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“Can we do this later?” This deep, smothering exhaustion was turning my arms and legs to lead. The magic was gone, not so much as a spark of my power remained, leaving just an empty, dull echo inside me, and all I wanted to do was sleep.
“I’m taking her to camp.” Raz wheeled the gelding around in a tight circle. “You have this?”
Zor jerked his head at the wide-open field, the knots of skirmishes still raging. “I’ll meet you in a couple hours.” His eyes narrowed, as if he’d just thought of something. “Where’s Tavion?”
“At camp with Adele,” I murmured, my voice a breathless whisper. “Are there healers there? She needs looking after.” Zor’s eyes flew wide before he went back to glowering at the both of us.
“So do you, from the looks of it.” Zor’s mouth was a thin slash, his eyes dark with anger, and I cringed, remembering how, exactly, we’d left things between us.
And the look on his face…Beneath all his anger was a raw vulnerability that just made me feel ashamed. “I’m sorry.” I blinked my eyes, which were burning for some reason. Maybe from the smoke. “I’m sorry, Zor, I only wanted to…”
“I’ll meet you in a couple hours,” Zorander repeated, but his eyes were softer when he added, “Get some sleep, Anaria. You need it.”
32
ANARIA
Raziel lifted me off the horse, my knees buckling when my feet hit the ground.
I should put the bands back on.
I really should. But the thought left me utterly exhausted.
“That shouldn’t be happening.” I managed to loop my arms around his neck, but even that took almost all my strength. “What is wrong with me?”
“You healed me, you dueled with the Fae King, then you wiped out most of his ground troops.” He slipped his arm behind my knees and lifted me up. “You used too much magic, too quickly, and you’re close to burning out. I’d say that’s what’s wrong, to start.”
I didn’t have enough energy to remind Raz about the hounds, the mages, and the soldiers in the Caverns.
“I don’t regret what I did,” I told him stubbornly. “And I didn’t have a choice. The king, at least, forced my hand.”
“Magic isn’t endless, Anaria. Power has limits.Youhave limits. I’ve fought wars before, and…”
“I know, but I…”
“Listen to me, Anaria.” He stopped between the rows of tents, his voice quiet as he searched my face, his lips tightening at what he saw. “There are limits you mustn’t exceed, because there is too high a price to be paid if you do. This war is just beginning, and our hardest battles still lie ahead. If you burn yourself out now, you will not see the end of the war, do you understand?”
He buried his face in my hair, voice cracking. “You sacrificing yourself to save me…to save any of us is not acceptable. You going beyond your limits is not acceptable. This fight will be long and dangerous and you must always keep some of your strength in reserve. Right now, if the Mistress or the king himself were to appear, how would you defend yourself?”
“I would figure out a way.”
His chest moved as he snorted, but there was only pain in his voice when he answered. “Of that, I have no doubt. But I cannot defend you, Anaria. Not with the collar.”
“And if you take it off, Zor truly dies?”
“According to the king, the spell will kill him, yes.” He must have seen the flash of hope in my eyes because he added, “I’ve thought this through a thousand times, and the king had no reason to lie.”
I chewed my lip. “There is no way around the spell? Nothing that could undo the Shadow King’s magic altogether?”
“I’ve searched the libraries of every city and town I’ve ever been to, great and small. Zor’s blood was used to cast the spell, and you know how binding blood magic is. Break the spell, you break Zorander.”
He navigated the narrow corridor between the identical tents, where a few untended fires still burned. “The collar has to stay on. Only the king himself can remove it.”
“Have you tried asking him?” I asked, trying to muster a smile when his eyes flew wide in disbelief. “You never know, he might be in a good enough mood he’d agree.”
Raz snorted, flattening me against his wide chest. “Now why didn’t I think of that? Ah, this is the right one, I believe.” He kissed the top of my head before ducking into a tent, the mildewed smell vaguely familiar. Adele was fast asleep on the cot, arms folded over her chest. The healer’s head snapped up, her eyes flaring when she saw us.
I could only imagine what she thought—Raz, a blood covered and collared warrior. Me, dusty and exhausted, dressed in a ragged servant’s uniform. Raz set me gently on the floor, one hand bracing my elbow to keep me upright.
