Page 117 of Obsidian Throne

I held his gaze for a long moment, wondering if he was actively trying to make me cave or only genuinely showing me respect. He had said before we left for the front that he was changing things, and he had, in fairness, shown it along the way.

The problem was that he chose when he felt like doing that. But still...this was no small thing.

I took my seat, and he took his. Taras nodded respectfully, but a few of the men gasped. Evander looked up sharply.

“Surely no one is objecting to your ClanWife.” He emphasized the word, and I knew it was for my benefit. “Being here. The woman who raised her own army in less than two weeks and used it to take down the forces who, I might remind you, had breached our walls. What she did was nothing short of a miracle, and if you don’t think that’s earned her a seat at this table, now would be the time to leave.”

No one spoke or moved.

“Excellent.” Evander continued as though nothing had happened. “Reports.”

A man at the far end spoke up. “Iiro’s forces are retreating to his territory, from here and the Crane border. Ram’s troops slunk back as soon as Iiro’s did, and what was left of Wolf and Elk have returned to their territories as well.”

“And our men?” Evander asked.

“We lost nearly half of the men stationed here,” Taras said with a small shake of his head. “A fifth of those on the southern line, and a couple hundred men from the western forces.”

Evander’s features didn’t twitch, but I knew those numbers gutted him. In spite of everything, in spite of what he had done and where we were, I couldn’t help but surreptitiously put my hand over his.

His eyes widened, but he squeezed back without hesitation.

The gesture brought back so many memories that tears threatened to stab at the back of my eyes, so I pulled my hand back to my lap. He swallowed but didn’t otherwise react.

“We can assume they’re regrouping for now,” Evander said. “What we don’t know is for how long.”

“They’ll have wounded as well,” Taras said. “They will need time to recover.”

“And Mikhail is a coward,” I added. “He was beaten once and retreated. Now that Lynx and Crane aren’t tied up with Iiro, I doubt he’ll risk joining the assault again.”

Evander nodded in approval, and only a few of the men looked at me like I had grown a second head.

All in all, the meeting went as well as could be expected.

Except for the part where I was left feeling more confused than ever.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

ROWAN

Iretreated to my rooms as soon as the meeting ended.

There was too much on my mind, an endless maelstrom I couldn’t quite process.

Evander had insisted on moving into his old rooms as well, which I supposed was more space than I had thought he would give me. But the knowledge that he was right next door was slowly driving me mad.

I couldn’t avoid this conversation forever.

Finally, unable to bear my own relentless thoughts any longer, I threw on a dressing gown and stormed down the hall. Not bothering to knock, I pushed open his door to find him sitting casually in a chair by the fire.

“Lemmikki.” He looked up without a trace of surprise, lifting a glass of what I assumed was vodka to his lips. “I wasn’t expecting you to come barreling in here tonight.”

Then the arrogant arse gestured at the glass of chilled vodka already waiting on the table beside the other chair.

I was tempted to turn right back around, but I couldn’t actually handle the idea of another night without a single answer to my questions. I stalked over to the leather chair, sinking into it and taking a long, long sip of that vodka.

Evander assessed me, waiting for whatever I had to say, but I think we were both surprised by the first thing that popped out of my mouth.

“You said you wanted to share your life with me.” Every word was an accusation.