, dangerous tone.
“It's just soldier talk.” I got up and put my hands on his shoulders. “It's fine. I promise.”
“It is not fine. You are my consort, not my whore, to call you such is an insult to both of us.”
I went still. Oh, fuck. No one insulted a warlord.
“Who was it?” He demanded.
I backed away.
“Who was it?!” He roared.
I crossed my arms and stared him down.
“I have had enough of your disobedience, Ravyn,” Dalsharan snarled and stalked over to me. “You will tell me his name right now.”
“I'm not a snitch.”
Dalsharan shrieked like a hawk as he grabbed my throat and spun me, then slammed me down on a bare section of table. He leaned into my face, his teeth bared, and narrowed his eyes at me. “No one disrespects my consort. You are mine. The way people treat you is a reflection on me. That man, whoever he was, was a fae, was he not?”
I blinked. “Yes.”
“Then he knew what he was doing. It wasn't, as you say, soldier talk. He was testing you to see how much he could get away with.”
“And I laid him flat on his ass for it,” I said smoothly.
“You should have skewered him for it.” He shoved away from me and then straightened. “Now every fae Hawk will know that they can disrespect us and nothing will happen. That they can call you a whore, and I will do nothing! That is not acceptable. Give me his name.”
“No.”
“Do not make me punish you over this man,” he growled. “I can find his identity on my own, but I'm asking you to tell me.”
“No, you're not,” I snapped. “You're demanding that I tell you. Our agreement was that I obeyed you when it came to sex. You said that outside of that, I was free to be myself. Well, this is me, baby! I don't rat on my fellow soldiers. If I did, they would remember that shit the next time we were fighting the Farungal and they might not be so inclined to watch my back. This is family, Dal. We don't rat on family.”
“If you think that, you must not have siblings,” Dalsharan huffed.
“I have a sister,” I said softly. “Older. So, yeah, I get what you're saying. But you also know what I'm saying. I can't be a party to you punishing him.”
“Fine. I'll say that I overheard it myself.”
“He whispered it in my ear.”
Dal growled. “Then I'll make it known that I forced it from you. You will not be blamed.”
“Can't you let it go just this once?”
“No, Ravyn,” Dal said wearily as he resumed his seat. “Consider it as a soldier. What if someone called General Harvis' wife a whore to her face? How do you think he'd react?”
“Fuck,” I whispered and sank into my seat.
“Yes, now you understand. It's no different because you're a man and a soldier. You're still mine. I've claimed you as my consort. That position demands great respect. If someone slanders you, I must retaliate. Now, please, tell me the name.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled. “This feels so wrong.”
“We won't be here much longer anyway.”
“What?” I looked up at him.
“I wanted to talk about this over a nice meal.” He waved his hand at the half-eaten dishes.
I looked at the food. I hadn't realized it was better than usual. “Damn!” I started scooping buttered carrots into my mouth. “You did this for me?”
Dal laughed. “Yes, you fool. Slow down or you'll choke.”
“It's really good. Thank you!”
“I can see that I'll have to teach you manners before we go to court.”
“Wait. What?” I gaped at him.
“Swallow,” he said. “And don't talk with your mouth full.”
“Always with the swallowing.” I rolled my eyes and smirked at him.
Dalsharan chuckled again but then went serious. “The Hawk King has summoned us to court. It is as the Lion Lord predicted, our King and Queen want to meet their Valorian. And they want you trained.”
“Trained to do what?”
“You have magic now, Ravyn. You must be trained on how to use it.”
“Rae said something about that,” I murmured. “He didn't mention training, but he said I'm a real Hawk now.”
“Yes, you're technically an Arandel now. You're of my line.”
“That makes it sound as if we're married.”
“We're closer than that,” Dalsharan whispered. “I told you, Ravyn, you're mine. My soul has claimed you and you accepted.”
I sat back and let out an amazed huff. “And if we don't work out?”
Dal shrugged. “There will always be a piece of me inside you. But if we decide that we don't want to be together, it will not interfere. We're closer than a married couple, but we haven't made any vows. You can leave at any time.”
“Babe, I'm not the one who's gonna leave,” I said softly.
Dalsharan blinked. “You already did.”
I sighed deeply. “You know why that happened. Do you want to talk about it again?”
“No,” he conceded. “I'm just trying to point out that your vow lacks credence.”
“Fine,” I huffed.
The Hawk Lord leaned forward and took my hand. “I don't want you to leave again.”
I met his amethyst stare. “I don't want to leave again.”
“Good. I'm glad we've established that.” He smiled tenderly. “Now, give me the name.”
I blinked and laughed. “You little shit.”
“Tell me.”
“You first,” I countered. “Where are we going?”
“To Kestria, the crown city of the Hawk Kingdom in the Avian region of Varalorre,” he said and lifted a taunting brow. “Have you heard of it? Ever been there?”
“Ha-ha,” I grumbled. “We're staying in the city?”
He nodded. “I have an estate there. We'll stay in Kestria until your training is over and then we'll see where the Goddess leads you.”
“Where she leads me?” I thought of the hawk. I hadn't told him about it. Damn, that was two weeks ago. I probably should have mentioned it.
“The Mother often gives us a sign of what our best path would be,” he explained. “And since you are a Valorian, it's almost guaranteed that she will send you one.”
“I think she already has.”
Dalsharan straightened. “What?”
“That day I walked out and went into the woods...”
“Yes?”
“I was upset. I... was...”
“Crying,” he finished for me. “I know. It haunts me still.”
“It does?”
“Of course, it does,” he growled. “I want you to be happy, Ravyn.”
“Oh,” I whispered. “I want you to be happy too.”
Dal smiled and it was radiant. “What sign did she give you?”
“Huh? Oh! This hawk flew down onto my lap and let me pet its head.”
Dalsharan gaped at me. “That's not a sign, that's a messenger.”
“Yeah, that's what Rae said.”
“You told Rae about this before me?” Dal frowned.
“He walked up when the hawk was on my lap.” I shrugged. “I forgot about it until now.”
“You... I hurt you badly,” he whispered brokenly.
I swallowed roughly and looked down at my plate. “I don't offer to talk to my lovers, not the way I offered to listen to you. I gave you that and you beat on me for it.”
“Ravyn,”—he took my hand—“I'm so sorry.”
“I know. You apologized once and that's all I need.” I squeezed his hand back. “I don't mean to harp on it, I'm just telling you why I was so upset.”
“So upset that the Goddess sent a messenger to you,” Dalsharan murmured and bowed his head. “Great Lady, forgive me.”
“Hey, cut that shit out,” I growled and yanked on his hand. “I'm over it.”
Dal chuckled and lifted my hand to kiss it. “It is a great honor to be comforted by a messenger. You are indeed Goddess-touched.”
“I'm sorry that it's taking us away from your army.”
Dal let out a sigh. “So am I, but they're right. We can't have you out here not knowing how to control the magic inside you. And if you're special enough that the Goddess is comforting you, you definitely need to be in Varalorre. You need to see your home, Ravyn.”
“I have a home?”
He smiled softly. “Yes. Varalorre is now your home. Specifically, the Hawk Kingdom. We need to teach you to fly, my bad bird.”
“Fly?” I whispered wistfully.
“Yes, fly.” The Hawk Lord squeezed my hand and pulled me closer. “Now tell me the name.”
“Aw, fuck,” I whined.
