The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Later that afternoon, lying amid fresh-smelling white cotton sheets, tangled together after making love slowly, then fucking savagely, Dal idly stroked a finger across my bicep. I was half sprawled across him, watching the sea birds out the open balcony doors. Two empty glasses stood amid several empty decanters on the floor, but we weren't drunk. Even though we'd been drinking fae liquor, which was far stronger than the human stuff, we'd fucked our way into sobriety long ago.
Tears, drinks, sex. Now came talk of death.
“I'm heading to Stalana tomorrow,” Dalsharan said, right on cue.
I closed my eyes and tried not to groan. Then I sat up and looked down at him. “What's the plan?”
He sat up as well and stared at me in surprise. “You're not going to argue against it?”
“Before I've even heard it?” I huffed. “No. Tell me the plan and then I'll argue.”
Dalsharan grinned and bent one leg to pull it in. “Kervel is still among the Coyote Army. I want to join him and make sure he isn't caught.”
“Then what?”
“Then we look for traitors or signs of betrayal.”
“And if there are none?”
He frowned. “Then we go back to Alantri and get answers out of Gremara.”
“Are you fucking out of your mind?” I snarled. “She tried to rape you. You almost died because of her gross gunk.”
“But we won't be sneaking in this time,” he argued. “And we'll be prepared. Besides, that's only a last resort. I have a feeling that we're going to find something in the Coyote camp.”
“Babe, just because you hate the Coyote Lord, it doesn't make him the bad guy,” I said gently.
“Of course, the Coyote Lord isn't the traitor,” Dal huffed. “A warlord would never betray his kingdom. But Brevis didn't find any proof in the Lion Army, so there must be something in the Coyote camp.”
“Oh,” I murmured. “Okay then.”
“Okay then?” He asked me.
“How far away is the Coyote Army?”
“Maybe an hour's flight at most.” He grinned.
“Are you going to let me fly this time?”
He made a rumbling snort. “I suppose.”
“When do we leave?”
Dalsharan started laughing, then he settled into a smile. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Hawk Lord,” I said pointedly.
“I don't think I want to be the Hawk Lord anymore,” he whispered.
“What?” I gaped at him.
“I love leading the Hawk Army, but...” He shook his head. “It's a hard life, Ravyn, and I've lived it too long. I've been the Hawk Lord for twenty-six years.”
“That's as long as I've been alive.”
“I know, and don't think the thought of that coincidence hasn't occurred to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was going to marry Jaxon,” he murmured, his eyes twitching. “Then I caught him with Brendallen and everything fell apart. The King offered me the position of warlord, and I knew I had to take it. That it was my fate. My destiny took me to your home the very year of your birth, Ravyn. You don't find that strange?”
I let out a little amazed sound. “You know what? I don't. I don't think anything would surprise me now. I'm pretty damn sure I was born to be yours.”
Dalsharan grinned, grabbed my neck, and pulled me into a searing kiss. After lashing me with love and lust, he pulled back to say, “I'm pretty damn sure of it too.”
I kissed my way down his throat and we got back to the fucking portion of being a soldier.
