We sit next to each other in silence for a while. I’m acutely aware of the warmth seeping through my sleeve where his arm touches mine, and I know he’s aware of it, too, but neither of us pulls away. Something between us has shifted. The enormity of his secret weighs on me, as does the fact he trusted me enough to share it. “What are your nightmares about?” I finally ask.
Dietan sucks in a deep breath, mustering his courage. “The end of the world. My own death. The death of everyone I love. My kingdom covered in shadow, and me at the center of it all. The cause of all that destruction.”
“They’re just dreams,” I say stoutly. “They’re not real.”
“Right.”
“I mean, they’re not prophecies.”
“But they’re notnotprophecies, either,” he says, and I realize I don’t know the half of how the Whisting works. Maybe he doesn’t, either.
I don’t argue—for now.
“There were past kings who could wear the Rings and call forth visions of the future,” he continues. “My father could sometimes intuit which general was going to win a battle, or whether the harvest would be bountiful that year. I just…know, once in a while. I sometimes get a feeling. Maybe about a person or a place. But it’s the same way I know that the Kilandrar are close. The Rings connect me to them.”
“Well, thank the goddess you did, or we’d be dead by now. Do you think they’re still nearby?”
“They’re not far. I know the Kilandrar are waiting to strike. Probably under the same command of whoever kidnapped and killed Lydia.”
“The Usurper of Penrith?” Chills run down my spine just saying his name. In Evandale, we sayit’s bad luck to talk of evil things.
“That’s the only answer that makes sense. Dark forces are growing, so my father has been preparing for this.”
“They say the Usurper…”
“Is Boreas returned, I know,” he finishes.
I wrap my arms around myself. “Do you think he is? Boreas the Unbeliever?”
“I don’t know. But the Usurper has the same ambition to conquer the free kingdoms of Albion.”
I shiver, even though it’s warm in Dietan’s tent.
“They undoubtedly had to regroup when they realized their mistake in capturing Lydia, but that’s little reprieve. No matter what I do, wherever I go, people will get hurt.”
“Like you said, I know what I signed up for. I knew the risks,” I say, looking him squarely in the eye.
Dietan tilts his head to the side, looking grave and like he thinks I’m being dense. “It will only get worse. I’ve dragged you into a battle you’re unprepared to face, and I knew that the moment I asked you to come with me. It was selfish—”
“It was to save our countries!” I interject, but he plows on.
“—and I’ve put you in danger. And now that you know the whole truth about me, you should see that you need to leave, for your own sake.”
“Are you trying to scare me away?”
“I have been since the beginning. I told you not to come with me.” He sighs. “I should have forbidden you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Forbidden me? You think you can order me around just like that?”
He shrugs. “I’m a prince, aren’t I? I can order you to do things…” He grins, back to being a terrible flirt.
I snort, mollified despite how annoyed I just was. “What things?”
“Oh…I can imagine all sorts.” His grin grows wider. “Make you tear off more of your dress, maybe. I think my hand needs another bandage.”
I laugh and toss a pillow at his face.
He bats it away and stares at me so intently that for a moment, the heat between us rises again. I can feel myself melting at my core, certain that he can see it all on my face. But then he looks away, and the moment is lost.
