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A tear slipped down my cheek. Esme sucked in a long breath and put her hand out as if coaxing a wild animal. “Please, let me do this, Autumn.”
“I don’t deserve you.” I looked around at all of them. “I don’t deserve any of you.”
Argen’s laugh spilled out. “We are ye’s, and ye are ours, girlie. Suffer through it.”
Argen thoroughly shredded through the tension, and I gave him a grateful smile.
“We may not make it back from this. We could all end up in the dungeons or dead. It probably won’t be a glorious conquest.”
“There would be no fun if it was,” Argen said gently. His eyes implored. “We all know the risks, girlie. We are willin’ to do this not only for ye but for us. All of us. Dwarves everywhere need this bit of salvation.”
I understood that and could rally with it. “If, at any time, anyone wants to back out—”
“Understood.” Esme snaked a hand around my waist and gave me a side hug. “We’re in this together, Autumn.”
I still wasn’t comfortable with her coming, but I understood the freedom of choices and was aware that she was making this one. I had to respect her for it. I squeezed her hand before Brec enveloped her in a loving hug. I knew the warrior would also come along, unwilling to allow Esme to go without him. I sent him a grateful smile, and he returned it. He was just as formidable a warrior as Argen. I’d watched him in the ring with Sahlyn. Having him on our side could do nothing but help our journey.
Several warriors had shown up to our gathering to offer support and join our small force. I had no idea how many warriors it would take to infiltrate the palace and kill the queen. Hopefully, none of them would even have a blade strike theirs in Savine, but I didn’t know. I had no idea what was in store for us.
Sahlyn put his arm around my shoulder and laid a tender kiss on my temple as the warriors dispersed after some discussion with Argen. Emotion arose again with Sahlyn’s display. “You were never winning that fight, love.”
“I just don’t want her to get hurt.”
“You can’t protect everyone all the time, Autumn. Sometimes people need to make their own decisions. It’s the right decision for the right reason. She wants to support you, and you should let her.”
“All of you may die because of me. Because of this mess.”
“That is a decisionwemade, love. We made that decision for a myriad of reasons. Our feelings for you were only a fraction of it.”
I met his soft eyes and leaned in, gaining comfort from his quiet strength. “What are the other reasons?”
“The queen must be stopped. She cannot be permitted the control and power she wields over people. It is not something that can be allowed to continue. Someonemuststop her. If it's you, then everyone wants to be on your side. It doesn’t matter who wields that final blow, who is the hero here; the deed just needs to be done. As collectively as we can make that happen, it should be so. Take all support you can. We will need it in the end.”
I sighed. Sahlyn was right, of course. The more people at our backs, the better. Who knows if Queen Amira was expecting an attack or what heinous tricks she had up her sleeve.
“The more, the merrier?”
His grin stretched his mouth in that sexy way, dipping one side more than the other, but after a moment, the grin slipped and a splinter of fear wedged in his eyes. “Let’s just hope it's enough.”
Wolves
For reasons I couldn’t fathom, no demon wolves met us in the Wood, and travel went so smooth that it was a little disconcerting. We were all tense, and our nerves were on high alert. Autumn’s shell of calm only chinked when she glanced at Esme and the few warriors that had insisted on coming with us. I understood that she saw Argen and me as comrades, brothers in arms, but with Esme, she thoroughly feared for her. I understood, but Esme was a warrior like her betrothed and cousin. She was a fearsome dwarf. Their blossoming friendship made us all grin as they swapped ridiculous female input and necessities. Argen and Autumn’s relationship had progressed into something more since we’d left the dwarven stronghold. An undeniable connection spurned a tiny thread of jealousy through me, which I tried to stamp down. They looked at each other with sibling affection, and I knew their friendship was platonic, but still, the easiness they worked around each other grated on me. Autumn and I also had that ease, but my contract with the queen hung over our heads, stagnating our relationship and adding friction.
We camped in the woods, remaining far away from any villages. Our presence remaining a secret was imperative. Autumn spent most of her time while we were camped with Esme, although her bedroll remained beside mine at night. I didn’t try to touch her, yet we were always against one another in the morning. As if our bodies had to feel each other in our subconscious. We would simply smile and break apart. There was no tension, no radiating passion as much as I wanted her. In a camp of warriors with what we had to do pressing on us from all sides, continuing with the heat between us would be folly. Despite my yearning for her, I would take sleeping next to each other, the soft touches, and stolen forehead kisses any day.
I glanced at her as she walked with Argen, my eyes clinging to the necklace between her breasts. Emberlite. She was fascinated with the fine gemstone, and I could readily admit it was gorgeous. The color matched her eyes. Rimroc, to everyone’s bewilderment, had gifted it to her from his collection. Argen confessed it had been his mother’s. I only vaguely heard the exchange as Autumn refused the gift at first but quickly changed her tune at whatever Rimroc proceeded to tell her. Autumn had done something unimaginable for the dwarves by breaking the curse on the Cabro and pulling fire back into their fortress. For centuries Cabro had been stuck as an iron dragon, and for five decades, the flame of Dunvar ceased to burn. Autumn had changed everything within a few days. She had earned gifts, respect, and adoration.
We finally retrieved our horses from the stable we had boarded them, and Autumn was thrilled to have her chestnut gelding back.
A string of patrolmen went through the town, but one approached us on our way out.
“Autumn Snow?”
Autumn flinched. Despite her cloak up over her braid, somehow, someone had recognized her. I assume the stablehand was paid to send word if our horses were picked up. Our party waited in the woods, but Argen and I grabbed the hilts of our swords and prepared for a fight.
“Deven?”
He smiled gently at her and my body flushed with the warmth in her tone.
