With the need for him still thrumming through her, the salty sweetness still on her tongue, she could barely breathe, let alone speak.
He glanced upwards.
Along the shaft of the passage, a root ladder had formed. But that wasn’t what he was looking at, she knew. He feared that Honey had seen. That she’d find out.
Clearing her throat, Magda straightened her shoulders and caught his gaze.
“It was just an accident,” she stated firmly. “It didn’t mean anything. We’ll be more careful in future. Won’t we, Prince?”
Hero clambered back onto her shoulder.
Without another word, she started climbing the root ladder—not bothering to test if it would hold her first—fast as she could.
“No,” Damion said again.
“I cannot vie for Radiant without the Enneahedron,” she said, still slumped on the ground in the shadow of Ouda’s dead tree.
“Of course you can,” he said.
“But then I’ll have no choice but to fight Lavana.”
Damion scowled down at her. “And you don’t think you can win?”
That’s exactly what she thought, but she wasn’t about to admit it.
“And what if I do have to fight her?” she asked. “How will that go without the family’s support?”
“Mine will support you,” he said. “So will your side.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He crossed his arms over his chest.
Honey had scooped up Hero and was cooing at him like he was a baby. Apparently, the part of her that thought rats were disgusting had been taken by Ouda.
Kaelan paced the circumference of the hollow, keeping his distance—thankfully.
“If I have the Enneahedron,” she persisted, “there’s less of a chance I’ll have to fight.”
And die.
“And what if she’s already Radiant?” Damion argued. “What if you were right? If the Crown is ill, if she is dying, then Lavana might be able to convince her to close the challenge window early.”
“Which is exactly why I need it. If Lavana manages to convince the Crown to name her Radiant before the year is up, I can still rightfully challenge her, but I have no chance without the Enneahedron. I lost to Alanna and Lavana defeated her. You know how that will look.”
Damion was shaking his head, but finally he threw up his hands. “And how would we reach the King’s islands? It would take us weeks and we could be killed attempting to cross the gulf. I don’t know why you trusted the Enneahedron to that walking little piece of—”
“I can help you,” Honey said.
“No, thank you, Honey. That’s all right,” Magda said wearily.
“If you need to travel quickly, I know a way,” she said.
“Honey...” Kaelan approached her with a hand out, the way he might greet a skittish horse. “Why don’t we go back? Leave these two to make their plans.”
“Hold on,” Damion said. “You are coming with us, yes?
Kaelan’s eyes darkened. “No.”
