His eyes were golden flames and I couldn’t look away. “You are as vital to me as the air I breathe, the water I drink, the food I eat. I cannot exist without you. I would sacrifice my heart, give up all that I have, for the smallest hope that you might return my feelings someday. And if not, then I promise that I love you enough for the both of us.”
He wasn’t asking me to say the words, but I knew that it was what he wanted. To know that he wasn’t alone in this, that he had as much power over me as I had over him.
Part of me wanted to forget the resolutions I had just made. I wanted to make that sacrifice for him, so that he would be able to move on. I should stay quiet.
But it felt like remaining silent ... it was like I was about to lose something important.
“Xander, I—”
“Lia!”
Ahyana came running up, out of breath.
“Dragons,” she said, panting. “Artemisia has earth dragons.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
“What do you mean, Artemisia has earth dragons?” I asked as Xander got to his feet.
“I connected to a common swift to see which way we should go, and then I sent it back to the Carian army to check on them. They’re on the move. There are cavalry riders up front with bags attached to their horses that the red dirt is pouring out of.”
“The dragons!” I reminded her.
“Yes, at the back of the army, there are earth dragons. They are massive.” I remembered the drawings from my grandmother’s book. Earth dragons were covered in impenetrable scales that resembled stones.
And they hadn’t been seen in hundreds of years.
“How many?” Xander asked.
“Two dozen? Maybe more?”
By the goddess. “Do you have anything in Troas to fight dragons with?”
“No,” he said, pressing his lips together in a thin line. “We were preparing for an army of people, not earth dragons.”
Ahyana’s eyes went wide. “Then what are we going to do?”
“I need to get back to Troas and warn them. I don’t know that the walls will protect us. We should move everyone into the palace’s lower caverns to keep them safe. But there’s not enough time to do that.”
“How much time do you need?” I asked him.
“Two days? Maybe three?”
“I’ll get them for you,” I said.
“How?”
“We’ll use our magic to delay them.”
A thousand different emotions flitted through Xander’s eyes. He wanted to tell me no. He didn’t want to leave me behind.
But I wasn’t the only person he had to worry about. He was king. He had an entire nation he needed to protect.
“I will be fine,” I promised him. “I saved you from a den of thieves, didn’t I? Got my brother out of the Carian camp? You know that I can do this.”
He grabbed me and pulled me close. He kissed my temple. “I know you can. I just don’t want you to.”
“You have to go,” I said into his neck. “You’re the only one they’ll listen to. You have the authority to command the army. Let me do this for you.”
