Page 170 of Winds of Ruin
That sounded better thanI love you.
I smiled. Those unwritten pages gave me a reason to succeed; whatever awaited here would be worth facing every one of my greatest fears.
If I lived to see another day, then I’d forever take tender care of the piece of her beautiful heart she’d gifted me.
Chapter 64
Elsedora
The petulant part of me resented Emmerick for walking away. The logical side reassured me I trusted no one more with Lark’s safety.
The slam of the large birch double doors caused the world to crumble around me and my heart to pound faster in my chest.
I hadn’t told him. He hadn’t let me.
Not again.
Ryn’s message haunted me.
“I always knew.”
Damn him for seeing me, damn him for pinpointing exactly what all of my greatest regrets boiled down to.
“He will be alright. They will be alright,” Sybilla reassured me as we briskly moved through the castle, then out into the bailey.
The crunch of boots on the cobblestones and clanking of armor around us created a cacophony of horrid, hurried sounds. They reminded me of that night in Sahlmsara when we’d prepared for the city to be attacked.
Then, I’d allowed Emmerick to Egress away with Firose. I hadn’t known him well—he was just a pretty acquaintance who would wedge his way into my heart not a few years later.
“I know,” I said.
I didn’t.
It seemed my friend needed to believe it. She’d always prepared for this day too. Lark would face Caym. But she was supposed to have all the relics in her possession; she was supposed to have every advantage.
Blowing my whistle, I hoped my menace hadn’t wandered too far.
“I’m sorry for what I said,” Sybilla whispered as we waited for Mayra to land in the bailey. “I see my error. I only wish I’d known your feelings sooner so that I could have told you both to stop being so daft.”
Her arms wrapped around me, and I slumped against her, taking a deep breath.
An apology and an insult. Yet her acceptance warmed me. I choked on a weak laugh and squeezed her hard before I released myself from her grip.
Cassidee and Wyeth stormed into the courtyard, Asterie and Fen quick on their heels.
“The flyers are on their way. What are our next orders?” Cass said, glancing between Sybilla and Krait.
Krait ground his teeth, then answered, “Send flyers to scout the city for survivors. Asterie and Fen, head west to assemble soldiers as they arrive at the border.”
Sybilla cut in, “Wyeth—bring as many of the courts’ healers as you can wrangle. We’ll position them at camps in Kruthin, close to the border.”
Asterie stood taller. “I’ve been trying to conjure from the moonstone all week. Only one thing stands out—I keep seeinga dark cave with molten red rock. Does that mean anything to you?”
We all exchanged a series of shaking heads.
“Maybe it warned that Caym built strength on the volcanic shores,” Krait guessed.
Asterie sighed and leaned back into Fenris. “It’s frustrating to only get bits and pieces. But wherever the vision took me held grave danger.”
