“The Honest Scrolls,” he answered.
She swallowed hard and suddenly realized they were not the only ones in the room. The crows she’d heard earlier were all perched around the Chamber. A hundred of them at least, all sitting quietly as though in mourning of the one slain.
“Take me with you,” she breathed.
Draven sat up slowly, his eyes narrowing at her. “Is that what you want?”
“I cannot stay here. Not after this… He’ll make up something and have me in chains by the end of the month,” she said. “And Nyssa should come as well,” she begged.
“I doubt your sister would agree to that.”
Aydra looked at the ground again and nodded. “Then I must go to her and explain.”
“And Dorian?”
“He will understand.”
CHAPTER SIXTY
“YOU’RE LEAVING, AREN’T you?” Lex asked in her doorway.
Aydra stopped moving, inhaling the tears that had just fallen down her cheek. “I am,” she whispered.
“Will you allow me to come with you?”
Aydra shook her head and turned to face her best friend. “I need to know you’re here protecting my sister. You know what he is capable of. I need someone I trust to look after her.”
Lex nodded as she crossed the space between them. Her hands reached out, and squeezed Aydra’s hands in hers. “I swear it.”
Aydra hugged Lex then, wrapping her arms around her tightly, realizing it would be the first time she would be away from her for longer than two weeks. She wasn’t sure what to say to her.
“I know it will not be the last I will see of you, and as such I will not tell you good-bye,” Lex said into her hair.
“I would let you do no such thing,” Aydra said as she pulled back. “Thank you. For everything.”
Lex leaned in and kissed her then, cupping her cheeks in her hands as a tear stretched down her cheek. “My Queen,” she whispered.
Draven appeared in the door soon after, with Nyssa and Dorian at his side. Nyssa crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Aydra with force.
“Dorian told me everything,” Nyssa whispered in her hair. “I’m so sorry I didn’t know.”
Aydra pulled back and wiped the tear from Nyssa’s face, giving her sister a small smile. “It wasn’t your place to know, to try and protect me. But I cannot stay here. You understand why?”
Nyssa nodded. “I do,” she whispered.
Nyssa hugged her again, and then Dorian’s hand came to a rest on Aydra’s shoulder. She couldn’t hold back the emotion as she wrapped her arms around him.
“You remember what I told you?” she said into his hair. “Keep her safe. Keep yourself safe. Lex will be here with you.” She pulled back and wrapped a hand around his cheek. “Take care of your sister. Let me know of anything that happens. I will be back for the next meeting.”
Dorian’s jaw tightened, but he nodded nonetheless. “Okay.”
She hugged him tightly again, fighting the tears that threatened her insides.
Lex took Nyssa and Dorian away from her not long after. Draven stayed, helping her finish packing her bags. And when she was done, he took her hand and kissed her palm.
“Are you ready?” he asked, hoisting her bag onto his shoulder.
She took one more look around her room, making sure she did not miss anything, and also taking in the home she’d always known.
