Seren closed her eyes. “What would you have me do? Even if it’s true, I’m nobody. And I’m scared.”
“You’re not nobody, you’re my wife. And you have to be scared to be brave, Seren. You know this war won’t just hurt my people. Countless Viori will die trying to satisfy Haldron’s lust for a stolen crown.”
Her shoulders sagged under the weight of uncertainty. “But what can you or I do to stop it? We have to fight in a deadly trial in two days and might not even live through that.” The quiet defeat in her voice stirred something raw inside me—a need to prove she wasn’t as powerless as she claimed.
I cupped her face, leaning in, searching her eyes. “You’re stronger than you think. You’ve already risked your life for me once. Trust me, Seren. If anyone can stand up to Haldron, it’s you.”
I wished I could tell her everything, lay bare every dangerous secret I carried. But trust was a gamble and if I gambled wrong, we’d both pay the price.
“If we survive the Skorn, I have to go back to Lirien,” I whispered. “Just get me back to the border and I can handle the rest—warn the Liriens about what’s coming.”
Her lashes fluttered, sorrow darkening her gaze. “And then what happens to me? If they find out I helped you escape, I really will be a traitor. And it won’t be just me who’s punished—my family will be too, Rykr.”
I released her and stepped back, tension fizzling into the void between us. I’d asked too much—more than she could sacrifice.
Distant sounds filtered in—children’s voices echoed as they ran through the streets, laughter from friends gathered for a meal. The hum of life.
“If you were to leave on your own, I wouldn’t stop you,” she whispered, her eyes avoiding mine. But through the bond, her emotions surged like a river after a storm—a torrent flooding me with doubts I couldn’t ignore. Was she afraid for me … or afraid of what might happen to herself if I left?
The bond didn’t lie, but it didn’t tell the whole truth either. Not this time.
“We should try to find anything we can about breaking the bond between us before you do,” Seren went on. “And not just for that, but for the Skorn, too. The priests in the temple might know something. Or a Seidr.”
“How is a mystic going to help?”
“I don’t know, Rykr. I don’t have a lot of ideas, but it’s better than doing nothing. Unless you’d like to stay in this situation with me. Have every secret stored in that Lirien head of yours exposed to my perusal. Your life at risk if anything happens to me during the Skorn.”
Right.
She stepped away one more time. “Let’s go. Hopefully Amahle went to Bellwether. Maybe we can get a good meal and some sleep, then come up with a better plan in the morning when we’re not both so exhausted. But we can’t afford to wait too long, Rykr. If Haldron is planning something, we need to be ready. I’m not under any illusion that his decision to free us the next couple of days was out of sheer benevolence.”
I followed her without protest, but the weight of her turmoil flowed to me through the bond. I didn’t know how we shared emotions so easily, but I could feel her in my mind, always present, just beyond a closed door. What would happen if I opened it?
The temptation coiled, dark and dangerous.
The thought of looking into her mind made my heartbeat quicken, but something held me back. If I crossed that line, would she know? Destroy what little trust we had?
Power without control was dangerous. Lucia had said we could lose ourselves to the bond and I wasn’t sure I was ready to pay that price. But I didn’t know how to control any of the powers I’d noticed since I’d woken with this bond.
Maybe my other powers, long bound by the Seal, were closer to the surface than I realized. My father had restricted them with the Seal—a binding I’d never fully understood.
I’d focused so long on warcraft that I’d nearly forgotten their call. But before I’d been arrested and exiled, I’d set a building ablaze in Suomelin, the fire bursting from my hands like an extension of my will—wild, uncontrollable, as natural as breathing.
What was I capable of now? And could I control it, or would it control me?
We emerged from the narrow alley into a street lined with textiles strung between wooden posts, the bright colors at odds with the dim, uneasy mood clinging to me. Lanterns swung gently overhead, casting long shadows on the cobblestones, and laughter drifted from a nearby tavern.
I tore my gaze from the fluttering banners and focused on the woman in front of me. There was no cunning in Seren’s delicate features, only a quiet determination that made me want to believe in her—to trust she’d see beyond the lines that divided us. Maybe, if she knew who I really was, she’d understand my cause.
I wasn’t my father. I didn’t want to rule, only to save what was left before it was too late.
If Seren could help me, perhaps there was still a chance. Her character, sense of duty, and fierce loyalty suggested she was the best of her people.
Even if she’s Brogan Ragnall’s daughter.
But the yellow banners flapping from magical breezes reminded me I was far from home.
With Haldron resurfacing, and the threat of war looming over my thoughts, trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford. Not even with her.
