But Varius’ heart sunk as her expression turned gentle.
“In a word, yes,” Fabiana said. She glanced toward the sorceresses and back. “Our position isn’t stable yet. If the empire sends legions from elsewhere, they’ll roll over us. We need a champion that can make them back down.”
Varius had bowed his head in resignation, but his mind kept spinning.
No. He wasn’t ready to give up yet.
It was his turn to reach for a new life if he wanted it.
Wasn’t he supposed to be a strategist? It was past time to apply that to his own life.
“Perhaps all you need,” he said, turning to Theira, “is thethreatof a champion.”
Theira raised an eyebrow coolly, waiting.
She’d waited for him for too damn long.
“Would you object to leaving the golems here?” Varius asked. “As a deterrent.”
“They won’t do any good—or bad—without someone directing them. Only a fool won’t put that together.”
“We can make it known that Fabiana has a way to send a message to the house if needed.”
Fabiana sucked in a breath. Lysithea and the other sorceresses held still, too.
Varius knew what he’d just implied, out loud and for an audience.
The only reaction he cared about in this moment was Theira’s.
“You’re sure?” she asked him softly.
“As sure as you don’t want that jewel,” he told her.
That wasn’t all of what she meant, and he knew it, butthatwas a conversation for another, private, time.
Fabiana had missed the Crown Jewel part of the conversation, though, and this gave him an excuse to catch her up.
Theira didn’t ask him again, letting the conversation move back to practicalities. She gave Fabiana a jewel that would send a message to the house, and Fabi promised to send updates. More rebels and disaffected soldiers joined them, and Varius tried to both reassure them but remain firm that he was absolutely not staying, no matter how much his now-aimless soldiers would love for him to. Theira engaged in quiet conversations with the sorceresses, too.
So Varius and Theira stood guard over the course of an afternoon as the sun began to set and Fabiana and Lysithea signed a nonaggression agreement and arranged for future communications. Varius moved the golems into position, forming a barrier around the border city—from Korossia and the rest of the empire alike.
And then, somehow, it was done.
The war was done.
Varius looked at Theira.
Theira looked at him.
Sorceresses, rebels, and soldiers all waited on them with bated breath.
Varius smiled.
Theira had opened the door for him.
It was on him to walk through it.
He held out a hand to her in invitation—then lowered it slowly toward the ground like the golem.
