So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)(116)

“But how honest? Who should I say you are?”

The door opened and a soldier strode inside with a tray of food and drink. Her hood had been pushed back to reveal dark-red hair. She set the tray on the table, then marched out and closed the door.

“She reminds me of Sorcha,” Brigitta murmured.

“Who is that?” Rupert picked up the pitcher and sniffed at the contents. It smelled like tart apples.

“One of my sisters from the convent. We always suspected Sorcha came from Norveshka. And Gwennore is an elf, so she obviously hails from Woodwyn.” Brigitta frowned. “We were never sure where Maeve came from.” She sighed. “I miss them.”

He set the pitcher down. “They were the ones hugging you at the pier in Ebport?”

She nodded with a sad look.

“Don’t worry.” He pulled her into his arms. “You’ll see them again.”

The door opened, and Rupert stepped in front of her.

A man strode into the room, dressed the same as the other soldiers, except for the four brass stars embedded in his leather breastplate. He looked about the same age as Rupert, but even taller. He appeared unarmed except for a sheathed dagger strapped around the thigh of his brown leather breeches. His black hair was pulled back into a queue and tied with strip of leather. His eyes, a brilliant green, scanned Rupert and then Brigitta. He motioned for the guard behind him to leave.

The door closed, leaving them alone.

The man spoke, his voice deep and confident. Rupert didn’t understand Norveshki, but he caught the word Dravenko. So this was the general.

Brigitta answered as she moved to stand beside Rupert. He heard her say her name, then the name Umberto Vintello, and the word Eberoni. So she was sticking to his false identity as an Eberoni nobleman.

The general motioned to the table, then took a seat and filled three brass cups from the pitcher.

Rupert moved a chair close to Brigitta’s and whispered to her in Tourinian as they sat down. “Don’t eat or drink anything till he does it first.” He watched the general’s face for any sign that he had understood, but the Norveshki warrior’s stoic expression remained the same.

The general asked a question, which Brigitta answered at length until he interrupted her with a few lines that made her stiffen with shock.

“What is it?” Rupert whispered.

“He already knows about the competition,” Brigitta muttered. “He even knows that you’re Seven. But he doubts you’re who you say you are.”

Rupert shot a wary glance at the general. There had to be a Norveshki spy at the Tourinian court. Dammit. He would put a stop to that once he took the throne.

General Dravenko took a sip from his cup, then sat back to watch them with an inquisitive look. He said something to Brigitta, and she quickly replied.

“What now?” Rupert whispered.

“He knows I’m the princess and Gunther’s sister. I had to explain that I hardly know him and have no loyalty to him.”

The general said something, and Brigitta blushed as she answered.

“What?” Rupert wrapped a protective arm around her. “Was he rude to you? Do I need to punch him?”

“He asked if I was in love with you,” Brigitta whispered, her cheeks still pink.

Rupert stiffened. “What business is it of his?” He glowered at General Dravenko, then leaned close to Brigitta. “You said yes, right?”

“Of course.”

As Rupert patted her shoulder, the general muttered something else.

Brigitta winced. “He just said Gunther is an ass.”

“Well, that’s true.” Rupert snorted. “Apparently, it’s an acknowledged fact over all of Aerthlan.”

Dravenko’s eyes glinted with humor before he took another drink.

Did the general understand Tourinian? Was the jackass playing with them? Rupert asked Brigitta a question in Eberoni. “Does he know why we’re in his country?”

“You’re here for the head of a dragon,” the general answered in excellent Eberoni before setting his cup down with a clunk. When they stiffened in surprise, his mouth twitched. “Did you think the barbarians from the north are uneducated?”

“How much do you know?” Rupert asked in Tourinian.

“Not everything, or I wouldn’t be talking to you,” Dravenko replied in the same language. He motioned to the food and drink. “It is safe. I need you alive to answer my questions.”

Rupert sat back. “I have questions, too. Why have you taken us prisoner?”

“You are our guests.” The general’s eyes hardened. “But that could change depending on how you answer.” He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. “Did you blow away a dragon?”

Rupert tensed, not willing to admit he had such a power.

“It was very odd, what was happening at the gorge,” Dravenko continued. “According to the reports I received, the two men shooting arrows were the captain of Gunther’s personal guard and his general. Naturally, one would assume they were skilled archers. And yet all their arrows made an abrupt plunge into the gorge. Our dragon made multiple passes to verify the situation, and in each case, you made a hand movement as if you were manipulating the arrows.”

Rupert winced inwardly.

Brigitta leaned close to him. “They must be able to communicate with the dragons.”