But he didn’t look happy. He sat rigidly, jaw clenched even while he ate, and shadows dusted his eyes.
“Did you sleep?” I asked.
He glanced up. “A bit.”
“You stayed with me, but you didn’t sleep?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I reached across the table, covering his hand with mine. “Have you slept at all since we got back?”
His throat worked. “Not much.”
Guilt twisted in my stomach. Of course he hadn’t. He had a war brewing at his borders, all because Vaeris wanted me. And here I was, giving him one more thing to worry about.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
“For what?”
“For all of the chaos I brought to your realm.” My voice wobbled. “You’re trying to keep Sanguir from falling apart and I…I drowned a palace and broke a dragon seal.”
He went very still.
“I keep making everything worse, and then you still have to sit up all night and babysit me.”
His hands curled around the arms of the chair. “You think I’m not sleeping because of politics?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Every time I close my eyes,” he said quietly, “I see you die.”
My lungs forgot how to work.
“I can survive politics, war, dragons, all of it.” His raw gaze came back to mine. “What I don’t know how to survive is watching you almost die.”
A lump swelled in my throat.Iwas the thing keeping him awake? Not his crumbling alliances or the villages burning at his borders?Me.
“Kairos.”
“Don’t ever think you’re a burden I’m tolerating.”
I blinked hard, refusing to cry in front of him. I stoodand climbed into his lap. His arms wrapped around me, and his face pressed into my hair.
“Did you find anything in the library?”
“Not much,” I whispered. “Just some mad books about hatching dragon eggs. Did fae used to steal eggs? Is that why there are books on raising them?”
“Yes. We did everything we could to control them. Dragons are capable of incredible magic.” Kairos blew out a tense breath. “Vaeris is a fool.”
“He talked about them often. He said that long ago, dragons lived among us. Some fae made bargains with them, but most just tried to survive.”
“If you were lucky,” he said. “Gods help you if they felt slighted by your tribute. Cities burned because a dragon was insulted.”
A world where fae weren’t at the top of the food chain. Where they bowed and bargained like everyone else. It didn’t feel real. Fae ruled the realms—they built the cities, carved the runes, decided who lived and who died. But once, they’d been the ones begging for mercy. Just like humans were now.
Vaeris’s words slithered back in. The fae had suffered under dragons, then climbed straight onto human backs the moment they had the chance.
Kairos smiled faintly. “Hard to imagine, isn’t it?”
