To chase down Sebastian Thorne.
Even without her... complicated feelings for him, Sebastian wasn’t just anyone. He was the Thorne heir – taught to kill without hesitation, to survive at any cost. She knew the stories. Seen his skill herself – how capable he was.
This mission was downright dangerous. But what choice did she have? He had a Shard of the Arcanth. The Earth regions – Sorrel, Durent – were in danger.
All of Vallenna was now in danger.
She had to act.
And yet. This couldn’t be what Sebastian wanted. It couldn’t. Not the man who had run into fire for her, or saved Morra from the water, the one whose magic danced with hers.
There must be a reason.
“Very well,” her father was saying as she pulled her concentration back. “You leave at first light. Hale valmares will be made ready for you.”
Henry nodded. “Do we know where he went?”
“South,” said Evelyn Sorrel. “He was last seen on the road towards Lyra.”
Lyra. Towards the Water Shard.
“You think he’s going after another?” Kara asked.
Evelyn exchanged a dark look with her father.
So, that’s a yes then.
“We don’t know,” Alaric said. “But we can’t risk it. Word has been sent to redouble the Water Shard’s protection.”
Kara said nothing more. She couldn’t – not with the word ‘subdue’ echoing in her mind, or the thought of another Shard being taken.
Of all the people they could send... why me?
But she could guess why. It wasn’t just her magical ability. Or the politics. They’d watched the Arcalon. Knew Sebastian would let herclose. Wouldn’t see her as a threat. She would have to use that against him. The thought made her feel physically sick.
And bring him back for trial? As if that softened the blow. There was only one sentence for treason in Vallenna – it was a sentence that Thorne themselves had once insisted upon.
The penalty was death.
No, no, no–
She couldn’t breathe.
They were asking her to bring Sebastian back to die. To deliver him to the executioner herself.
For all Tobias’s fury, she doubted even he could shield his son from the Council’s judgment. Not from this. Not from treason. Her father was asking her to be responsible for killing the man she–
Gods, how can I–
She shoved the thought down.
Not now. Not here.
Sebastian, what have you done?
CHAPTER 12
THE ROAD TO THE SEA
