The Prince laughed. “Then may they never shutup.”
Surah inhaled as her mate dipped his head, seizing her lips in a rambunctious kiss. Surah had to come up for air eventually, as addictive as the silky rub of her lover's mouth was. Despite exhaustion, her body stirred, Surah leaning further into Malin as their chests pressed against each other, hard muscle encased in silk andcotton.
“Fine. I agree,” Malin said, drawing away. He grabbed Surah's face with a hand, dark eyes glinting. “But until we have our first child and it is not a garling, I will not entertain thoughts of asurrogate.”
“We can just get a baby baster off the internet. Besides….” Surah smiled. “If I can buy us nine months’ time, by then the Council will likely make Geza wed, and the point will bemoot.”
“Shall we get startedthen?”
* * *
She’d trickedMalin and Geza into an evening meeting, forcing the males to sit and talk once they’d both arrived. Well, stand and yell, and then eventually it had devolved into a fist fight. But in the end, the brothers had hashed out their issues with each other and decided on a plan of action. Surah was satisfied–getting them to talk was always the most difficult thing, but in the end, Ioveanu’s were simply not raised to betray family. But now, two weeks later, the plan hatched at that dinner fight was now coming tofruition.
“It has to be tonight,” Gezasaid.
For once, no trace of self-indulgent indolence marred his face. Surah stared at the screen,blinking.
“But.…”
Surah trailed off as Geza’s jaw hardened. “Where is Malin?” he asked. “I need a warrior, not adoctor.”
It might have offended her–but Geza was right. Surah just didn’t think like her brother and lover. They lived their training–Surah had pushed it aside as soon as she reachedadulthood.
“I’m here, Geza,” Malin said, closing the study door behindhim.
He’d left Surah alone to see to a few last minute preparations for Sililu’s arrival. Surah supposed she should have been making arrangements–but Malin was much better at administrative things. Surah was impressed at Malin’s apparent acceptance–when this was all over she’d have to sit him down for a long talk. A Prince was raised to endure things for the sake of a political goal. But this decision seemed more personal than political, therefore there wasn’t the buffer of duty between action and emotion. Surah didn’t want Malin’s reluctance to fester and spill over into the family they were trying tobuild.
Geza looked over Surah's shoulder, impressive considering they were speaking through the internet. “I have a man among Lavinia's people. She's convinced we're about to wage war on each other and is waiting for an opportunity tointervene.”
Surah stared at her younger brother. “How many men does she haveready?”
Geza looked away, raising a brow. Surah heard the murmur of a male voice. Geza turned back. “Her guards, at this time, equalours.”
“It will be tricky to make it appear we have weakened each other to the point she feels it advantageous to revealherself.”
“You brief your males, I'll brief mine,” Geza replied shortly. “Today.”
The screen blanked. Surah let out a breath. “This is it then. Either we stop this Mogren manipulation today–or not atall.”
Kausar wasn’t happy, unconvinced Geza would make any strides to improve his rule. The conversation that took place between Kausar and the ruling Prince–well, Surah heard plenty of yelling. Kausar being the only one who could get away with yelling. Well, the only male, anyway. The weapons master managed to convince Geza that dissatisfaction was high enough to warrant an immediate change–orelse.
Malin, Surah, and their males broke into the compound that morning, during the time gargoyles would be deeply asleep. They had to make the attack look as realistic as possible, so they gave the outlying guards no warning. Geza assured Malin his warriors had orders to strike to injure, not kill, but otherwise only a select few knew that this was really a 'training'exercise.
Kausar likewise briefed his men, Malin and Surah relying on their innate honor to keep them from killing combatants, who were obviously not striking to inflict deathwounds.
“You're certain this isn't a trap?” Kausar hissed under his breath as they made their way on foot into the private royal quarters. They'd disabled the guards, but expected an alarm to go out any second. They reached the open-air hall that was the transition between the public areas of the compound and the private areas. Much like a mezzanine, the ceiling remained roofless, allowing for flight, and individuals could congregate on the tiled floors for conversation or entertainment. Because of its location, it was heavily patrolled andguarded.
The alarm blared, and the sudden cries of black clad soldiers as they swept in through windows designed to open from the outside–which in the wrong circumstances could be a securityliability.
“I trust him,” Malin replied, voice edged. He hadn’t yet shifted to his gargoyle form, the toll of daylight showing in the harshness of his expression. Surah refused to give him any more of the serum until more tests were run. It worked a little too well and the doctor wanted to be sure she hadn't manufactured something that was...addictive.
She pushed those thoughts aside for another time. Right now, they had a show to puton.
Warriors clashed, blades only in this area of the castle. Some guards would have fire blazers depending on their duties, but in the royal family hall, only 'honorable' weapons were allowed. It made things simpler—Surah would rather dodge friendly fire from a blade than agun.
A male engaged her with a wicked looking knife the length of Surah's forearm, rather than a sword. Surah grinned, engaging her opponent. It didn’t feel like a training exercise—and Malin had spent the last two weeks beating her into the ground every evening to bring her training back to the surface, Kausar a criticalonlooker.
The rigid fury in the male’s eyes as he attacked in a series of skilled moves pushed Surah back before her training reasserted himself. She'd made a promise to herself weeks ago to maintain the new weapons conditioning—and now, she really would. Demonstrably, there would be times in her life she'd need to defend herself with skill andspeed.
