"You two will have to be far away when I do this," he decided. "Especially you, Bin. One whisper of these flames, and I could kill you. We'll have to somehow lead them up to their stone temple—“ he turned and met Corbin's eyes. "You remember that great stadium?"
Corbin nodded. "The stone one with the square pillar at the point?"
"That might be the only place that I can contain it. With the snows, I'll have to hold it for hours possibly." He paused and looked between them. "I need you two safe. You have to stay together."
Corbin's hand tightened around Dorian's shoulder. "I'll take first watch outside tonight," he said as he stood.
Dorian caught his hand as he turned to leave, and the warmth of his fingers entwining in his Second's made a lump grow in his throat. "Don't wander off," he said, meeting his eyes. Corbin's grip tightened around his, and Dorian kissed his knuckles before letting him go.
When Dorian sat up to lean against the wall, he noted Reverie smiling at him. "What?" he asked her.
"Nothing," she shrugged as she tucked her legs behind her, sitting by his hip.
He watched her another moment before sighing his head back against the wall and continuing to stare at the flames blazing before them.
Reverie moved after a while, getting up and going over to the corner where she stripped herself of her wet clothes. Dorian didn't deny himself to watch. He could see the wing marks on her shoulder blades and down the backs of her arms, among other things. As much as he wanted to banter and say something about her curves, his heavy mind would not allow him to speak, and Reverie noted his silence.
"Here I was preparing a comment to come back at you with," she muttered as she pulled the fur around her shoulders, only her undergarments left on her body. Dorian's gaze wandered slowly over her, glimpsing her thighs and the swoop of her hip to her waist in the shadows as she cradled her arms over her.
He almost smiled at her banter, but his body ached with his every move. "I'll make up for it once all this is over, don't worry," he promised.
She pressed to her knees at his side. "Do you really think you can take down that entire town tomorrow?" she asked.
"No," he admitted. "But I have to try. I can at least take some."
"And the others?"
He sat up to pull his knees into his chest. "I'll figure it out. But I need you to get the Scrolls. That is the priority. Whatever Corbin and I do will be enough of a distraction for you to find them."
She nodded, and he watched her a moment. Noting the scars he could see on her neck again, the solemness in her gaze.
"You said earlier you knew the Infi wasn't me," she said, meeting his eyes. "How did you know?"
"It was needy.”
Reverie smiled. "Is that it?"
He met her smirk. "No," he continued. "It tried to tell me things it thought I would want to hear from you. That you needed me. That you wanted me to protect you. That I wouldn't leave you."
"No wonder you slid the knife over its throat," she muttered. "I would have too."
Dorian started to laugh, but it turned into a cough, and he doubled over to clutch his stomach as he did, his own flames evacuating his throat and burning his insides. He cursed at the feeling as it settled, and he sank against the wall once more. Reverie's hand rubbed up and down his arm, the touch of it causing chills over his flesh.
As he watched her, he noted her staring at the Infi again. Her hand absentmindedly brushed his arm after a few moments. He could see the haze over her eyes as a memory replayed in her head.
"Can I ask you something?" he said, breaking her out of it.
She blinked, head slowly turning to him. "Anything," she whispered.
"Why did you volunteer to go today?" he asked. "Truthfully."
She avoided his gaze, and for a moment, he thought maybe she wouldn't respond. Tell him to mind his own business and that her decisions were made for herself and herself only.
But he couldn't have been more wrong.
"Because you are my King," she said as she squeezed his hand."You trusted I could go there and bring one back with barely a second thought," she continued. "You didn't ask Corbin first. You didn't put it up for debate. You gave me a choice. And I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try after everything you've done to secure aid for people who have betrayed you."
Heat crept on his neck. "I don't know anything about being a King," he admitted. "Nothing. Just a few minuscule bits I picked up from Draven."
