Sven looked up, instantly alert. “Jakob.”
“They have her,” Jakob said flatly.
Sven didn’t ask who. He didn’t demand proof. He simply straightened. “How long?” he asked quietly.
Jakob set Mallory’s phone on the table and his hand lingered a fraction too long before he pulled it away. “Less than an hour.”
Sven picked up the phone himself. He read every message in silence, his expression unreadable. When he finished, he didn’t curse. Didn’t rage.
He exhaled slowly.
“She’s brave,” Sven said at last.
The word hit Jakob harder than any accusation.
“She shouldn’t have had to be,” Jakob replied hoarsely.
Sven looked at him then, not as a king but as a man watching a friend break in real time. “No,” he agreed. “She shouldn’t.” He set the phone back down carefully, like it was fragile. “They chose their meeting place deliberately. Easily defendable. Easy to see anyone coming. They want you out in the open.”
Jakob’s mouth tightened. “They won’t have to wait very long.”
Sven moved around the table, slow and deliberate, until he stood in front of his friend. He rested both hands on Jakob’s shoulders..
“You can’t depend on your dragon,” Sven said gently. “Too many witnesses.”
Jakob didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
“I know that look,” Sven continued. “I wore it once. When Bryn was taken by the Skelvarns.”
Jakob’s breath caught despite himself.
“I went alone,” Sven said. “Because I believed speed mattered more than survival.” His voice softened. “I was wrong and it almost cost me everything.”
Jakob finally looked at him. “But you saved her.”
Sven held his gaze. “Yes, I did.”
Hope flared. Jakob swallowed. “I don’t care what it costs me.”
“I know,” Sven said. “That’s why I’m afraid. And we don’t know what the sister connection is. It could be a trap.” He reached out then, an unexpected and steadying hand on Jakob’s forearm. Not restraining, but anchoring.
“You are not weak for wanting to run to her,” Sven said. “You are human. And you are loved.”
Jakob’s composure cracked at the edges. “They’re using that.”
“Yes,” Sven said simply. “And they are wrong to think it makes you careless.”
Sven straightened, the king returning but gentler now. “I will gather the army. Every soldier who owes you their life will answer.”
Jakob shook his head. “It won’t be fast enough.”
“No,” Sven agreed. “It won’t.” He paused. “So you will go ahead. And we will follow.”
Jakob stared at him. “You’re letting me walk into this.”
“I’m trusting you,” Sven corrected. “To survive until I arrive.”
Silence stretched between them.
