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“He…he wanted you to know…” My voice cracked, and I forced it to steady. “Cavis wanted you to know that being your brother was the honor of his life.”
Lorian squeezed me tight, burying his head in my hair for a long moment. Devastation flickered through Marth’s eyes, but he nodded, stalking to the other side of the room to gaze out the window.
Rythos’s eyes glistened. “Thank you, Pris.”
I turned my attention to my own brother. “You must have already been close before I sent my message. How did you find me?” I asked.
They filled me in. Asinia had been hurt—badly enough to need a healer. And it had cost them time. With no other leads, they’d worked their way through any enemy camps they could find—enemy camps Regner had obviously put into place to ready for his march forward.
But the time to consider his tactics would come later. Now, I was too busy laughing as Demos ruefully admitted that even after all of their hunting and killing, Madinia had been the one to let them know my location with her note.
I glanced at Madinia, who was squeezing water from her hair while sending Galon a killing look.
Lorian was still holding my hand, his gaze on my face. He was watching me as if afraid I would disappear without warning, even as he held up his free hand.
“Everyone out.”
Surprisingly, no one argued, although Madinia rolled her eyes at me. Rythos ruffled my hair, and Asinia let out a chuckle but wandered out of the room with everyone else—including Vynthar, who showed Lorian his teeth.
“I won’t let anything happen to you ever again,” Lorian murmured in my ear as Demos shut the door behind them.
I turned in his arms. For the first time in days, I felt safe. I nuzzled his chest, drawing in the wild scent of him. “Are you planning to be completely unreasonable now that I’m back?”
He gave a low, unamused grunt. Clearly, that was indeed what he was planning.
“Never again, Prisca. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
I stifled a sigh, but Lorian seemed to be waiting for me to agree, so I nodded. Losing me for so long, and learning about Cavis…it had cracked something open in him.
“What are you thinking?”
He slid his hand down my throat and then stilled, stroking my skin with his thumb.
“I’m resisting the urge to drag you away from Regner, from your cousin, and from this entire war.”
My heart thumped against my ribs. Some part of me wished we could do that. Just disappear. But I could never live with myself.
“I wouldn’t go.”
He nuzzled my hair, and I could feel him breathing me in. “I can be very…persuasive.”
A tiny hint of humor slid through Lorian’s low voice. He was stepping back from the brink of the cliff he’d been poised on, and I let out a breath, nestling closer.
I raised my hand to his face, gently running a finger along his strong, stubborn jaw, drifting up to the sharp angle of his cheekbone. Touching him again, feeling his arms around me….it felt like a dream after Regner’s dungeon.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice tight.
“For what?”
He gave me an incredulous look. “For not getting to you in time. For every second you suffered in that place. I should have been faster.”
My chest clenched. I tilted my head, peering up at him. “Did I undermine your rescue plan with my own audacious, highly impressive escape?”
His eyebrows furrowed. I smirked at him. “As much as I would have enjoyed waiting for you to stroll into that prison and slaughter everyone in sight, I had things to do.”
Ah. There. My smirk turned into a grin. His mouth had twitched.
His hand slipped to my chin, his head lowering until it felt as if he were staring into my soul.
