I catch her choked breath as she turns her face into mine, her cheek to my cheek.
“The best part about me being heartless,” I say, continuing to murmur at her ear so she can hear me above the wind, “is that you could cast all of your fears onto me, Thyra, and I can carry them without burden.”
She closes her eyes. “What ifIam the thing you should fear?”
My eyebrows rise in disbelief. “Why would you ask me that?”
She chews her lip, dragging her teeth through the tears lingering on her lips. Lips I would kiss if the way we’re sitting didn’t make it impossible.
“One of the very first lessons my father taught me was that I’m a danger to anyone who loves me.”
“Well, then you have your answer,” I reply softly, nudging her earlobe. “I can’t love you, so you aren’t a danger to me.”
A sob-laugh bursts out of her. “Oh.” She reaches for me, but she can’t twist far enough at the speed we’re traveling. “I guessthat’s true.”
Her smile fades, and I would give anything to hear her thoughts and to know why the press of her cheek to mine feels suddenly more intense.
I may not be able to love her, but I have willingly bound myself to her. I’ve tied my future, and the future of my kingdom, to her.
I haven’t told her that. I can’t.
If the time comes that I must face a reckoning, she must make her choices free of my wishes.
Antony’s admonition wasn’t lost on me.
Thyra must be what she wants to be, not what I need her to be.
A warrior, or a queen, or maybe…
A woman with a piece of my past woven into her hair.
She must be what she chooses.
“Thyra,” I say, “I’ve learned why your father didn’t foresee his death.”
She stiffens again.
I avoid mentioning Antony’s name as I continue—carefully. “The hilt of the dagger that was used against your father was made from a particular wood.”
“I remember that dagger,” she says. “A similar weapon was used in an attempt on my life.”
“It hinders your Oracle power, stopping you from foreseeing the actions of anyone carrying it.”
Her eyes fly wide. “So that’s why!”
I may not be able to hear her thoughts, but I can sense the storm in them as she continues. “That’s why I didn’t foresee the assassin who tried to end me. That’s why my Oracle power kept floundering. Does it only shield the person carrying the wood or those around them?”
An excellent question. “I believe it’s only the personbecause Hadrian has apparently given a medallion to each of his followers.”
She closes her eyes. “If only it could free me from my blade visions…” She shakes herself. “Where does the wood come from?”
“A tree, likely located in the far east.”
“A screaming tree,” she whispers, her eyes wide. “Splitting wood. I heard that sound when I read the Chronicle.”
I give her equally concerning news. “There are two such daggers in the Frost Kingdom, and I can’t be certain where they currently are or who has them.”
Her gaze flashes to mine. “Iker. He has to have them or I would have surely been able to foresee his actions.”
