Florian realized Valyris was peering down at him with his one good eye, observing his reaction and waiting for a response.
“I—We will,” he stammered, looking away uncomfortably. “We’ll come back tomorrow. And... And I’m sorry it’s come to this. That it has to end this way. None of this should have been your responsibility. But we won’t forget this. You’re helping us save the world.”
Valyris made a soft scoffing noise again, but he had a faint, sad smirk on his face.
“You are so small. So young, and they made you king,” he murmured. Florian flushed—would he ever stop hearing people talk about how young he was? “Aderus became king when he was young, too. Too young for such a heavy weight. It changed him, stunted him. I spent a long time wondering who my cousin might have been if he hadn’t become king so early in his life. I’m sorry you must bear that burden as well.”
“I...” Florian started, then trailed off, unsure how to respond. “Well. Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
Valyris huffed again, turning away. His hooves stamped nervously against the packed earth floor. “Go now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Florian watched him for a long moment, unsure if he wanted to say anything else. He felt like heshouldsay something:something kind, or profound, to mark that this would probably be the end of the only conversation that they would ever have; something to make Valyris know how important his contribution to the Veil would be, while he was lucid enough to understand it. But no words came to him. Eventually, Kade squeezed his hand, prompting him to stammer out,
“Okay. We’ll be back tomorrow.”
Valyris only nodded. Slowly, Florian turned away. Kade gave him a small, tense nod, and together they went up through the tunnel. They were silent as they walked, but Kade was still stiff with nervous energy. Once they were back at the mouth of the cave, he gripped Florian’s wrist to pull him to a stop.
“We should get Rune and Koji and attack him now,” he said in a low voice.
“What?” Florian spluttered, frowning. He pulled his hand away, trying to read Kade’s expression. But the wolf shifter only had grim determination on his face; his proposal was dead serious. “Why? Why would we do that after going through all this to make him trust us?”
“Because he said himself, he might not be like this tomorrow,” Kade replied. “He might try to run, and then where would we be? We need to take care of this quickly, Florian. The sooner we have the Arrow, the less likely someone will get hurt.”
“He’s not going to run,” Florian said firmly. “I’m positive. He said it himself. He’s ready to go.”
Kade started to protest, but bit his lip before he spoke, looking away from Florian with a frown.
“You know I only want to keep you safe,” he said quietly, his voice rough with worry. “That’s my priority. Everything else comes second.”
Florian’s frustration softened. It was hard to stay mad when he knew Kade was just as stressed out about everything as he was.He still didn’t want to do what Kade was suggesting, but he could understand the thought process behind it.
“I know,” he answered softly. “If he’s, well, less lucid tomorrow, we’ll deal with that then. I really, truly don’t think he’ll run. But maybe we can keep watch from the wall, just to make sure. Compromise?”
Kade looked at him for a long moment. He’d pulled his sun-goggles back on, so Florian couldn’t see his tangerine eyes, but still felt the intensity of his gaze. Florian returned the look earnestly, and eventually Kade seemed to find what he was searching for. His expression lightened, and he sighed, looking away.
“Compromise,” he agreed. “Okay. We can alternate with Rune and Koji to keep watch.”
Florian smiled. It was small and shaky, but genuine. “Thank you.”
“I’m trusting you on this,” Kade replied, squeezing his shoulder before stepping out of the cave opening. “Come on. Let’s get everyone up to date.”
