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A grin spread across my face.
On my right, Damyn cautioned, “Don’t get cocky.”
“Me? Never.”
“I’m serious,” he said.
Wasn’t he always? To a fault.
He went on, “This might have worked out here, but we have no idea what the Scourge will do elsewhere. Not all the Scourge seemed to have surfaced from the curse. They won’t kill on our side—they’re just killing.”
“But maybe they will all surface. Maybe they will fight.” My heart felt suddenly light. Everything I’d given up, even my dragon, would be worth it if we ended with a Kingdom in peace. “Maybe they’ll return to their families.”
Reuniting families would be the true victory, once we got Kallus off our shores.
My men didn’t want to linger there, though I wasn’t sure if they didn’t trust the Scourge or if they didn’t relish seeing me worshipped by monsters. At any rate, we moved away as soon as we could.
Once we had moved away though, Damyn called a halt.
“Let’s get those wounds dressed,” he said, nodding at the injuries we had experienced during the fight. While the others looked after each other, Damyn tugged me away. “Let me look at that,”
“I’m fine,” I promised him.
He gave me a look and I gave up. I presented my wounds for treatment.
His touch was kind as he drew salve out for my slashed knuckles.
“You know I have experienced bumps and bruises before I met you Royals, although not quite as exciting as the wide variety of injuries have gotten too experienced since getting to know all of you,” I said cheerfully.
From the look he gave me, my cheerfulness was not shared.
“Things are different now, Honor. Without magic… We’re going to be hard pressed. These men are all used to fighting with magic on their side.”
“I’m used to not having any magic. I was not special for almost all my life. Being not special now is not exactly alarming.”
He gave me another look as if I were being purposefully obtuse.
“What?” I asked.
“You have always been special, and I have always been looking out for you.”
“Protecting me from the shadows, I know. I wish you’d accept though that I don’t want you standing behind me in the shadows, ready to kill anyone who looks at me sideways.”
His lips quirked. His finger felt hot against my skin as he wrapped my wounded hand with a bandage, and I was too keenly aware of his broad chest and powerful jaw, of how close his lips were to mine. I wanted to be cool and sophisticated around Damyn, but I couldn’t help the way my heart flip-flopped ridiculously every time I was close to him. “I’ll have you know, I’ve used a lot of forbearance when it comes to not creeping out of the shadows to kill for you.”
I stared him in wonder. “I bet that didn’t sound at all creepy in your head.”
He offered me a rare smile that made my heart flip flop. It told me that he did not mind at all if people thought he was creepy and terrifying in my defense.
“About our magic…” I began. “Do you think it will come back?”
I didn’t dare to ask the question I really wanted to. So far, my men had seemed to take the loss in stride, but I had to wonder how they really felt. Were they angry at me for taking away something had been such a big part of who they were? Would they eventually come to resent me?
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe the shift was never natural, Honor. Some were shifters before… All of us come from lines of dragon shifters that were once outcasts. But for the other shifters it wasn’t a natural thing. Lysander forced the shift. I don’t know if they even want it back.”
“But we do,” I said, and my voice came out a whisper, which betrayed more of what I felt than I’d intended.
Damyn’s eyes jerked up to my face. He’d been intent on my wound, but now his gaze searched mine.
