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The princess was unsteady on her feet, swaying as though she were about to collapse, so Thea moved closer, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

‘You’re safe now,’ she soothed. ‘We won’t let anything happen to you.’

Tears lined Jasira’s gaze, her expression contorting as she tried to hold herself together. ‘I…’ She fell into Thea, burying her face in the crook of her neck, a sob breaking loose.

Thea held the princess and let her cry. ‘It’s alright,’ she told her. ‘You’re alright.’

The men backed away quietly as the princess struggled to compose herself, hiccupping against Thea’s shoulder. When she at last pulled back and wiped her red-rimmed eyes, Thea was struck by how similar they were to her father’s.

Sniffling and patting her face dry with her sleeve, Princess Jasira regained her composure and turned to Cal and Kipp. ‘Thank you, Guardians of Thezmarr,’ she said, holding a trembling hand to her chest. ‘I am in your debt.’

‘It’s our duty and our honour, Highness,’ Cal replied earnestly. ‘We’ll find your horses at once and you can return to the warmth of your carriage.’

‘The horses will be halfway back to Harenth by now,’ Kipp interjected. ‘We should harness two of our mares to the carriage for the princess and I’ll take the reins. Cal, you can ride the spare horse, and Thea, since you’re so determined to watchHawthorne at all times, you can ride double with him on the stallion. That will get us to Vios sooner. These roads aren’t safe for the princess.’

Thea’s gaze snapped to Kipp, her eyes narrowing, but her friend avoided her glare of disbelief, busying himself withhermare, leading it to the front of the royal carriage along with his own.

It took some time to set the horses up and return to their campsite to hastily pack away the rest of their things. Thea didn’t speak as they went about their tasks in the frigid cold, keenly aware that the shadow wraiths could return at any moment with reinforcements – and that the former Warsword was following her every move.

Strong of mind, strong of body, strong of heart. She was determined to live by that mantra now. She would not be swayed by his games, by his words or the way he looked at her. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could go back to preparing for the Great Rite, which would hopefully call to her soon enough. She just had to get through these next few days.

Thea cornered Kipp as he finished securing his saddlebags. ‘That’s twice you’ve interfered,’ she said, keeping her voice quiet.

To her surprise, frustration flashed across Kipp’s face. ‘That you know of,’ he countered. ‘And it’ll be that many times my interference saves you in one way or another.’

Thea blinked, unease stirring low in her gut. ‘I thought you were on my side…’

‘Iamon your side,’ he argued. ‘But you’re too caught up in your own shit to see it.’

‘I —’

‘You might have accepted your power when you asked Wren to remove the alchemy on your fate stone. But that’s not enough. You won’t be able to master it until you stop resenting it. Until you —’

‘This isn’t about magic.’

‘The fuck it’s not. It’s who you are. You need to come to terms —’

‘I don’t —’

‘Horseshit, Thea,’ Kipp said calmly. ‘You blame it for messing with your plans to become a Warsword, for the burden of the throne, and…’

‘Oh? There’s more? Do tell.’

Kipp looked hesitant for a moment, but he ploughed on. ‘I think you also blame it for what happened with Hawthorne.’

‘Don’t say his name to me.’

‘You can slay a dozen monsters, but the name of a supposed fallen Warsword scares you?’

Thea glanced around, wary of being overheard. ‘It doesn’t scare me, I —’

‘I’m calling horseshit again, Thea.’

Spotting Cal nearby, Thea looked to him for help, but their friend shrugged.

‘I’m with Kipp on this one.’

Her friends left her holding her bedroll, staring after them. When had things changed for them? When had they started to doubt their mission? Doubther?Thea tried to swallow down the lump in her throat, but the damn thing kept forming, leaving her with a tightness in her chest that wouldn’t abate.