Chapter 15: Alkan - Fated to the Night King

Danvers bounced on his toes in my study, earning amused looks from the patrol captains who gathered to give their reports. There had been no other incursions, no more strays dumped at our borders, which only made me more suspicious of the battered woman that was recovering in the infirmary's office.

"Keep the double watches manned and rotate them regularly. I don't want anyone too tired to perform their duties to the fullest." The three of them exchanged amused looks and I cocked a brow at them. "Trust my instincts. Keeping all in our court safe is the first vow I swore. I take that seriously. So should you."

Their agreement didn't ring hollow this time, and they each bowed their heads to me before leaving. It was more formal than I usually required, but it proved the point that they accepted how serious I was about added security. There was a threat out there, even if I hadn't yet shared the truth of that with all of them.

I watched as the captains left, their good-natured bickering about which team would take which shift exactly what I expected. Danvers contained his excitement until the door clicked shut and I waved him forward.

"She spoke. To Gus. She told Gus her name."

Leaning back in my chair, I tapped my fingers on the top of my desk. I'd made myself stay away from his office, away from the infirmary itself, to be honest. The strange, protective urge I felt when I first saw the injured woman hadn't left me despite the distance I'd created. In fact, it had almost gotten worse. I'd found myself standing outside the infirmary, my feet having carried me there without conscious thought. Being that out of control was concerning.

I'm the Night King.

Everything here, from border to border, is my responsibility. And even some things outside of it.

I'd fought and killed to give my people some sense of peace.

To have a chance to build something in this world more than war and blood.

This woman was here to destroy everything we'd worked so hard for. That much I was sure of.

I couldn't afford to lose control. Not with everyone that depended on me.

"That's progress." I kept my voice even, my eyes on the dark wood grain beneath my fingers. "Did she say anything else?"

Danvers shook his head. "Not yet. But it's a start. She's healing. And as she heals, if she trusts us, she might allow us more samples of her blood. If what I suspect is true, and she is the first survivor of the Silver Sickness, we could be on the cusp of developing a cure. Breaking the hold Thalon has on the packs."

I shook my head and his surprised eyes met mine. "She can't stay here, Danvers. There's too much risk. The more about us she learns, the more she can carry back to her Alpha. Give him information on ways to attack us, weaknesses to exploit. We treat her until she's healed enough, and then she leaves. That's the safest choice."

He slumped into the heavily padded chair, his eyes wide in shock. "You can't turn her away, Alkan."

"I can do exactly that," I answered, my voice turning cold. "In case you've forgotten, most everyone here calls me King."

Straightening in his seat, Danvers gave me one of the looks I knew all too well. "I know who you are, and I know where you came from. You were my friend long before you became the Night King. And the man I know exists underneath the crown wouldn't send her back to where she was beaten until she was almost dead. He wouldn't do that without at least giving her a choice."

"You think I should offer her the Vow? Treat her like every other castaway we've welcomed into our home?" Now I was the one who was shocked.

To further cement my astonishment, the healer nodded. "I do. Show her why she should choose our side. If we help her, she can help us. She can save other lives."

"And if we help her, let her learn our ways and our secrets, and she refuses to offer us the same in return? What then, Danvers?"

His disappointment in me wasn't hidden. He didn't even try to hide that. Just shook his head and said, "We don't help people only because they can help us. You told me a long time ago that opening our doors to others was politically expedient, but that it was also the right thing to do. I have healed enemies on the battlefield with you holding their guts in place with your own hands. And now, when we're on the edge of finding exactly what we've been looking for, you want to discard your own philosophy? Your own policy that has helped your kingdom and everyone in it flourish? What aren't you telling me, Alkan?"

He was right. Everything he questioned was correct. I had instituted a policy of welcoming in strays with open arms, if they made the vow we required of all who belonged to my court. The problem was that I couldn't tell him why I wanted to refuse to follow my own rules in this case. I wasn't even sure I truly understood why.

But I was sure of one thing as my friend watched me and waited.

For the first time in a long time, I was afraid.  Afraid of something I couldn't name.

And that made me angry.