“Sounds like a promise.”
“It is.” I gave him a last quick peck on his lips. “Let’s go. The longer we wait, the longer this war drags on.”
Everyone had gathered in the command center meeting room, waiting for us. Rilen placed the scroll case on the table and unlocked it.
Roran lifted it out of the case, while his brother swept the case out of the way.
“So, Kimber found this by way of magic—which I totally think is cheating when it comes to research, but I’m not a librarian.”
I bumped him out of the way with my hip. “Come on, come on. We don’t need to make a production out of this. Just get on with it.”
He dropped a sloppy kiss on my cheek and didn’t move very far.
“So, I did find the scroll in the library, which I found after disobeying the directive to not stray from the appointed areas. I’m just all kinds of rebellious.” I unrolled the paper, and Roran rolled it back onto the spindle just after. We had to go all the way to the other end, but it didn’t take us very long.
I pointed to the words at the top. “The Prophecy of the Breaker.”
“Oh, hell, I didn’t even know this was here,” Gwen said.
“Given the depth of the dust, I don’t think many people did,” Roran said.
“From what we can tell,” Rilen offered from his place against the wall, “Kimber has to sacrifice herself for this to work.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Which is why we’re here. Despite the spell Dorian put on me to be able to read and write all languages, it’s not my first, nor is it Rilen’s or Roran’s—we may be interpreting it wrong.”
“We’re not sacrificing our mate,” Roran said and leveled a dangerous gaze around the room.
Bel snorted. “You’re not scary.”
“Not the time for a pissing contest,” Gwen said. “I know those spells work well.”
Roran’s finger jutted out and stabbed the scroll exactly where the offending line was. “To keep the lifeblood of the planet, a last breath must be drawn.”
“I can read,” King Belshazzar said.
“Move your asses,” Dorian translated, as if someone in the room didn’t speakBelshazzar. I stepped away, pulling Roran with me.
“I’m not letting you die,” Roran whispered in my ear.
“Yes, your brother informed me of that already. I get it.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are. And I’m serious that I don’t want to die, and I want to end this war. Hopefully, we’ll all get what we want out of this.”
Lord Cato leaned back in his chair. “I don’t think that says you have to die at all. I told you that at the get-go.”
“How many prophecies have you translated?” Roran asked.
“That whole library is full of stuff like this.” He sighed. “I’ve been reading them for years.”
“But not dusting them.” Rilen lifted a shoulder.
“It’s been a few years.”
“People could have decomposed in there. The dust is that thick.”
“Maybe they did.”
