Ring of Gold Revisited

Chapter Thirty

"So," Indra drawled, lounging back on the settee across from Kessia and Tallis. "How may I be of assistance, Your Highness?"

Kessia saw Tallis' jaw feather at the title, but he simply lifted his chin and said, "We both know Nightfell is on the move. I ask that you vow to stand with Direwood if war is the outcome of all of this."

Indra rested her chin on a hand as she gazed at the prince. "What if we choose no side at all?" she asked, eyes neither warm nor cold. They looked rather void of emotion, in Kessia's opinion, and she could imagine why she and Tallis got along so well at one point. 'Would you turn on us?"

"No," Tallis said smoothly, "but both know that anyone who isn't sided with Nightfell becomes a target. Sieris is a strong kingdom, but no match for the wrath of shadow wielders."

"And here I was thinking that Direwood was invincible," crooned the princess with a smile.

Leaning against the doorframe, Elias snorted.

Tallis glared at both of them. "IT seems both of you are just as insufferable as the last time I saw you."

Indra's gaze swept over Kessia before returning to Tallis. "A lot of things have changed since the last time we saw each other, Tallis," she murmured, her tone laced with an unspoken threat.

The situation was almost laughable, and Elias covered his mouth with a gloved hand, hiding a smile of his own.

"It seems you've grown less forgiving," Tallis spat back, earning a harsh glare from Indra.

"Okay," Elias said, smiling all too brightly. "I'm going to take Kessia on a little stroll while you two solve this . . . little issue of yours. Kessia?"

Elias extended a hand and Kessia took it gratefully. A hand clamped down on Elias' wrist, surprising both of them, and she found Tallis staring the General directly in the eye.

"Don't try anything stupid," he said, his voice low.

Elias smirked. "Only if she asks me to."

Kessia rolled her eyes as she linked her arm through Elias' and led him from the room, shutting the door behind them. Elias guided her to the left, taking her down a long hallway with a navy carpet against the marble floor, silver thread embroidering the edges.

Everything about the castle was beautiful, yet the utter opposite of everything back in Oron. Nothing in Tonitrua was pale and shimmering.

Everything was dark.

"They'll need a minute to calm their nerves," Elias said as they veered down yet another hallway. Kessia could see a spiraling staircase at the end of it. "They haven't spoken once since Tallis called it off. Indra didn't take it very well, if you couldn't tell."

"Obviously," Kessia snorted, earning an amused look from Elias. "She was staring at me like she was debating strangling me."

"She probably was." Kessia shot him a look and he shrugged, pausing at the base of the stairs. "Indra never liked when other women had his any of his attention." He smiled, but it speared more pitiful than anything. "She was raised expecting everything to come easily for her, and that nothing would ever fall apart, so watching Tallis slip away . . . it hurt her. A lot."

"So, you think she genuinely loved him?"

"I know it." She stared at him questioningly. "She told me when they were together. And seeing him with another woman, she probably assumed the worst."

Kessia laughed and glanced at the staircase before them. "Where does this lead to?"

"My chambers," he said, and when he saw her worried look, he laughed deeply. "I'm not trying to seduce you, Kessia. I'm simply going to show you the best view in the entire city."