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  “And then, when he is done, you will die, little guard. You will die when the time is right.” I felt his lips brush my ear and I whirled, blindly striking into the darkness, and hit nothing.

  “And I look forward to it eagerly.”

  There was another rush of wind, the ice in the air turned to burning, fiery heat, and in a blast of light that nearly blinded me, I saw the man standing right in front of me, his eyes burning into mine. Next to him stood Damian. I gasped and tried to rush to him, but I was suddenly frozen. When did he get here — and why? Damian reached out to me, his mouth forming my name, but no sound came out. Instead, blood trickled out of a corner of his lips, running down his chin. And then he began to crumble to the ground, his eyes falling shut. I screamed his name, but I still couldn’t move. And then with a boom that shook the dungeon like thunder —

  “Alexa!”

  I blinked and the horrific scene was gone. I still stood next to the man who had called himself Manu de Reich os Deos, with his hair in one hand, his head tilted back, and my sword against his throat. He was still chained to the chair, his eyes on mine.

  And we were alone in the cell. Damian was nowhere to be seen.

  “Alexa — I thought I heard you call for me,” Rylan said from the doorway.

  I could barely catch my breath; my heart thudded beneath my ribs. A trick. Some sort of mind trick. As though he’d suddenly scalded me, I let go of Manu’s hair and stepped back, letting my sword fall to my side.

  “I’ve heard enough,” I finally answered Rylan. “The man is insane. I got what I could out of him.”

  I strode out of the room, Manu’s voice following after me, “Remember what you saw! That’s barely even a shadow of what’s to come….”

  His harsh laughter echoed after me as I rushed down the hallway, trying to escape the sound, the memory of what he’d done to me. Past the new keeper of the keys, faster and faster, practically stumbling up the stairs, until I burst out into the light of day once more with a strangled gasp.

  “Alexa,” Rylan’s voice came from right behind me, as gentle as the soft breeze that now touched my cheeks — nothing like the preternaturally cold gush of wind I’d felt in that cell. No, that he’d made me think I’d felt. “What did he do — are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said, brushing Rylan’s hand off my shoulder. “But make sure everyone knows to never look directly into that man’s eyes.”

  * * *

  When I finally reached the door to Damian’s library, it was shut. Deron stood to the side of it, his hand on his sword hilt; he was watching me.

  “Good day, Alexa,” Deron said. “I hope you are feeling better.”

  “Much, thank you,” I lied with a nod at him. I didn’t want to talk to him about what had happened. I didn’t want to tell anyone. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? You were up all night.”

  “There will be time to rest later. Right now the king needs me.”

  I pursed my lips but didn’t argue. Who was I to tell him he needed to sleep if he didn’t want to?

  Without another word, I lifted my hand and knocked on the library door, unsure of the etiquette now that I was the king’s fiancée and not just his guard. Rylan was right behind me, his face unreadable.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened in there?”

  “Nothing happened,” I said, glancing up at Rylan just as the door opened.

  “There you are, Alexa.” General Ferraun’s voice wasn’t what I expected to hear, and I hoped the surprise didn’t show on my face as I turned to face him. His gaze flickered to my scars, then back to my eyes again. “The king is waiting for you.” The frustration in his voice was all too evident.

  Pulling back my shoulders and holding my chin high, I stepped past him. After Damian and I were married, the general would have to address me as “Your Majesty” as well. It was a thrilling — and terrifying — thought.

  But when I saw Damian standing behind his desk across the expanse of the room, watching me enter, any other thoughts fled, and it was all I could do not to rush to him and throw myself into his arms. After the terrifying vision Manu had somehow forced upon me, seeing him standing there — healthy and whole — made my legs weak with relief. Sunlight bathed his dark hair with an amber glow. He had washed and changed into dark breeches, tall boots, a clean tunic and vest. His collar of office encircled his broad shoulders. The thin golden signet crown he preferred for everyday use rested upon his head. When his eyes met mine, the intensity of his gaze stole my breath.

  “Alexa.” My name sounded like a sigh of relief from his lips.

  I stopped a few feet back, unsure of what to do.

  “Maybe she can talk some sense into him,” I heard the general say to Rylan behind me, but Rylan’s response was lost by Damian asking, “Did Rylan tell you the news?”

  I knew immediately what he referred to. The destruction of the village and the declaration of war. “Yes.”

  Everyone was silent for a long, tense moment.

  “Why did it take so long to get her?” Damian finally asked, looking past me to Rylan.

  I spun to face Rylan, hoping he could read the warning on my face. He met my eyes and his lips tightened. “I’m sorry, Sire. Something came up that delayed me. I tried to hurry as fast as possible.”

  “We are on the brink of war, and you felt that something else took precedence?”

  “I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

  I didn’t dare mouth the words thank you with General Ferraun watching, but I hoped Rylan could read it in my eyes.

  “The point is that I’m here now,” I said, turning back to Damian.

  “Yes, you are,” Damian murmured, then looked past me to where the two men were waiting. “You are both dismissed for now.” His tone brooked no arguments, but the general still huffed from behind me.

  “Sire, we really need —”

  “What I need” — Damian cut him off — “is to talk to Alexa. Alone.”

  There was a second of silence, and then General Ferraun said, “As you wish, Sire,” from behind me, his tone tight with anger.

  “Yes, Sire,” Rylan echoed. I didn’t turn around to watch them leave. My cheeks burned, and I flinched when the door shut.

  Damian stood stiffly behind his desk, staring down at an unfurled scroll of parchment.

  “Is that it?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t believe it. He wouldn’t do this; I know it.”

  Damian looked up, a tiny flicker of hope igniting on his face. “You didn’t come to tell me it’s time to fight?”

  “No. At least, not Blevon. Your uncle is behind this somehow. He has to be. It always seems to come back to Dansii.”

  “I think you’re right. But … why? I feel like a pawn in a game that no one ever bothered to teach me.” Damian closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “All I want is to protect my people. To give them peace, for once in their lives.”

  My heart swelled with love for him as I stood there, watching him in the glow of the morning light. He was such a good man. Such a great king. “We’ll figure it out, Damian. Together, we can do anything. Right?”

  There was a long pause, and then he looked up at me.

  “Alexa …” This time, my name sounded like a plea, a half-formed prayer. Our gazes met across his desk; I could see the desperation lurking deep in his eyes. His shoulders were tense with the weight he held — the weight of a nation on the brink of war, or destruction. A muscle flexed in his jaw as he finally moved, striding around the desk toward me. I rushed forward, and suddenly I was in his arms, gathered against his body. I held in the gasp of pain as his arms enclosed me, but he must have felt me tense, because he released me just as quickly.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No, I’m fine,” I said, stepping toward him again. I could suddenly feel my pulse in strange places in my body — like my neck and my belly. I wanted to take away all of his pain and fear. Manu’s warning
that my love for him would be my downfall prickled at the back of my mind, but I refused to listen to it. He was wrong. Our love made us stronger — not weak.

  His eyes darkened as if he could read my thoughts. He lifted his hands to run them down my arms. “Were you able to rest?” His voice was low.

  “Yes.” Could he hear my heart pounding? How could he not? It was practically deafening me. His touch, innocent as it was, made every inch of my body burn. I tilted my head back, reminded once again of how very tall he actually was, so that I could look up at him.

  “Did you know that this room was my mother’s favorite place in the entire palace? She used to come here every day.” Damian glanced around us, at the soaring shelves of books, and I realized at last why he, too, came here so often. “After she died, my father forbade any of us from coming here. He not only took her away, he took away her memory as well. Her garden … her library. He thrived on cruelty. He used fear as a tool to ensure his power.” He looked back down at me at last, and the profound sadness in his eyes struck me like a knife, deep in my chest. “I don’t want you to go,” he said hoarsely, his hands growing still, gently encircling my biceps. “I can’t help but think …” He trailed off, shook his head. Then suddenly, in a rush, he said, “I’m afraid that if you go, you’ll never come back. That you’ll be taken from me like everyone else I have ever loved.”

  I swallowed hard. “You know I have to go.”

  Damian’s grip tightened slightly, almost subconsciously. “Is he suffering?”

  I considered my words. “They hadn’t hurt him yet when I left,” I answered cautiously. “They aren’t going to do anything to him until tomorrow at dawn — if I don’t show up.”

  He nodded, accepting what I’d told him as fact.

  “But that’s why I have to go. I can save him, Damian. I know I can.”

  He searched my eyes and smiled grimly, a bleak expression on his handsome face. “I know you can. I just wish I could go with you.”

  I hesitantly reached up to brush a lock of his hair back from his forehead. “You have to stay here and protect your kingdom. If something were to go wrong, the king can’t —”

  “Nothing is going to go wrong.” His fingers squeezed my arms so tightly it almost hurt. “You have to come back to me — do you hear me? You have to. And once you get Jax and bring him home, I never want you to leave my side again.” The fervency of his expression made my heart stumble in my chest, stealing my breath. “Promise me.”

  “That I’ll come back?”

  “Promise me, Alexa. Not only that you’ll come back but that you’ll never leave my side again. I can’t bear to lose you. I can’t bear to lose anyone else that I love.” The fear in his voice hit me like a physical blow. I thought again of the little boy who had watched his mother being killed in front of him. Of the young man whose brother sent him away to hide before also being murdered. He’d had to kill his own father. Pain and loss had been his constant companion for so long. I couldn’t bear the thought of adding to it.

  “I promise.” I reached up with both hands to cup his face. “I promise I will come back to you, Damian.”

  He was so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips. All the grief he’d borne seemed etched onto his face, into the very sinews of his body. I felt bare, completely exposed before him as he stared into my eyes. Surely he could see past my hazel irises, past my flesh and bone, and straight into my soul. Straight into the most sacred, hidden depths of my heart that had long been his.

  And then he was kissing me, with a fierceness that took my breath away. All the desperation we’d both lived with, the sorrow of loss, the joy of finally committing our hearts to each other, the fear of what still lay ahead, enveloped us as his arms encircled me, holding me against him. I stretched up on my tiptoes, pressing into him, aching to be closer. I held him as tightly as I could, wishing we had more than this brief moment to be together, to celebrate our engagement, before I had to go once more to face the enemies who seemed to continually amass on all sides, determined to tear us apart.

  As his lips left mine, I made a promise to myself. I would do everything in my power to make him happy, to spare him from any more hurt.

  He was mine, and I was his. The king and future queen of Antion.

  But even more importantly, we were Damian and Alexa. Orphans. Survivors. And now, finally, we would be together.

  We were silent for a time as I mustered the courage to walk away from him. But he spoke first. “I’ve been thinking. What could Armando have to gain by pushing us into war with Blevon?”

  Eljin’s theory came to mind, and I briefly told Damian what the sorcerer had told me. “But if his only goal is to get to Blevon, why would Armando send Vera here, to try and control you? Why do they want me? Why are they doing any of it?” I didn’t dare tell him about Manu’s threat — that King Armando needed something from me, and once he got it, then he would kill me.

  Damian looked past me, out the window. “I can only think of one reason why,” he said. “If he wanted to invade and take control of Antion for himself, and then move on to Blevon … he would do all of this. Perhaps he is hoping to take everyone’s focus off of Dansii and reduce our strength by starting another war between our kingdoms.” Damian paused and his eyes shut for a moment. “He must be planning to invade.” His shoulders sagged infinitesimally as he spoke. “He’s never met me; he obviously couldn’t care less about my being his nephew. Now that his brother is gone …”

  “He wants to create an empire,” I finished with a sickening twist in my belly. “It makes sense.”

  When Damian looked back into my eyes, he stood taller again, his expression turning from dismayed to determined. He suddenly bent forward to press a kiss to my lips and then took my hands in his.

  “If you can kill Rafe, his commands will die with him — correct?”

  “Yes. That’s what happened with Vera.” I nodded.

  “Then if we’re right, and he’s the one controlling the Blevonese soldiers, once he’s dead, they’ll realize what they’re doing and stop.”

  “At least that will solve one of our problems. And we’ll get Jax back.”

  Damian smiled grimly at me. “I don’t want you to go, but there is no one to whom I’d rather entrust my brother’s life than you.” He took me in his arms again, gently reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I think I made a mess of your braid,” he said, a hint of a smile teasing his lips, just for a moment, and then fading again as he stared down into my face.

  “I’ll come back. By tomorrow morning, we’ll be together again.” I stretched up to kiss him. Once, twice. “And like you said,” I said softly against his mouth, “together we can beat anyone, right? Whatever it is Armando is trying to do, we’ll stop him. Together.”

  He sealed my promise with another kiss.

  All too soon, I had to pull away. “I should go,” I whispered.

  Damian nodded, letting his forehead drop to rest against mine for a moment. Then he pulled his shoulders back and stepped away. “Yes. You’re right.” He still held my hand as he turned and began to lead me to the door. Just before we reached it, he stopped and pulled me in for one last kiss. I tried to fill it with all the confidence and love I felt, but I was afraid he could feel my desperation and fear as I clung to him. I had promised him I’d come back with Jax, and I was determined to keep my promise.

  But part of me was terrified of what lay ahead in the jungle.

  “I love you,” Damian said softly as we broke apart for the last time.

  I hoped he could see the truthfulness of my feelings for him in my face. “And I love you.”

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I could tell it had been long enough when Damian opened the door and Rylan spun around with an ill-concealed glare.

  “Are you ready now?”

  “Rylan,” Damian warned.

  “Excuse me, my future queen” — he swept down low in a theatrical bow
— “for any offense I may have caused.”

  “Rylan, it’s fine. Yes, I’m ready.” I squeezed Damian’s hand and looked up into his eyes one last time.

  Come back to me, he mouthed.

  “I promise,” I said softly. My heart was unbearably full with all the love I had for him, to the point of being painful. As I took a step away from him, a strange foreboding washed over me, leaving me suddenly chilled. I shook it off and made myself smile at him. My fiancé — the king of Antion.

  Deron still stood next to the door as well, but General Ferraun was no longer in the hallway. Damian turned to his captain and began to tell him our theories about Dansii and King Armando’s intentions.

  I walked over to Rylan, but he would hardly even look at me.

  Taking a deep breath, I said, “Well, let’s go.”

  Without a word, he nodded and turned to march down the hall. I followed, glancing back at Damian once to see him still talking to Deron, but his eyes were on me.

  I promise, I thought. I’ll come back to you.

  But for some reason, that same chill scraped down my spine when I turned the corner, taking him from my sight.

  AFTER EATING SOME food from the kitchen and packing a bit more into a knapsack, Rylan and I headed out together. We stopped to check on Eljin first, praying that he would be awake and could give me some more answers about Blevon, sorcerers, and his father. But he was still unconscious, healing. My only comfort was that he looked so much better that I finally believed he would live. As long as I survived the next day and night, I would return and get the answers I needed.

  Tanoori sat by his bedside, bathing his forehead with a cool cloth. She stood when we came in and wished us luck. Lisbet had gone to collect more supplies, so we weren’t able to see her before heading out. Tanoori promised to deliver our message that we would return with Jax by tomorrow at the latest.

  The sun was hot on our backs as we stepped through the palace wall. When we plunged into the thick greenery of the jungle, the shade was a relief of sorts, but the humidity swelled even thicker, coating my skin and making my tunic stick to my stitches. I wore a bow and a pack of arrows across my back, and my sword hung at my hips. I even had a small dagger strapped to my left leg. Rylan was similarly armed. I wished we could take a larger group with us, but I knew if we did, Rafe would immediately grow suspicious, and who knew what he’d do.