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“Come with me,” Crystallo said, his voice soft.

The Aetheriani will take care of you, Zeph said.Life will be good there. If you go with the Orcs, all you will find is death over and over again.

That was all I needed. Zeph had been by my side for so many years, and his advice had never failed me. Plus, my body was reacting to Crystallo. His lightest touches were fire to my skin, and I couldn’t deny that I wanted to see where that would go… even the rumors were true about his people.

“I’m going with him,” I said, nodding my head towards Crystallo.

The orc nodded once and shoved his dagger back in his belt.

“We will see you at the end,” he said.

“The end is the beginning,” Crystallo replied, his tone taking on that same air of ceremony.

The Orcs moved past us, and Crystallo turned back towards the portal.

Within moments, the portal flashed into light.

I didn’t hesitate, I didn’t wait for Rí Túath Crystallo to order me around or tell me what to do. There was one thing that had kept me alive at this school for years past most of the other mundanes in my first-year class, and that was my heightened sense of self-preservation.

I dove past the Rí Túath like a speed swimmer anticipating the starting bell, plunging through the portal and into my future.

Chapter

Four

CRYSTALLO

The farm girl threw herself through my newly created portal like a Thutar rolling for the kill. I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so relieved I didn’t have to waste any time myself as I launched in after her. The moment my feet touched down on the wooden surface of my home, I cut the portal, snapping it shut.

“The seals!” I laughed. I threw my hands up in the air, joy ricocheting through me like a fledgling with too much yavarin sap in their system. “THE SEALS ARE BREAKING!”

The farm girl was sprawled out on the floor of my throne room at my feet, the crimson dress she had worn to dinner riding up around her hips. The sight of her exposed like that nearly killed me.

Instead of dying, or staring despite my deep appreciation of the view, I leaned down and grabbed the bottom edge of it, pulling it down over her rump as people rushed into the throne room, summoned by my shout. I resisted the urge to grab her by the waist to lift her up. She had rejected my hand when I heldit out to her earlier; she must not want to be touched. I didn’t blame her with what I had threatened back at dinner.

Still, the sight of that dress of her thick, muscular curves, a body strong with the intimate knowledge of hard labor, sent a heat burning down into my loins with a sudden flash of desire. She was strong, she was smart, and the moment there was action to take, she took it. If she hadn’t been there, I would have been caught in the trap they set in the guest room. I had planned to sleep and visit with my brother the next morning, as was customary for my visits, but the seals were breaking.

Of course, they wanted to trap me.

Capturing me right before the final battle was the best move they could make.

“My people!” I called out, lifting both my arms as more of my subjects, courtiers, and officials alike flooded the throne room, filling the air with chirping cries of greeting. “We will have an official welcome soon, but there is urgent business. War council, with me! Heralds, call in those who are not here.”

I leaned down next to the farm girl who had just risen to her feet.

“I must see to my people first,” I told her. “Then I will ensure you are taken home.”

“Wait,” she said. “Home?”

I didn’t have time to answer that as I was already in motion. I strode from the room, leaving the young heralds to fly off and search for the few of the war council who hadn’t yet made it to the throne room. The few that were there included General Vetharim, my head of intelligence, Orisanti, and my lead steward, Solarion. They followed after me as I led the way into the side room I used for smaller meetings.

I moved to the head of the table, which was covered in a large map of the school. “The seals are breaking. I can confirm the seal located here has shattered.” I placed my finger down on the mapwhere the fort was. It was the only way those Orcs would have made it into the fort like that. The seal down in the cells had to have been broken.

“That makes two,” Orisanti, my head of intelligence, said, tapping the part of the map we had already marked off based on the reports from his spies.

“The Chaos God has returned and is shattering the seals,” General Vetharim agreed. “Though why he is taking so much time between them is strange.”

“It is odd,” I agreed with her.