Page 104 of A Warrior's Heart

“I can’t leave him—”

“That was an order.” Lorcan clenched his jaw. “Do not forget that I am your prince. You will do as I say.”

My knees gave out and I dropped to the deck.

Lorcan knelt beside me before throwing his arms around me. “I have lost my greatest friend. I refuse to lose you too.”

“I shouldn’t have allowed him to come with us on this journey,” I said, my heart shattering into a million pieces. “I should’ve forced him to stay in Avalontis.”

We sat in silence as we mourned the loss of a man we both loved. I didn’t know what would happen to him once the enemy learned he wasn’t Lorcan. I wanted to believe they wouldn’t kill him, but I knew the horrors of war.

“You need to rest, my prince.” I picked Lorcan up as I stood from the deck.

He didn’t fight me on the matter. I walked down the stairs and took him to his cabin. The trident was propped against the wall, the runes glimmering with Lorcan’s presence as I laid him on the bed.

“I’ll stay with him,” Alek said, walking in behind us. He swayed a bit and caught himself on the door. At my concern, he weakly smiled. “I’m… still… holding the spell. I’m afraid what they’ll… do to him… once I release it.”

As he crawled into bed with Lorcan, I stepped outside their cabin and closed the door.

Eva left the physician’s quarters with blood-stained hands. Blood speckled her cheek and covered the front of her tunic, and she had a dazed look in her eyes.

“How’s Shar?” I asked.

She turned to me, and it took her several seconds to process my words. “He lost a lot of blood when I removed the arrow. I expected him to die on the table. But he’s stubborn. I used healing magic on the wound and gave him an elixir to help him rest. He’s stable. For now.” Her hands shook as she wiped them on a cloth.

I grabbed her shaking hands and held them between mine.

Her blue eyes watered right before she collapsed against my chest and sobbed like I’d never heard her do before. Her grief was deep. Raw. I did my best to stay strong for her, but I was barely holding myself together.

“Why did he have to be a hero?” she wept. “Why did we leave him there?”

I had no answer for her.

It wasn’t until later that night when I was alone in bed that I let myself truly grieve for Troy. I pressed my face into his pillow and cried until I had no more tears to give.

***

“Thank you for coming with us on this journey,” Lorcan told Kellan once we had returned to the shores of Emerald Cove.

“If ever you need another ship, I’m your captain.” Kellan tipped his head toward the prince. “In the war between you and King James, you know which side I hold allegiance.”

Lorcan clapped the former pirate captain on the shoulder. “Aye. I do.”

Alek hugged Kellan, then Fletcher, before we dove into the sea. We needed to return to Avalontis as soon as possible.

Nereus held Shar’s hand as they swam to the depths. Shar had regained some of his strength over the time it had taken to travel to Emerald Cove, though he was still healing. He should’ve died from his wound, but Eva had saved him.

Just as Troy said she would.

Ervin swam on the other side of me, his brow drawn tight. Roan’s betrayal had cut him deep, as had the loss of the other two assassins. I had spoken with him throughout our journey back. I understood the betrayal he felt and the pain of not being able to save your men.

Troy’s absence had taken so much from me. But not my fighting spirit.

I wouldn’t rest until King James’ head was removed from his body.

As we entered Avalontis through the portal, it felt wrong being there without Troy. The kingdom was his home, his safe haven. He had often laid in the grassy field and stared up at the magical dome, watching schools of fish swim past the barrier.

“Welcome home, Prince Lorcan,” one of the guards said after we passed through the portal.