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Talwyn placed her hands over Ashtine’s, feeling the babes move beneath their fingers. “They will be protected more than any others.”

“If Briar and I are not…”

And Talwyn knew. She knew what the princess was asking her. Because they had both grown up without mothers and fathers. But they had grown up with each other. The gods knew she’d likely make a shit mother, but if Briar and Ashtine could not be there, those babes would never feel abandoned. Not for a single moment of their lives.

“They will know love, Ashtine,” Talwyn said. “The unconditional kind. The kind you showed me. They will be loved fiercely.”

Ashtine nodded, a small sad smile coming through her tears before the princess turned and continued walking along the path.

And as Talwyn followed, she had a feeling the winds had spoken to her friend again.

Chapter25

Cyrus

“You do not have to do this, Thia,” Cyrus said as he watched her buckle on her fighting leathers.

“We can handle this, Cyrus,” she replied, her irritation with him over this seeping into her tone as she slid a knife into the sheath on her thigh.

“I do not doubt your skills,” he said. “I know you can handle this. What I am saying is something does not add up. Please don’t go. Help me convince Sorin to wait just a little longer.”

Thia sighed heavily, turning to face him. She flicked her red braid over her shoulder as she moved towards him. She took his face in her hands, and his palms landed on her hips, tugging her closer. “When this is all over, you will see you worry for nothing,” she murmured, brushing her lips along his jaw.

“What if he’s wrong?” Cyrus said in desperation.

“What if he’s right?” Thia countered. “What if Eliné is indeed right across the border? We cannot walk away from this, Cyrus.”

“I’m not saying we should. I’m saying we need to slow down—”

She kissed him deeply. The kind of kiss that stole his breath and had his hands sliding to her ass and hoisting her against him. Thia pulled back, nipping his bottom lip lightly. Hazel eyes stared into his, her fingers sinking into his hair.

“Please, Thia,” Cyrus begged.

“This is happening, Cyrus,” she replied, brushing her thumb along his lower lip with her other hand. “And I hope Sorin is wrong.”

“What?”

“I hope Sorin is wrong. I hope this is a trap. I hope when I step outside this tent, it is the last time I see you.”

Cyrus shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, to wrap his mind around what she was saying. “If something happens to you, I will break, Thia. I do not know how I will come back from that.”

“Good,” she breathed, letting her long legs slide down his body. “It will be no less than you deserve.”

“Cyrus.”

It will be no less than you deserve.

“Cyrus, look at me.” A warm hand on his face. “Open your eyes, Cyrus,” came a whispered demand.

He blinked, finding Cass leaning over him. It was dark in their room, but Cyrus could make out the concern on his features. His thumb brushed across his jaw. Cyrus swallowed thickly, his mouth too dry as he tried to pull himself out of that memory. Trying to remember how things had actually happened. But Gehenna had forced him to relive this particular memory so many times, truth and lie blurred together.

“Hey,” Cassius said quietly. “It was a dream, Cyrus. It wasn’t real.”

“It wasn’t a dream,” Cyrus rasped, pushing his hand from his face and pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Cass asked, sitting up when Cyrus slid from the bed.

Cyrus didn’t answer, moving out to their sitting room and pouring a measure of liquor. He knocked the entire thing back, relishing the burn of the alcohol, letting it calm his racing heart. He set the glass back down roughly, bracing his hands on the cart and letting his head hang down.