Zane waved his hand at him, telling him he could sit back down.“I just had breakfast with the king and queen.”
“You didn’t eat anything,” Kaz interjected.
“Besides the point.”Zane sat down between Talon and Iyana.“The point is that they said they’re already aiding the refugees and plan on helping any who cross the border.”
“That’s great news!”Iyana said.
“And they promised me the use of their army.”
“What’s the catch?”Emmeric asked, ever the practical one.
Zane sighed.“I have to convince the Istorian queen to join the war as well.If she won’t, then Nyr will not lend me their forces.”
Talon chewed on his lower lip in the silence as everyone absorbed this latest information.Zane wanted to grab his lip between his own teeth and—
“So when do we leave for Istoria?”Talon asked, jolting Zane out of his daydream.
“You don’t have to come with me.”
Talon shrugged a shoulder and took another bite of his breakfast, the picture of nonchalance.“I would follow you anywhere.”
And those five words did something to Zane—they set his skin on fire, made his heart pound out of his chest, made butterflies erupt in his stomach.He could have easily yanked Talon to his feet and dragged him out of this room, down the hall, pinned him against the wall, and kissed him senseless.
But, unfortunately, this conversation still needed to be had.
“I think we should all go,” Kaz said brightly.
Iyana suddenly choked on her water and began spluttering and coughing.Emmeric patted her back gently in an effort to help, and they all sat there patiently as she suffered.
“I kind of like it here,” she said quietly once she had recovered.“I don’t really want to leave.”
Her words shocked Zane; she’d always seemed to be the best of them—someone who was reluctant to take a life, always wanted to help, and generally only saw the good in people.
“You’re gonna let them win?”Kaz asked.“Just like that?”
“We all saw what one star was capable of.And now you want us to go up againstthousands?It will be a bloodbath.”
“It’s going to be a bloodbath with or without us, Smalls,” Talon said.“We might as well do all we can to help.And now we know what they can do, and we aren’t going in blind.”
“Could you really sit by while those people out there suffer?”Emmeric asked.Iyana only pursed her lips and stayed silent.
Would we have any chance without the Aztia?Zane thought to himself.He could tell the others were thinking the same thing as they all watched Iyana silently.
Honestly, he couldn’t blame her hesitation.While he, personally, would have wanted to get revenge against Altair for what he did—nine hells, hedidwant revenge against Altair for killing Talon—after someone she loved so deeply betrayed her; it made sense she’d be skittish.
“I have an idea,” said Kaz.They all swung their attention to her, waiting for her to elaborate.“We can go to our divine site and ask Yrza.”
“You have a place where you can commune with an actual goddess?”Zane raised a brow, doubtful of Kaz’s claim.
“Yeah!I’ve never been myself, and from what I’ve heard, she doesn’t always answer but—”
“So,” Emmeric interrupted, “we’re going to base our decision on asking a goddess who may or may not show up?”
Kaz shrugged.“It’s worth a shot.She only would answer during a full moon, but that’s only in two days.We wouldn’t be able to leave for Istoria right now, anyway.It would requiresomeplanning.So why not give it a shot and see if she answers?We can ask her what we need to do to beat the stars, if Iyana needs to be involved…that sort of thing.”
Nobody else had any better ideas, so they agreed to hike out to this mystical site in two days to try to commune with a goddess.Zane didn’t have high hopes for success.
Chapter 18
