Her breath left her sharply, the words a physical blow. She stared at them until they blurred.
No. That can’t be right.
“No,” she said, as her hand trembled. “He wouldn’t...”
But there was more to the letter.
Durent are angry. Asking Lord Hale why they should bleed whilst he hides. Sorrel have threatened to withhold grain shipments. I do not know if it will be enough. But the rest of the Council hope healers will come despite his wishes.
The bond filled with the raw ache tearing through her chest. Betrayal. Grief. Shame. She shook her head as if she could erase the words, but she would not cry. She wouldn’t.
“My own father... he would rather let Vallenna fall than fight beside me? He would throw away Hale’s oath for his pride?”
Sebastian’s hand found hers before she even realised she’d reached for him. “Kara–”
She choked out a laugh, a bitter humourless one. Some part of her brain thought errantly that she’d learnt that from Sebastian.
“I thought... I thought if he saw the truth, if he had to choose between me and the end of the world–” She broke off, anger warring with the sadness inside of her. “How can he hate me so much?”
Sebastian pulled her against him. “If Alaric Hale can’t see how brave you are, how incredible, then fuck him,” he said fiercely against her hair. “Let him rot in his manor whilst the rest of us save the realm.”
After a long moment she drew back and met Sebastian’s gaze. “Healers, though. Vallenna needs Healers. You and I can’t tend an army. We can’t hold a battlefield with only us two to mend the wounds. If Hale won’t come...”
The rest of the words were lost, the thought too awful to speak. She looked to the floor. Sebastian caught her face in his hands, forcing her gaze to his.
“Then we’ll fight harder. Train harder. I’ll stand between you and every blade if I have to. And the rest of Vallenna – the other Houses, they’ll stand too. We’ll make do without Hale.”
“But we shouldn’t have to.” She shook her head, the words too hollow, too reckless. “This is all my fault.”
“This is not your fault. Don’t ever think that. Your father made his choice, no one forced him. This lies at his door.”
I can’t let Father do this.
“I’ll go to him, to Hale. I’ll beg him if I have to.”
The bond jolted with his fury before he even spoke. “Absolutely not.” His grip on her was fierce. “You’re not stepping beyond this shield. Not for Hale, not for anyone.”
“Sebastian–”
“Write to him, if you must,” Sebastian snapped. “But you will not ride into that den alone.” His voice cracked despite his resolve. “If you go to Hale, Kara, I’ll follow you even if it kills me. And it may well do. Hale isn’t safe. For either of us–”
“But–”
“I have no intention of losing you to your father’s whims.”
“Fine,” she muttered, knowing there was little point in arguing, and frustratingly, he was right. “I’ll write.”
She pulled away from him and crossed the small room, snatching up fresh parchment and ink from the desk. Her quill scratched against the page, several times. She crossed out, rewrote, picked up more parchment, until finally:
Father,
No matter what you feel for me, Vallenna needs its healers now more than ever. I beg you, march to the border with the other Houses. You need not stand with me on the battlefield. We need not even speak.
But please, just come.
Our people will die if you don’t.
Your daughter,
