“You are safe,” he says, voice like gravel. “With me. Only with me.”
He straightens, scanning the horizon. Beyond the courtyard, a ring of Vorak’s men waits—dozens, maybe more, all of themwatching, none daring to step forward. The jungle at the edge of the walls is shifting, vines rippling, the paths growing clearer by the second.
Vorak’s men bow, one by one.
My mind catches up. The last thing I remember is feeling the psychic connection to Rythar explode as Vorak touched me. Then I must have fought. Then Rythar killed Vorak and came to me.
Rythar lifts me in his arms again and carries me through the line, never once glancing left or right. The warriors avert their eyes.
Wherever his boots fall, the ground blooms. I see the lines of loyalty changing in real time, the way the runners cluster around him. The Green Reach is reassembling itself with every step.
I clutch his chest, dizzy with the connection between us and the power I feel coming through it. Now, I can feel the new territory pouring into Rythar, filling every scar and hollow of his body with power. With every breath, I feel more alert.
The jungle opens into a wide clearing, the ground moist, the air tight. Rythar stands at the center, face closed off to every emotion but rage. He plants me by his side, his hand never leaving my waist. A circle of warriors rings us, a hundred silent bodies all bracing for the fallout.
Drenz is at the front, kneeling. My eyes sting with relief that he’s still alive. But he hasn’t fully recovered from the weapon on the landing pad. He holds the kneel, barely. He sways, corrects, sways again. Behind him, the command staff kneels too, most in the same shape. They were on the platform when I was taken.
Rythar’s eyes move down the line, then back to Drenz. “Where are the rest?”
“The medical wing,” Drenz says, head bowed. “The Concord representatives used a shield weapon that took their hearing and sight. Some cannot stand on their own yet. Some have notwoken. Others did not survive the landing pad.” He keeps his head down. “None of us has fully recovered.”
Rythar’s voice cracks through the air. “Why did you let them take her?”
Drenz doesn’t hesitate. “They presented Concord documentation. An order from you to transfer her to the High Lord for protection, which they delivered personally. Clearly, it was a lie. It was my mistake.”
Rythar steps forward. “Your mistake could have cost me my mate.”
Drenz bows lower, forehead nearly in the mud. “I accept all consequences.”
Rythar’s fists clench, veins bulging in his arms. “If you cannot hold the line, you are of no use to me.”
I speak quickly, before he can speak a punishment. “It wasn’t Drenz.”
The words hang in the air, impossible to call back. Every head pivots to me, every set of eyes wide with shock until they remember themselves and look away.
I square my shoulders and keep my voice even. “I chose to go. The decision was mine. My fault.”
The circle tightens, the warriors’ faces unreadable.
Rythar doesn’t take his eyes off me. “You defy your warlord,” he growls, low and raw.
I shake my head. “I obeyed the system you serve. Could Vorak have sent Concord Councilmen on his own? Could he have faked that? Because if he couldn’t, then the orders came right from the top.”
Rythar pulls me closer, and Stone is in my mind, drawing me to him. The urge to drop to my knees is overwhelming, but I force myself to stand tall.
“You are mine,” Rythar says, voice sharp. “You obey no one else over me.”
I look him in the eye, defiant and shaking. “They said they brought your orders. We couldn’t reach you. They said it was an emergency situation. I had to make a decision.”
He bares his teeth in a snarl. For a second, I think he'll grab me, crush me. The bond between us is a white-hot ache, my body half a step from collapse. I don’t back down.
Rythar turns to Drenz. Drenz lowers his head until it nearly touches the mud.
“My life is forfeit,” Drenz says. “End it now, and the failure is paid.”
“No.” Rythar’s voice is flat. “The weapon they used on you was used on me. In Vorak’s stronghold.” His eyes roam over his warriors. “It would have killed a lesser male. It nearly took me. I stood again only because the jungle poured into me. Rise, Drenz. I will not lose the best Ex O on Xytheos to Vorak’s scheme. I have further orders for you.”
Drenz lifts his head slowly.
