“Why are we not heading back to the city center, gathering our forces?”
A corner of his lips hitched, an arrogance I’d never seen on him. “We’re staying right here so he can meet us, and we can destroy him.”
“Do we even have all our forces here?”
“We have enough.”
Slowly, I shook my head. For weeks, I’d known Koerlyn would likely prepare an aggressive offensive. He and Harthon were the only two Princepes who knew themagvishad given me the path into the Domus when she changed my eyes. From the moment Harthon had stolen me from him, Koerlyn wanted me back. And now that I’d just slipped from his grasp again, it seemed battle was his strategy.
But for that all to come to fruition now, so suddenly—it was tooreal, too soon.
And Stefano was being entirely too casual about the whole thing.
“So we’re just sitting here, waiting for him to come, weapons ready? What happens if we lose?”
Stefano’s eyes flashed with something fierce. “We aren’t just sitting. We’re preparing. And we won’t lose.”
On wooden legs, I stumbled to the bed and collapsed.
I was about to be in the middle of a war.
Could a girl not catch a damn break?
In my Second Territory village, I’d known suffering and hardship. I’d even known death. But aside from what happened to my parents, it was rarely the violent kind.
But ever since themagvisaltered my eyes, that had changed. I’d seen more violence and danger in the past few weeks than I had in years combined, and I’d even started to learn how to inflict violence upon others. But I still wasn’t used to it, and I hadn’t even learned weapons with Callen yet.
I was so terribly unprepared for battle, it was laughable.
Except it wasn’t remotely funny. People were about to die. I might be one of them.
“You should drink,” Stefano said.
Dazed, I looked up to find a metal cup in his hand. “So the prisoner’s allowed water?” I said, taking the cup.
Again, his throat bobbed. “That’s not what you are.”
“That’s exactly what she is,” a deep, powerful voice said.
My insides hollowed out. Then the warmth in my chest burst, that heat flinging as far as my shoulders before drawing back toward its core.
It confirmed what I was quickly learning. The pulsating kernel of knowledge was its own separate entity, existing within me, because at the sound of Harthon’s voice,Etarlafelt anythingbut warm. The sudden intensity of both sensations nearly made me drop the cup. I barely managed to keep it in my grasp, expelling a harsh breath as I battled both my body and the presence that’d entered this tent. A presence so authoritative and powerful, it could only belong to him.
The man who’d forced me into his world.
The man who’d kissed and held me as if I were something precious, all while hiding that he was with those mercenaries who’d killed my birth parents and razed my village to the ground. That it’d beenhis father’smen who’d irrevocably altered my life.
The man who now thought me a traitor.
Setting my jaw, I stood and faced him.
Harthon was dressed for war. He wore his typical earth-toned trousers and tan leathers. The textured shell was tightly molded to a muscular chest and wide shoulders, giving way to the long sleeves of a black tunic—sleeves I knew covered corded, scarred arms. Over them were thick leather arm guards, above and below each elbow. Plates of the same material armored his shins and wrapped around two strong thighs. Black straps laden with more daggers than usual were fastened across his abdomen, and behind his shoulders, the hilts of two swords protruded from their sheaths.
“I’m no traitor,” I said evenly, finally dragging my gaze to his face.
A series of braids pulled his dark brown hair away from his forehead, leaving the rest hanging loose to his shoulders. The whiskers lining his square jaw were longer than I remembered. Rather than unkempt, the result was half-rugged and half-wild, something that reminded me of those vicious wolves we’d encountered in Fifth. It was only accentuated by the fierce set of his jaw, the strong lines of his slightly crooked nose, and those dark eyes that regarded me with stony indifference.
Harthon had never looked at me in such a way.
