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She was half surprised to hear him enquire after her, rather than asking about the soldiers, or Sura, or just about anything else. "I'm safe. Khal's in a room next to mine, and Teoran's not far either. I have no reason to think they wish us harm, so far."

Rydekar snorted. "You trust too readily."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Khal thinks so too."

She proceeded to tell him about the banquet, and to her surprise, Rydekar listened, interrupting only to ask for clarification or laugh at something she said. He was the perfect conversationalist, here in her mind. Perhaps this was just a dream after all.

When she'd said everything she could think of about their travels, she enquired after him. Rydekar sighed. "I'm not in this room right now. I'm asleep, but in a very different bed."

She could feel her shoulders tense. "Whose?"

He laughed again, and his fingertip tapped her nose. "Jealousy suits you. Mine, Rissa. I'm in my tent, some miles north of Old Keep, resting before traveling on. We aren't far from your father's domain, in fact."

None of this was reassuring. "What happened?"

"War," he replied. "As you well know. I can't very well remain behind my walls and let the rest of the world spill their blood on my orders."

She remained silent. Somehow, she'd imagined just that: that he'd command his armies from the safety of Old Keep. The thought of him charging at enemies, risking his life, didn't sit well with her at all.

"What if you're killed?"

"Then there'll be songs sung in my honor, statues erected, and my name will pass into legends like my ancestors' before me, I suppose." He was so annoyingly casual about it.

Lips pursed, she sat up to face him, eyes narrowed. "You can't risk your life stupidly. Not in the middle of this. Who else could lead Tenebris? And Denarhelm for that matter. If you're gone, Antheos is going to take the entire fae world."

He stared at her with that maddening smile she couldn't quite read, half mocking, but also something darker—colder. "Yes, well. I suppose you'd better bring back a spare leader in case something happens to me."

She wanted to nod, but Teoran's rant about Tharsen not being the one they needed made her question everything. What if he was right? What if there were more than rumors to the cursed prince's cruelty?

"Tharsen is a military leader," she reasoned out loud. "During the rule of his mother, the seelie and unseelie realms were at war, and there was a constant threat from the west. He'll know what to do."

Then, after Antheos was dealt with, what would happen?

"You truly believe that, don't you?" Rydekar asked.

"Why don't you?" she questioned.

She needed to understand why he was so adamantly against her idea. From the very beginning, he hadn't hidden his contempt and disapproval, without giving her any reason why.

Then again, she hadn't asked.

"I've read enough to make a grown man tremble at the mention of Tharsen's name, but my great-great-grandfather was also feared by all those who heard of him—no less by those who knew him. Yet, he's a good man. There's a chance that your Tharsen might prove to be one too."

She perked up.

"A chance, Serissa, and not a great one. I like to deal with facts, and the fact is Denarhelm currently has a perfectly adequate ruler, and in all likelihood, changing it will not work to our advantage."

Rissa wondered why they'd never spoken like this before, openly sharing their thoughts rather than butting heads. She only took half the responsibility. Sure, she wasn't as amiable as she could be, but Rydekar usually did his best to get on her nerves, too.

"But there's also a chance that Tharsen will be great. Better than adequate, in any case. Right?" she offered.

Rydekar stared on before sighing. "It's possible. I'd still prefer to stick to the odds we had with you here."

Something moved inside her; her heart, perhaps. He believed in her. He thought she was capable of things she wouldn't ever have thought herself capable of. Ruling an entire mighty fairy kingdom.

"How about this? I'll come back with Tharsen. That way, you'll get him—someone the seelie lords can follow—and me. I'll do what I can to help. This is my world, too."

Rydekar laughed uproariously, throwing his head back.