Baelen’s voice is soft but compelling. “Jasper, stop.” He still doesn’t look at me, fixated on a point on the wall the same way he was when they announced the compatibility results. “The Princess has to do what she must.”
“But that’s… No… What’s happening here?” Jasper looks from me to Baelen, swinging between us like he might find something logical or believable between the two of us.
I focus on the Elven Command. “Are we done here?”
Elwyn nods. “We will send details of the final battle after the wedding.”
I skip a beat. I have to remind myself that he’s talking about Jordan’s wedding. For a second, I thought he meant mine. I spin and stride through the wide doors, leaving Baelen and Jasper behind.
And that’s when everything blurs. Elise runs to keep up with me. She’s speaking but I can’t hear her. All I hear is Baelen calling me ‘the Princess.’ Not Marbella anymore, but ‘Princess’ like I’m a stranger. Like he never knew me at all.
He won’t come near me now. No more appearances in the Storm Vault, no more random arrivals at my quarters. He’ll stay away. And that’s for the best.
“Find a way,” I growl to Elise, stopping her mid-speech.
As she blinks back at me, shocked into silence by the savagery of my order, my voice cracks. “Please find a way, because I’d rather die than kill him.”
“Yes, Princess.”
But I know she doesn’t think there’s any hope.
* * *
Jordan jumpsto her feet as soon as we arrive. “I can’t get married tonight. Not now.”
I cast a glance around the living area. A plate of food sits untouched on the table and she’s worn a valley through the wool pile rug with all her pacing.
“I heard about the outcome,” she says as the rest of the Storm Command disperses behind me. They are subdued, deflated, all of them feeling the damage I feel.
My shoulders sink. “That was fast.” If Jordan has heard already, then the news will be flying around Erawind by now.
Her eyes fill with tears and I almost break down as she says, “You need me by your side. I can’t abandon you now.”
I fight the tears burning behind my eyes. Now, more than ever, I have to hold myself together. I’m broken inside, shattering into tiny pieces, but if I show Jordan how I really feel, she’ll sacrifice her own happiness to protect me. “No, Jordan, you have to get married. Your happiness is the only reason I’m still standing right now. If you and Sebastian can be together then there’s something good in my world—something good that I helped to create. If it wasn’t for you…” My voice cracks. I can’t go on, can’t speak, but I have to. “You are the only happiness I have right now. Your happiness is the only thing that’s keeping me alive.”
A tear drips down her cheeks. She takes a step toward me as if she’ll break all the rules and wrap her arms around me to comfort me. “But—”
I suck in a breath, drawing on every icy needle of rain that the storm ever threw at me so I can numb my emotions and shove them aside. The storm’s power dulls the sharpness of my sadness enough for me to pull myself together and stare her down. “You’re getting married tonight.” I soften my order with: “Please. I want you to. Ineedyou to.”
She worries at her bottom lip. “Okay, but I’m not leaving the city until after the… until after…”
“Thank you, Jordan,” I whisper.
“Promise me, if you’re in trouble in the final battle, you’ll yield and not die.” She leans forward and I know there’s more. This is the part where she’d take my hand while she tells me something I don’t want to hear.
Her gaze is gentle, almost apologetic, but also unyielding, as she says, “Commander Rath is the most ferocious fighter anyone’s ever seen. The only reason those males got the upper hand in the arena is because he didn’t expect them to fight without honor. As soon as he realized what they were doing, he changed… I didn’t see it but Sebastian told me that he practically tore their limbs off. I didn’t have the privilege of seeing the Raths at the height of their power, but if they were anything like Commander Rath…” She shudders. “You’re about to enter a battle to the death. Youmustyield if your life is threatened.”
“I promise I won’t die. I do. Really.”
And this is the part where I’d lean forward and takeherhands, if I could. “But… I need you to promise me something too.”
I search for the right words, knowing I’m clutching at straws, knowing she won’t like it, but it’s the only option open to me right now. “I asked you once to protect Commander Rath if his life was in danger during the trials. I need you to make sure my Storm Command keeps that promise.”
Her eyes shoot wide and the blood drains from her face. She drops into her chair, her pale face turned up to me. “Wait, after everything I just said to you about Commander Rath killing you, about his ferocity in battle and how worried I am for your safety… You want us to protecthim… againstyou?”
I join her at the table, keeping my voice low. Elise has already hurried away in search of answers and the rest of the Storm Command is changing shift. I have a rare chance to speak with Jordan more openly than I’ve been able to before now.
“Jordan, I know that Baelen Rath will be the most dangerous opponent I’ve ever faced.” For so many reasons, not just because he’s the most fearsome fighter, but because he has the ability to cut my heart into emotional shreds. “But I know that he would never willingly choose to kill me. Ichoseto enter these trials. He had no choice. If, by some miracle, I get the upper hand and I’m about to strike a fatal blow, then yes. I need you to get in the way. I need you… to make it impossible for me to kill him.”
