Disappointment made my shoulders drop. I had wanted him to teach me. “What do we do next?”
“Sleep.”
“No, I meant what do we do about Ilion being attacked?”
He hesitated before answering. “I thought you planned on seeing my entire nation burned to the ground.”
“Not anymore. People I love are here.” I regretted the words as soon as I said them, as they made the awkwardness of the moment intensify. He tensed with what I guessed was surprise, and I considered going back over to my own side of the bed and dealing with whatever nightmares might come.
Would he think I was talking about him?
“I’m concerned that none of our spies saw this coming,” he said, and I was intensely grateful that he changed the subject. “Rokh has been trying to track them down and hasn’t been able to find a single one.”
How could his spies have just disappeared? “Do you think Erisa had something to do with them going missing?”
“I wouldn’t know who else to blame. I’m going to recruit new spies and have them report directly to Thrax, so that no one else will know their identities or locations. We will also have to gather what allies we can. I’ll have to send out riders with messages.”
“We don’t know what direction the enemy will attack from.” Those riders could be heading directly into a trap.
“Which also presents a problem,” he agreed. “But if those messengers see an approaching army, they can ride back quickly and warn us.”
“And you’re planning on bringing in the people outside of Troas.”
“Yes. I’m going to send my phratry brothers and members of the army that I know I can trust to every village, town, and city to convince the people to come to Troas so that they can be safe behind the walls.”
I remembered how he had said people didn’t want to believe the worst was coming, that they wanted to stick their heads in the sand and ignore it. “What if they won’t come? If they don’t believe your men?”
“I’ve already thought of that. I’m going to try and use Erisa’s party to gather them in.”
“Using your stepmother’s diversion to your advantage.”
I saw the ends of his mouth curl up in a satisfied smile. “Yes. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll tell them about the attack and that they’re not safe out in the open.”
“What if they don’t listen?”
“I can’t force anyone to come. And without the council’s support ...” He let out a frustrated sigh. “If only I were king. Everything would be so different.”
He was right. Everything would be different.
Our contract would be ended. He wouldn’t have need of me any longer.
Would ... would that change things between us?
What if he wanted to find a true wife?
Chapter Six
Despite how tired I was, I hadn’t slept much the night before. As if I didn’t have enough to be anxious about already, now I had to worry about Xander being named king and telling me he needed to find a real wife. I supposed, in the end, it wouldn’t matter if he let me stay in the palace or not—my goals would remain the same. Get the eye of the goddess and restore Locris.
And find a way to stop Artemisia.
I didn’t have to be sleeping next to him every night to stop her.
When I dropped by my adelphia’s room to tell them that I was going to interrogate Lysimache, Io insisted on coming with me. Xander walked both of us down to the stables, with the siblings chatting the whole way. I didn’t pay attention to what they were discussing because I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would feel like if Xander told me that it was time for our marriage to end.
My stomach churned. The thought of never seeing him again ... at one time it had been the only thing I wanted, and now it felt like the worst kind of punishment.
When we got to the stables, one of the servants brought out the horse his mother’s family had given me as a wedding gift.
