I have to force my gaze back to Roman and Garrett. “What about Sev?”
Roman frowns. “Dane is holding him at the palace.” He and Garrett exchange a glance. “He wanted to hold us, too, but we slipped out when he was arguing with Sev.”
A spike of alarm lodges in my chest.Holding. I knew our disappearance would look bad from Astranza’s side. We need to return to the palace.
A man calls from outside the hut, and I recognize Callum’s voice. “There!” he says. “I see their horses.”
“I knew they wouldn’t be long,” Roman says, just as Callum pushes through the doorway—followed by Nikko.
Relief floods my chest again. Even though I knew he survived, seeing him alive and well settles something in my heart.
It also confirms that Asher was telling the truth.
That flicker of guilt pricks at me again, but just like the regret, I have to shove it away. I can’t let him go. I can’t offer leniency to a man who attacked me. Who was literally ordered tokillme.
If this alliance is at risk, I can’t afford one moment of weakness.
But when I look back at those cold eyes that are shuttered with resignation, I want to cut him free.
My soldiers don’t. Their expressions haven’t shifted away from stony vigilance, but I watch them all exchange a glance, and it’s clear they want to tear Asher to pieces, just like I did.
I don’t know how to explain everything right here, and we don’t have time anyway. I have no idea what Prince Dane could be doing or saying, and if Sev is arguing with him about anything at all, it needs to end. I need to put away my guilt and regret and focus on the things that matter most. My sister. My people. Mykingdom.
“Give me a cloak,” I say. “We’ll ride back to the palace. I’ll take the princess.” I look to Roman, then nod down at Asher. “Bring him. Make him walk.”
Callum exchanges a dark glance with Garrett. “Oh, we’ll bring him.”
“No,” I say. “You two ride with me.” I step toward the princess, take hold of her arm, and draw her up from the floor.
For a moment, I think she’s going to fight me, and I’m ready to physically pick her up again. But she just looks from Asher to me.
“I’ll do anything you want,” she says. Her eyes are piercing, her voice so desperate. “But please don’t let them hurt him.”
Those flickers of guilt and regret turn into a blaze.
It would be so much easier to ignore if she were yelling and making demands, instead of these desperate pleas that feel so genuine. Butshetrickedme—more than once! And I keep falling for it. Asher may have forced me out of the palace with violence, but violence is something I understand.
“How can I trust you?” I say to her. “Since the moment we met, all you’ve given me are lies.”
“Please, Ky,” she whispers. “Thiswasn’t a lie. You said you would offer himmercy.”
Too much is at stake. I force the emotion away and turn her toward the door. “I am offering him mercy,” I say. “I could have told them to drag him.”
Then I take a cloak from Roman, and I pull her into the cold.
Chapter Fourteen
The Princess
I’m such a fool. I should have listened to Asher to begin with. I should have just let him do what he was sent to do. We could be at the Three Fishes, on our way to...Well, I have no idea where we’d be.
But I wouldn’t be barefoot in the snow, shivering fiercely while the king of Incendar drags me around like a captive.
The worst part about all of this is that, despite my indignant anger, despite my absolutefury, I also want to cry.
I can just imagine how Dane is going to react when Maddox Kyronan hauls me into the palace with my hands tied behind my back—especially when he reveals that Asher was the instigator. I watched them drag my friend away once. I don’t want to watch them do it again.
Especially since it’s my fault. I begged him to do this.
