“I don’t?—”
I kissed her hard, a promise pressed against her lips. It was a kiss that saidI will come back to you. A kiss that saidlive.
“Guard the kingdom,” I whispered against her mouth.
She clung to me, her fingers digging into my arms. “If you don’t come back to me, Trewyn, I will follow you into the next life and drag you back myself.”
A fierce, brutal grin tore across my face. “I’m counting on it, Minx.”
I let her go. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. But I’d rather die protecting her than live in a world where she wasn’t safe.
Turning away from her was like tearing my soul in half.
“You’re with me, Kira,” I barked.
Duty snapped her to attention. She shot Isi a sneer before spinning on her heel and striding down the hall beside me while I willed myself to focus on this task.
“Has the village been cleared?” I asked.
“Of all but those who want to fight.”
“Good. We ride as soon as possible. I want two full battalions with us and two more as backup. See to it and meet me in the valley below the aerie. Now.”
She bowed and rushed down a second corridor, already shouting orders that echoed through the castle.
I sprinted back toward the back of the castle, every step carrying me further from Isi. I didn’t dare look back. If I saw her watching, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to leave.
The cool night air hit me with a slap as I burst from the castle. The path to the aerie blurred under my feet. My mind stormed with logistics and fear. Silverstream. Skathes massing on the border. And Isi, alone with a crown she wasn’t ready to wear.
Inside the aerie, the familiar scent of beasts and scorched sand filled my lungs. Helena and two other stable workers met me in the hall, their faces grim. They’d already heard the summons.
“I’ll take Lakast,” I said, aiming for the weapons room.
They hurried to the tack room to gather his battle armor.
I kicked the door to the weapons room shut and shucked my regular leathers, grabbing those reinforced for battle from the closet. Made of viscalar hide, they were black and scarred, but they’d been molded to my body through many skirmishes. Each strap I buckled, each plate I cinched into place, reinforced my responsibility to my people.
Strapping a sword to my spine, I cinched it snug. I slid multiple throwing knives into the sheaths on my thighs and arms, andsecured longer blades to my waist. I’d battle with magic as well, but the easiest and least tiring way to kill Skathes was to hack off their heads. Then they dropped to the ground and dissolved into ashes.
I wasn’t only arming for battle. I was girding myself to survive, because for the first time in a very long time, I had someone to come home to.
I strode down the hall and entered Lakast’s stall. Helena and the others almost had him ready, having secured his saddle, eye, belly, and throat protection.
Lakast was a flying mountain of liquid gold, bigger than Kyreth and broader in the chest than his mate. He swung his head toward me, his eyes locking on mine. A low rumble vibrated through his chest, a promise of devastation for our enemies. He could feel the urgency, the rage, and the fear for what we must do.
“Thank you.” I patted Helena’s shoulder, nodding to the others who’d helped.
“Fly true and return safely, Your Majesty,” she said, the others murmuring the same.
When I tapped his left forearm, Lakast dropped to the sand, and I climbed up, settling in the saddle.
Helena and the others backed against the wall as Lakast scrambled toward the opening to the valley at my command. He burst out, his wings snapping free.
As he drifted higher, I looked back toward the castle.
Somewhere in those stone walls, Isi was waiting. Worrying.
Tipping his head back, Lakast released a growl that ended with a blast of flames into the sky.
