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“I would not risk you for all the world,” he said.
“You’re the emperor. It is your world!”
He blinked, paused, and burst out laughing.
“You see?” he said. “This is why I love you.”
The words hung heavy between us. Until now, they hadn’t been spoken out loud. But it was true, wasn’t it? Although we hadn’t said those words to each other, it had always been true.
“I love you too,” I said.
We embraced and kissed. I drew him into me, wishing I could take him inside me. And still, I was desperate to go with him. If this is going to be his last day, I wanted it to be my last day too.
“I have something for you,” Fiath said.
He reached into his pocket and came out with a smooth black pebble with a sharp edge. It was small and could fit easily in the palm of my hand.
“It reminds me of you,” he said. “Beautiful but with a razor’s edge. You deserve diamonds and pearls. And if we’re victorious today, they will be yours.”
I ran my thumb over the smooth stone and clenched it in my fist.
“I don’t have anything to give you,” I said.
“You’ve given me your heart,” he said. “It’s all I need.”
No, I thought. It wasn’t enough. I seized my hair and used the pebble’s sharp edge to slice a curl off. I handed it to him.
He took it gratefully and sniffed it.
“So we can be together if there’s an end,” he said.
If there’s an end…
Even he couldn’t bring himself to believe chances were good they would survive this day.
“Your Majesty?” A’nshon said.
He stood with the other chieftains. They were going to take him away from me. They were going to take him into war.
“It’s time,” A’nshon said.
I wanted to shout “No!” and cling to him, drag him away and keep him locked up safe somewhere. Instead, I just stood there.
He smiled at me and pressed his lips to mine.
“We’ll meet again soon, my love,” he said.
The army broke into pieces. The largest force was headed by Qi. He would distract the Changelings while A’nshon waited with the reserves. M’rar Thres and Nus joined Fiath, who would sneak into the palace and disable the defense turrets. They had less than a dozen warriors with them.
The sight of Fiath surrounded by so few soldiers as he headed into war sent a shiver to my heart. It seemed wrong he should have so few around him. But the smaller their force, the easier it would be for them to pass unnoticed.
“Excuse me, are you going to join the field hospital?” a soft voice asked.
I turned to find a doctor with his other nurses in tow. I recognized some from the Urcim tribe that’d taken me in.
“Yes,” I said. “I’m with you.”
But I wish I was with someone else.
