“For Lockwood?” she asked. He had nowhere else to go.
“For the capital.” His eyes did not drop from her own.
That word alone awoke every numb part of her mind. “Ian, no—”
“I have already made the decision.” His voice was quiet and decisive, but not resigned.
“Alone? Without a plan?” she protested.
“I have a plan,” he replied quite calmly.
“One man riding to the capital is not a plan.” She shook her head. She had nearly watched him die less than two hours prior. “It is a funeral.”
“Lane is coming with me.” The corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly.
“And that is supposed to make me feel better how?”
“Gareth plans to kill my father tonight,” Ian said, the glimmer of jest completely gone. “I cannot wait any longer.” He stood up. “I know what I am walking into. But I cannot run from this fight any longer. I tried to forge the most careful path, to prevent needless bloodshed. But I am Crown Prince of Iseldis, and I can run from my duty no longer.”
Robin shifted her weight against the stone at her back, waking her numb muscles so that she could stand with him. “Gareth’s guard, the man on the beach, was another of his experiments,” she said. “He found a way to increase a man’s strength without sacrificing his mind. He will have more men like that at the castle.”
“I know,” Ian replied. “But Onric is also there. And my mother, and father, and Erich, and Ashlin, and...” His voice trailed off. She knew the names of the people he loved.
“You have a plan?” she asked, standing now.
“I will enter the castle through the old secret tunnel and extract my father to safety,” he said. “Then I will find Onric and figure out what comes next.”
“That is not a plan.” Robin shook her head.
“It is the best I have at the moment.” The corner of his mouth quirked, stretching at the small cut above his lip. “I have several hours on horseback to come up with something better. But I am out of time. I can no longer afford to wait for the perfect plan or the perfect moment.”
A fresh cut of wind blew across the sand, barreling against the cliffside and bringing tears to Robin’s eyes.
“I am not asking you to come with me,” Ian continued, reaching out his hand and setting it against her shoulder. Somehow, despite the bone-deep cold, his hand was still warm. “You have people here who need you.”
Her eyes fluttered closed at the touch, and she blinked away the wetness from the wind.
“I am only telling you so that...” He looked down, breaking contact with her eyes as he searched for the right words. “So that you understand...I am not trying to leave you.”
Robin nodded. “I do understand.” Her mouth was so dry the words barely made a sound. She tried again. “I understand that you speak love through duty.”
He slid his hand up her arm, bringing it to the back of her neck. He gently pressed his thumb against the base of her jaw, supporting her head as she tilted it back slightly to look up at him.
She uncrossed her arms, bringing her good hand forward to rest against his hip.
He leaned forward, his head hovering over hers. He touched his nose to her forehead. It was icy cold. He gently nudged it higher until the soft warmth of his lips replaced it. “I know you do,” he whispered as he kissed her hairline. “It is how you speak love as well.”
“When all this is over...” She left the sentence unfinished. When all this was over, she would be alone, but she was not going to say that out loud.
“When all this is over.” He stepped back from her, his eyes searching hers.
She forced her icy lips into something resembling a smile.
He nodded, taking another few steps backward before he broke their gaze and turned to walk down the shore.
She stayed, wrapping her arm back around herself as she watched him walk away. She could see it, despite his torn, wet clothing and snarled hair—she could see the man who truly was a king.
She could see Lane where the cliff softened into the bluff, waiting with Rowena and another horse.
