As if he knew the thoughts swirling in her head, Ser Aeron’s eyes glowed with mirth as a cocky smirk lifted the corner of his mouth, and he sank to a knee with his head bowed. “With my honor and my life, Your Majesty. I will see you on the battlefield, and may we meet again.”
“May the Goddesses of Arcelia guide and protect you, Ser Aeron.”
As he rose, he clasped arms with Xander and gave him a slight bow of his head. “My Prince. Help her into the rest of her armor. I need to get to the front lines before Garnet’s troops figure out a way through your sister’s line of fire. Can you do that?”
Xander gave him a curt nod, straightening his spine as he turned toward Auraelia. The commander mounted his horse and rode away.
A tense silence settled between them as he stooped to grab her breastplate from where it rested on the ground. Persisted as he meticulously ran the leather through the buckles at her side, pulling them taut until there was barely a sliver of space between the front and back plates.
His lips were set in a tight line as he worked to protect every inch of her person. Every breath he took was ragged like it was taking everything he had not to run back into the tent and hold Piper in his arms. And if anyone understood what that felt like, it was her. They'd lost so much already, but through time, they’d gained more in return. And because of that, they had all the more to lose. She knew that her battle with Davina would be the hardest to win. Didn’t know what the outcome would be. But she knew that Xander and Piper deserved more than their world had given them. And though she couldn’t guarantee them the time they deserved, she could at least give them a chance.
As Xander rested the final pauldron on her shoulder, Auraelia released a sorrowful sigh and broke the heavy silence. “Protect Piper.”
His gaze shot to hers, his eyes wide before narrowing in confusion. “Auraelia—”
“I mean it, Xander. Stay with her. Shieldher.She needs you more than I do.”
“I can’t just leave you, Rae. You know I can’t,” he spat back angrily.
She firmly wrapped her hand around his wrist when he pulled the last strap taut. “You can, and you will. You both need to survive this. If there is one last thing you ever do for me, make it this. Protect my friend. Love her the way only you can, and see her through to the other side of this war.Please.”
His head shook from side to side, his lips pinched together as he blew out an aggravated breath through his nose. “Don’t ask this of me, Rae.”
“I shouldn’t have to. I know what she is to you. What you are toher. Protect that at all costs. I didn’t when I should have. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Hold tight with both hands andfightfor what you share. If I don’t make it through this—”
“Auraelia—”
“No, Xander, listen to me. If I don’t make it through this, you’re going to need each other. Davina won’t stop at just me, so take Piper and run.Betogether. Live the life you both crave and deserve away from all of the court politics. Have tiny raven-haired babies with our family’s eyes. But for the love of every Goddess, justlive.Promise me, Xander.”
His eyes lingered on hers, resentment swirling in their depths as silence settled between them. With a resigned sigh, he asked, “You’re not even going to give me a choice in this?”
“I’m telling you tochooseher, Xander, not as your Queen, but as your sister.Choose. Her.”
Auraelia released her hold as Xander let out a disgruntled huff, his tongue running across his teeth behind his lips. “Your ultimatums really suck, you know that?”
“You can thank me for them later when we make it through this. Now come on, the end of the world awaits.”
As Auraelia’s blade sliced across the throat of yet another soldier in crimson armor, the world seemed to spin around her in a blur. Time moved differently in the heat of battle. Each second felt like hours, each hour a month that seemed to bleed into a year. She had no idea how long they’d been fighting back Davina’s army, but as the hours ticked by, there was still no sign of her or Caius.
Auraelia grunted as she spun to meet another blade with her own, the crash reverberating down into her hand, threatening the hold she kept on her hilt. No amount of training could have prepared her for the exhaustion creeping in with each swipe of her sword. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself that lives would be lost; being the one to take their futures from them for no other reason than they were on the wrong side of history would forever be a heavy weight on her soul.
She didn’t wantthis.
Didn’t want to be the villain in anyone’s story. But that’s precisely what she’d become as another unknown name was added to the death toll. She knew she couldn’t continue to dwell on the hand fate had dealt her. All she could do was walk the path and pray she came out with a winning hand.
So, with a ragged breath, Auraelia let herself go numb.
Let her mind filter out the faces and screams of those around her, and let her instincts guide her. Pulling her dagger from the sheath on her thigh, she let her magic channel into the emerald blade as she launched it into the neck of an enemy who had the advantage over one of her men. When it landed true, she sprinted toward the fallen soldier, thwarting advances with each step she took until her blade was in her hand once more.
She continued to meet each opponent blow for blow, her magic and training guiding her through the movements. Sweat plastered strands of her hair to her face and soaked through her layers. Blood coated the onyx and gold plates of her armorand mud caked her boots. But as she pulled her blade free from another nameless face’s abdomen, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and a sickly sweet laugh silenced the tumult of battle that had been there mere moments before.
“Hello,cousin.”
Auraelia’s grip tightened on her hilt as she turned to meet the face of the person who’d brought all of this bloodshed to her front door. Who perpetrated grief and loss throughout the realm.
“I do hope you’ve saved some of your strength for me. I want to end you when you’re at your best.”
The sight of Davina’s sinister smile had her magic surging in her veins; sparks of lightning ignited at the tips of her fingers as the wind stirred the air around them.
