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Erix shook his head, refusing to look away from me. “I refuse that statement. You have only ever done what you felt was right.”

“Exactly,” I spat, body aching, heart entirely shattered. “I was selfish then, and I am selfish now. But this needs to end.”

“Stop it,” Erix glowered. “Immediately. We have to trust that Duncan is acting according to our plans. You are not alone in solving these problems.”

Duncan. I hadn’t even thought about him since I was brought to see Althea’s head. What had happened? What had he seen in the time we’d been apart?

“But Cassial needed Althea, he needs a fey royal to harbour Duwar successfully – so her death proves that he knows about me.” Out the corner of my eye I caught sight of the fey soldiers removing the head from the pike, covering it in a red silken sheet before carrying Althea’s remains away.

“If he knows that you still live,” Erix said, voice trembling with unspent rage, “he is trying to bait you.”

I knew, deep down, that Erix was right. “I know. And it will work.”

“Now is not the time to react,” Erix said, grappling a hold of me, fingers like iron against my skin. “Cassial is not going to get the chance to use you, I will not allow it.”

As I stared into his silver eyes, drinking in the horror harboured within them, I realised something. “No, Erix. I’m not the only one at risk. He can also use you if he finds out.”

Erix recoiled. I watched as the words sank in and realisation crept over his handsome face. It twisted into a mask of horror.

“Cassial couldn’t know,” Erix said, clasping a hand to his chest. “Before the wedding – Elinor promised me that no one else would know until my decision was made. Unless someone… Ailon Oakstorm added the information into his communications with Cassial.”

“I don’t believe your uncle would have done that,” I said, mind whirling. “It would have weakened his claim. Ailon wanted Duwar for himself.”

My throat ached with the fresh bite of bile.

“I’m at a loss for what to do,” Erix admitted, standing tall as he looked at the advancing line of warriors. “I was never his second option for a host for Duwar. I think that the reason he has killed Althea, it means he has his hands on another option already…”

There was something in what Erix had just said that clicked in my mind. In a single moment my thoughts became frantic, but in the panic, I was piecing together the puzzle at efficient speed. “Who does he have?” Speaking it aloud tore apart the frail seams holding me together. “If he has used her death to spark the war, it is only because he is still a step ahead. I fear you are right, and he has another option already.”

“The Elmdew baby,” I gasped. “A host he can control.”

His eyes locked with mine. Urgency overwhelmed any other emotion he felt.

“Regardless, he has made his move. Cassial has shown the world Althea is dead, it is to spark the war he has been desperately waiting for,” Erix spoke aloud my very thoughts.

If that was the glamoured head of Seraphine on a spike, it would mean Althea was still alive.

Erix acted on instinct and called out to the soldiers taking Althea’s head away. “See that the head is taken directly to Eroan. Make sure that he checks over it for any potential glamours or illusions.” There was a hesitation from the solemn fey who looked as grief stricken as we felt. “Do it now, with haste!”

With my command, he rushed off, leaving us to wallow in the dark truth.

“Cassial must be desperate,” Erix said finally. “That is what this move is. Using Seraphine to make us think Althea is dead.”

That was if the head belonged to Seraphine, otherwise she was still out there, and her plans to sacrifice herself would be for nothing.

The box in my pocket grew heavy, reminding me it was one detail I’d not shared with Erix yet. And for good reason. Because Seraphine knew the risks when she infiltrated Cassial’s camp, and she also knew I would follow.

“Imustgo to Cassial,” I said, almost preparing for an argument or refusal. But Erix locked eyes with me, his lip curling over the slight point of his canines. And, as always with Erix, he was willingly to stand beside me, and never before me.

“It is not safe to make such decisions,” Erix began.

I silenced him with a single look. “Our army is advancing. War is upon us. We can petition for them to stop if we can prove that it is not Althea’s head that was just taken off that spike. But if they believe it was, they will move. If this is a ploy for Cassial to provoke us, it has worked. If not…” Then my closest friend was dead. “There is no other choice if we hope to save the slaughter of all those innocent humans he’s using as a shield. But if I go, you can stop them. Put a halt to the army for as long as you can.”

“Before you say it.” I took his hands in mine. “Please, don’t refuse me.”

“You know I can’t do that.” Erix traced fingers down the side of my face, eyes brimming with tears. “And I will not, only if you tell me your plan and every step it entails. I can’t let you go alone knowing there is nothing I can do.”

“And I will. If we are wrong about the Elmdew child, then I am safe in Cassial’s hands. He needs me, and he will not risk harming me if Althea is dead, or no longer in his possession. If I continue to hesitate, more people will die.”