“This is sensitive information.” Her face florid, Kira could barely contain her jealousy. She pointedly ignored Isi, as if by refusing to acknowledge her, she could will her away.
“I told you to speak.” The tone of my voice left no room for argument. I slid my arm around Isi’s waist, pulling her flush against my side in a clear, public claim.
The look Kira gave me could’ve severed my head from my shoulders. Cold, venomous rage spiked through her eyes.
I did not care. Let her see exactly where my loyalties lay. Her, and the rest of my court as well.
For a long second, she just stared, her face a mask of disbelief and rage. Finally, she seemed to remember her duty. She forced the words out, each one churning with resentment. “Scouts report Skathes massing at the edge of the wasteland. They’re moving toward Silverstream.”
A border village full of families, farmers, and merchants.
Like at the ball, the quiet peace of the day shattered.
I released Isi, the king taking over, the warrior rising to the surface. “How many?”
“Hundreds,” Kira spat. “More than we’ve seen in one place.”
Fuck. “How long until they reach the village?”
“At their current pace, by morning. I tried to find you earlier, naturally, but you didn’t tellanyonewhere you’d gone.”
Anyone meaning her.
A king could never truly leave his duties behind, could he?
There was no time for planning or strategy. Only time for blood and battle.
“I have to go,” I told Isi, facing her. Her eyes had gone wide, the fire in them mixed with fear for me and my people.
Her chin lifted. “I’m coming with you.”
“No.” The word was an iron command. “You’re not.”
“I can fight, Trew. Iwantto fight. For the love of all the fates, I will not let you go to a slaughter alone.”
I cupped her face, sliding my thumb across her jaw. The thought of her being hurt made my blood freeze. “It’s a tide of teeth and hunger. I can’t bear to lose you.”
“And the trials weren’t dangerous? Almost half the recruitsdied.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“We’re being trained to fight the Skathes. Let us do our jobs.”
“I can’t. Don’t you see?”
“So you’ll go alone?”
“With a full force,” Kira said with a sharp twist of her mouth. “He’s not fighting them all by himself.”
Isi’s hands covered mine, her grip fierce. “They’re my people, too. The children I saw today, those living in every village scattered across this court. All of them. I will not hide in a castle while you fight for us.”
The raw courage in her eyes nearly broke me. It was the same fire that had drawn me to her from the very start, when she stood on that platform, delicately trying to defy her father.
But that same fire would get her killed.
Kira shifted, a smug witness to our conflict.
“I need to know you’re safe here,” I said, my voice dropping lower, going more intense. I leaned in, resting my forehead against hers, desperate to make her understand. “Please. I can’t bear for you to be in danger.”
