I sucked in a breath. “How?”
“The initial captures were those who had betrayed the Court and assisted Salt to take over. I managed to persuade the Viceroy that they wanted to overthrow him as well. He eventually appointed me as captain of the Salt Guard. After that it became my mission to protect the rebellion—if one of us was captured, I either assisted them in escape or...” He trailed away, his face going dark again.
“Or you killed them,” I finished for him, my stomach dipping.
“It would have been a mercy. He would have tortured them before killing them.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“That sounds like an impossible choice.”
“Hopefully one I don’t have to make again.”
“Well, I don’t think you are captain of the Salt Guard anymore.”
He grinned at me, as if it were the lightest feeling in the world. “There is that.”
I gave him a soft smile, then plucked a date from the silver tray.
“I got you some clothes,” he said gruffly, producing slim black trousers and a blue beaded tunic from underneath the tray.
“You didn’t think I could bring this look to the battlefield?” I laughed and gestured to the sheet. His eyes followed the wave of my fingers, but he didn’t share my humor. Instead, he looked at me as if he wanted to devour me.
“As much as I want to keep you here, wearing that, we don’t have much time. Unless...”
He trailed away, and I rose my brow. “Unless?”
“Unless you don’t come. Not to the battlefield.”
I shook my head. “How will you find the crown if I’m not there? Or find the door to Tirich Mir?”
“There are other ways—you aren’t battle trained, and I don’t feel right about dragging you there.”
“I’m not being dragged, Kiyan, I’m the one who found the crown, and then I’m the one who lost it. I want to help get it back and free your family.”
“But it isn’t your fight. And I won’t use you like he did.”
“How can you say that after what happened? Do you think I spend the night with every double-crossing, rebel-hunting captain I come across? If you think this fight isn’t mine, then you haven’t been listening to me. The Viceroy is bleeding your magic dry the exact same way the Citadel is doing to my people. And someone has to stop them both. It would be utterly hypocritical of me to only focus on my own fight, when you aren’t free either. Like you said, if both of us aren’t free, then neither of us are.”
He swallowed, his throat bobbing, watching me. Something passed across his face, an intensity of emotion that I couldn’t place.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I whispered.
“I’m thinking, I don’t know what I did to deserve you on my side.”
“You kind of saved my life a few times, if you don’t remember.”
He grinned and headed toward the exit. “I’m going to ready the rebels. You have time for breakfast and to dress. I’ll leave you while we prepare.”
I dressed, listening to the sounds of the rebels gathering their weapons and testing their magic. But as I buttoned the last beaded button on my tunic, the tent flap opened again.
“I thought we weren’t leaving until...”
I expected Kiyan, not the girl who came through instead.
“Mishah.”
She looked uncharacteristically nervous. “I wanted to come and talk to you.”
“I think we talked enough last night.” I remembered her harsh words, and even though we’d resolved things in a small way, it still felt raw.
