Eira grabbed his hand, holding tight. This was perhaps the most perfect time for her to catch him on his own, and before they went to fight Ulvarth, she wanted to speak with Olivin alone. Hopefully her display had shown him she meant well.
“Or…why don’t you go, Alyss?” Olivin said, somewhat begrudgingly. “I bet he’s gone to his room. I’m sure he remembered the way. It’s the second door once you reach the third floor.”
“I’ll be back.” Alyss smiled and stepped away.
“We’ll trail behind,” Eira suggested to Olivin, by way of compromise. “Give them a moment alone first.”
“Sure.”
He followed her into the entry hall, leaving Ducot and Cullen behind. Alyss’s footsteps were already fading on the stairs. Though Eira wondered if she was intentionally slowing them. If Alyss was looking for more “inspiration” for her book by eavesdropping on Eira and Olivin.
“What is it?”
Eira jumped right to the point. “I know what you’re doing and I’d rather discuss it outright. You must know I’m going to keep running toward danger. You’re not going to be able to stop me.”
“What?”
“I swore to kill Ulvarth, and I will.”
“Of course. We all will. With your help?—”
“Bymyhand,” Eira clarified, looking him in the eyes once more. His expression hardened some. “It will be me who does it. It must be me. No one else can bring down the very idea of him like I can.”
“I know you think you’re powerful but Ulvarth isn’t one to be underestimated.” Olivin seemed genuinely concerned that she hadn’t fully considered the dangers.
“Do you think I got this solely out of hubris?” Eira pointed to the center of her chest. “For some kind of ability to gloat? Olivin, I know he’s dangerous, I’ve faced him before multiple times and failed. So I know what it takes. I’ve been working on a plan for months now, I have power no one else does”—she gesturedvaguely in the direction of the mirror in the other room, her display was both a kindness and a reminder of her power—“so I must be the one to do it when the time comes.”
His eyes widened a fraction, as though he hadn’t fully considered this. “Then let me be your sword and shield.”
“You can’t protect me if your focus is your brother,” she said as gently as possible.
He took a step back in shock. “You don’t want me to protect Yonlin?”
“I want you to,” she insisted. “That’s why I’m trying to say, don’t worry about me. I need to kill Ulvarth because it was by his hand that my brother died. I want to kill him because he tore apart a land I dreamed of for years. A land with flaws and ugliness, but also beauty and goodness. A land that wasn’t my own and might never be, but that I loved anyway. Because as long as he lives, I and those I love will never know true safety. And…yes. Before you even say it, you’re right. I want to kill him out of my own pride. Who would ever take a pirate seriously if she ran from her first real enemy?”
Olivin listened in silence, his expression hard to read. But something got through to him. At least she thought so…
“Why are you saying all this?” he finally asked. He was going to make her spell it out.
“I know what you did—tried to do in Hokoh. I know your heart was in the right place. But don’t try it again.” Her hand slipped in his. Panic flashed through his eyes but she couldn’t tell if it was a result of what she was asking, or that she had discovered him.
“I will not endure what he did.” Olivin’s words dropped to a hushed whisper as he glanced toward Ducot in the other room. “I will not watch you die.”
“I will do everything I can to keep myself safe, along with everyone else. But my life is not yours to live, or to keep.”
Olivin tightened his grasp. “Why do you resist help?”
“I want your help.” She wanted to plead with him to understand. “I want you by my side, helping me, protecting me, but as an equal. Just as I will do the same for you. Please, Olivin…” She had a thousand things she wanted to say.Please don’t make this complicated.
Olivin searched her face, as if he could hear all those sentiments. Hear her fears and the dreams she hadn’t even realized until that moment. Until she realized she might lose them.
“I love you, Eira.”
“I know.” She nodded, heart squeezing to the point of pain. “I know you do. You wouldn’t have done it if you didn’t.”
“Do you…” He almost couldn’t finish the question. “…love me?”
“I—” She didn’t have a chance to finish.
