Page 172 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

Kerym leaned over the edge of the cliff, much farther out than Frelina ever would dare. “And she has Thissian and Merrick. Neither will allow anything to happen to her.”

Frelina nodded again, as if it were the only thing she could do, when Amalise’s face whitened, her eyes flying to the south.

Snapping her head the same way, Frelina had to hold on to Kerym’s arm when Vastala’s ships—the ones she’d seen drawings of in her father’s study growing up—sailed toward them, keeping far away from where the wyverns formed a barrier against Ellow but still straight for the ships beneath them.

A sound of terror, one she might have been embarrassed about in another setting, betrayed her, and there wasn’t much more than sheer willpower keeping her standing by the edge as the ships flew toward them.

“It’s not Rioner.” Raine’s warm presence came up behind her, and she didn’t care that they were surrounded by people as she spun around, releasing Kerym to take his outstretched hand.

“How do you know?” Amalise demanded, her voice shaking in the way Frelina would have expected her own to.

“The sails,” Kerym murmured as he pulled the small woman behind him to his side, something stirring between them before his gaze sliced back to Raine. “It’s the Reinsdors. And behind them… that’s the Hjelmsons and the Driksters.”

“Who are they?” Pellie asked softly.

“Some of the most prominent noble families in Vastala,” Kerym said as he placed a hand over his brow to see better. “Seems they might have brought some friends too.”

“They came for her,” Raine breathed. “They really came for her.”

Pride swelled in Frelina’s chest, and she could tell even the mighty Fae warriors were touched by how Raine held on to her hand and Kerym blinked rapidly.

More of that pride worked its way into her limbs when Amalise took her other hand, and Kerym and Pellie shifted so they all stood in a row, with curious humans and other Fae shuffling forward behind them.

While they were fighting for Ellow, for a world where those who tried to rule with fear would not succeed, where Rioner and the rebels couldn’t force their way to power, her sister had had a hand in how these groups came together—made people believe in something.

Frelina laughed as hesitant calls began rising behind and beneath her when more humans noticed the ships coming to their aid.

But that laugh faded as the ships slowed, then halted completely, a safe distance away from their cove and the wyverns waiting an equal distance from them, but to the north.

“Why are they stopping?” Venko, Ardow’s man, stepped up to the ledge, his light eyes near slits as they stared into the sun.

Worried whispers rushed through the crowd behind her, and Frelina couldn’t do anything but stare at the group surrounding her sister—watch how their hands fell to their sides and their faces dropped to the ship’s deck.

“They’re not fighting.” Kerym tensed beside her, before he jerked his head backward, eyes flying up to the blue sky. “The fucking cowards.”

Frelina gave him a quick glance but then focused on Lessia, who, unlike the others, hadn’t backed away from leaning over the railing, her arm still outstretched in greeting.

Frelina’s thumping heart slowed with the pain lacing her chest, and she didn’t know why she made herself continue looking at the painful scene beneath her, the small hand reaching for help that wouldn’t come.

Raine, who’d also been watching their friends below, slowly lifted his gaze. “She’s thanking them.”

“Why the fuck is she thanking them!” Amalise’s eyes could have killed someone when they swept past Frelina. “They’re just… standing there.”

“It’s a warning,” Raine said quietly. “They came to warn her.”

“That Rioner is coming, right?” Frelina added when Amalise continued her choppy breathing, holding back an anger she was justified in letting free. “They’re warning her he’s coming today as well.”

Raine didn’t say anything, nor did anyone else, as they all looked out over the vast sea and the armada of rebel ships spreading out threateningly across it.

They’d known Rioner was coming. But… like herself, she guessed the others had held out hope that maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to quell one threat at a time. But the ships now moving with the slow waves had eradicated what was left of that fragile hope.

“So we fight,” Kerym said in that voice she knew he wanted to sound playful—to drum up some bravery in the men and women around him—but that sounded mostly hollow to her ears.

“You all know what you need to be doing,” Raine declared as he slapped his friend on the back.

Releasing Frelina’s hand, he raised his to touch her cheek. “So do you. Don’t let her out of your sight, little Rantzier. And I won’t let you out of mine. Whatever happens… I’ll look out for you.”

She leaned into his warm hand for a second, allowing herself a moment of stupid wishful thinking.