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“How will we draw her to the Sun Realm?” Agatha asked.

“Brandle,” Grayden said. “We’ll force him to send her a falcon stating that Renya will be there, held against her will.”

“Then what do we do with him?” Sion asked, and Grayden knew he wished the answer to be death.

“We bring him with us,” Renya said, looking at Sion. “I know that’s not what you want, Sion, and it’s not what I want either. But if something goes wrong, perhaps we can use him as a bargaining chip. But I do promise you this, Sion. He won’t be allowed to go free. Even if Cressida bargains for his life, we will track him down.”

“Do you promise?” Sion asked.

“I promise, Sion,” Renya said.

“So, what next?” Phillippe asked.

“We coordinate with our allies: the Spring Lands, the Twilight and the Tidal Kingdoms. I need to let them know immediately, since Triston was going to come here next and will need to change directions,” Grayden said. The second he mentioned the Tidal Kingdom, his brother sat up a bit straighter.Renya must be right, Grayden thought. Phillippe was very interested in Esmeralda.

“And we’re all meeting in the Sun Realm?” Tumwalt asked quietly. He was still cautious around Grayden, not wishing to invoke his wrath. Tumwalt was also careful to be respectful to Renya. Grayden was glad that his advisor finally understood her importance in their world, and in his life.

“Correct,” Grayden said. “This evening, I’ll send a hawk to Triston, Kalora, Samatra and Thesand. We’ll march under Cyrus’s cloaking spell, and the Tidal Kingdom will travel along the river with the Spring Lands to avoid detection. Kalora’s army will stay close to the trees in the Twilight forest and then move at night in the desert. Hopefully we can all get there undetected. When we arrive, that’s when we’ll force Brandle to write to his queen.”

“Does anyone foresee any problems with what we’ve proposed?” Renya asked.

Almory shook his head, pleased with the plan. Tumwalt stroked his chin, and then voiced his agreement. Phillippe and Sion both agreed.

“It’s a good plan, daughter,” Cyrus said, looking at Renya with the same pride that Grayden shared. “Let’s put everything into motion.”

The next few days flew by, with everyone working furiously to prepare. Renya trained with Cyrus, picking up additional pointers on how to wield the magic of the sun. Grayden watched, pleased to see his mate bond with her father and grow even stronger in her magic. For his part, Grayden trained hard with Phillippe, Charly, and Sion, working their muscles until they bulged from the blood flow.

Tumwalt and Almory oversaw the village, ensuring every resident knew to go to the lodge at the first sign of trouble. Almory and Tumwalt would both stay behind, at Grayden's insistence. If something happened, they would be in charge of securing the Snow Lands. Dimitri would come to the Sun Realm and provide assistance to those injured in battle.

They all worked incredibly hard, right up until the night before. Grayden spent several hours that night in the cabinet room, reiterating their strategy and preparing for any unforeseen circumstances or problems they might encounter. Only when he saw Renya yawn did he finally decide to dismiss everyone.

“Go get some rest. We leave at first light,” he said, and watched everyone file out of the room, leaving him and Renya alone.

“Come with me, Little Fawn. I have a surprise for you,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room and up the stairs to their chambers.

They entered their room, and Renya looked around, her forehead wrinkled. “What’s the surprise?” she asked. “Or was this just your attempt to get me in your bed so you can seduce me?”

“You’ll see,” he teased. “Wait here for a few minutes.” He went into the bathroom, getting to work.

“The bathroom? What kind of surprise could you possibly have in there?” He could hear her mocking him through the closed bathroom door.

After a few minutes, he called her in.

Grayden looked around the room, pleased with how it turned out.

While they were all concentrating on the battle ahead, Grayden reached out to the best stone cutters in the village and had them replace the bathtub in their chambers. The bath was made of a beautiful piece of carved marble, smooth and warm colored in the light of the candles that he lit on every surface of the bathroom. Lotus petals floated in the water, and Grayden knew the lavender bath salts he put in would delight Renya.

“It’s…amazing, Grayden!” she beamed, happiness shining in her eyes. “How did you pull this off?”

“I have my ways, Little Fawn. I must admit, it was hard to keep it a secret. I tried so hard not to think about it so you wouldn’t find out.”

“Well, I didn’t suspect a thing,” she said, quickly disrobing. He watched her remove her clothing, excited but also worried. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life here, in his home, with her by his side. He wasn’t sure if this would be their last night together, or if they’d have an entire lifetime of moments like these. Trying not to dwell on it, he brought his mind back to the present, watching Renya slip into the tub, giving him an encouraging look.

Grayden breathed deeply, as Renya dunked underneath the water, lotus petals floating around her. He stripped down and then crawled in behind her, dragging her across his lap and against his chest.

“I thought we got a bigger tub so we could have our own space?” she teased.

Grayden growled, and then playfully bit her earlobe. She sighed, and he kissed her neck, slowly making his way down to her collar bone. He placed another nip along her shoulder, and she began to squirm in his arms.