We’d been here before, attempting to rally a united front against Kakias. But this was so much bigger than a broken-spirited queen. This was the fate of Ambrisk’s Balance and the fabric of the realms woven around us. And a clock ticked over our heads, counting down to a god’s domination.
“I know it’s risky, but we have to figure out a way,” I said as that time beat on in my mind, making my magic ripple over my skin. “Even with all seven clans, we might not stand a chance against Echnid. His force may very well blow through whoever stands against him, but our best attempt at survival is together. There’s been division among the Gallantian Warriors for too long.” I looked at every person in the room, imploring, “Is that the world we want to build? To leave behind? Do we want the legends to say we stepped aside, or do we want our legacies to be that we fought with the beating heart of this world?”
Because there was a very real chance many of us would be leaving legacies behind in the coming battles, no more than stories on a page for our ancestors. What messages did we want them to learn?
As my words rang through the chamber, Mora, who had been silent the entire meeting, flashed her pointed smile and said, “I believe I have a plan.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Santorina
“You’re certain?”I asked Lancaster, not daring to release the excitement budding in my bones. Anticipation tangled with that sensation still humming through my chest.
It hadn’t relented the entire trip north as we traveled to the next training camp. And with it, nerves swept through me. We were near Caprecion now. My first home. I had so few memories of it, having moved to Palerman when I was only eight, but they were full of my parents.
“The scent is impossible to miss,” Lancaster said, breaking me from those reveries. He studied me carefully, like he felt the yearning in my heart when I looked north.
He’d been doing that often since the gorgon attack. I wasn’t sure if he was watching me to ensure nothing else came for me while we were working together or for some other reason. Perhaps to ensure I wasn’t shifting toward my cypher dagger.
But I couldn’t worry about it now. Not with the excitement from his response.
I continued gathering my things in the tent we’d been given in this camp. We were, once again, forced to share a small space, but I hadn’t minded sleeping next to the male’s steady breathinglast night. Something in it was soothing, almost like my own personal lullaby. Everything Lancaster did had a rhythmic grace to it—apparently even his breathing.
The hours I’d spent caring for him after the attack seemed to have created a reliance on that consistency. If the lack of complaint was any indication, Lancaster was accepting it, too.
It was that comfort that made me ask, “What do I say as the queen’s descendent?”
“That is up to you.” Lancaster shrugged. “It needn’t be anything more than a statement of ancestry if you don’t want it to be. You could be a leader, or you could simply be one of them. I doubt any of them will expect you to outright be their queen, but they may turn to you for validation and guidance given that we are the ones exposing this bloodline.”
Validation and guidance, like when I dealt a patient a difficult diagnosis. Hopefully, the Bounties would be welcoming to the idea, and I—as the last known descendent of the ancient Queen of Bounties—could help them figure out what it all meant, even if I didn’t yet know.
Ducking beneath the tent flap, I picked up my boots only for the sole of one to flop down from the heel, the leather shredded.
“Fucking Goddesses,” I cursed. I’d forgotten it had worn through last night when we’d arrived. I’d been too tired from the travel to care.
“What happened?” Lancaster asked, following me outside. Tents sat in orderly rows of six, stretching west toward the mountains. This camp wasn’t as developed as some of them, still needing to establish proper housing for long term residents.
With a huff, I handed the fae my boot. “It broke last night.”
“You’ve been wearing these for months?” he asked, inspecting them, bending the leather backward and forward as easily as if it was parchment.
“They’ve sufficed!” I declared. “They’ve gotten me through an entire war and many an emblem trial, might I add.”
“I would wager that is why they look like this.” Lancaster flipped the boot over so the heel flopped like a dead fish.
I turned my nose up. “Give it back. I’ll find someone to fix it. We have to get to the training arena.”
He shook his head. “There’s no fixing this. You’ll need a new pair.”
“Then I will find a new one. Hand it over.” Gods, he wasaggravating. Right as I thought we were slipping into an easy partnership.
But of course, Lancaster did not do as I demanded—typical arrogant fae. Instead, he tossed the poor mangled boot into the nearest bushes.
“What was that for?” I yelled, making to run after it—with only one shoe on.
But a steel arm banded around my waist, the scent of flowers overwhelming me. Swallowing, I lifted my chin. Lancaster’s dark irises were so close, his face angled down toward me with…was that amusement twinkling in his eye?
The string in my chest hummed with a deep, resonant note as the fae studied me. Once, being close enough to see the tips of his canines when his lips parted would have sent a bolt of fear through me. It certainly woke the Bounty instinct enough to make me want to lunge at him, but it did something else, too.
