Page 10

Chapter 10

Callan

C allan grunted as he was knocked onto the deck of the ship for what had to be the ?ftieth time that morning.

And they’d only been at this for an hour.

He’d lost count of how routine this had become since he’d asked Eliza to train him two weeks ago. How every night he went to bed sore and exhausted, even with the salves Cassius gave him to soothe the aches. Still, he was lucky to sleep even a few hours, and he always woke to nightmares of his parents’ blood pooling across the ?oor. Of Finn and Sloan falling as they tried to protect him, his sister, the royal family.

“Better,” Eliza said, reaching down and yanking him to his feet.

“Better?” Callan repeated. “How was that any different from before? I still ended up on the ground.”

“Yes, but you blocked the ?rst attack before the second one took you down. That’s progress,” Eliza said, kicking his feet apart a little more.

He’d known asking her to train him would be dif?cult, but good gods. Fae training was a completely different kind of torture. It was no wonder his father’s high force was so elite. If Sorin had been this demanding and brutal for the three years he’d been there...

But it hadn’t been his father’s order to train them up. Not really. It had been the suggestion of Lord Tyndell, the High Commander of the kingdom’s armies. The Lord had whispered and gently nudged him in this direction for months until one day, his father had “come up” with the idea of building a stronger force to protect against the unending threat of the Fae. All for this. All to eventually get Mikale Lairwood on the throne.

Now all the mortal kingdoms were ruled by Maraan Lords who all answered to Alaric, a Maraan Prince and the son of Deimas, who all the mortals believed had “saved” them from the Fae who were trying to enslave them. How had history gotten it so wrong?

A ?st to his jaw had him stumbling backwards, and he found an angry ?re general in his face. The ?st wasn’t surprising. It was that it came from her. She had refused to spar with him, making him face off against Rayner or Cyrus.

“If you’re going to waste my time, your Majesty, you get a ?st in that perfect face of yours. Focus,” she snapped before stepping back and motioning at Rayner. Callan heard Cyrus snicker from where he was sparring with Cassius, but he didn’t dare look at him and risk another blow. Cassius would give him some ointment he’d been taught to make that would heal his bruises within the day when they were done with this training session. Until then, he’d spar with an aching jaw because the general hadn’t held back on that hit.

“Focus on your opponent,” Eliza barked. “Nothing else. Watch his eyes, his feet. Study his movements.”

Rayner lunged. Callan managed to block his sword, but his feet were again swept out from under him, and he was again on his back.

“Again,” Eliza ordered as Rayner tugged him to his feet this time.

“He moves too fast,” Callan grumbled. “I can’t keep track of everything like I do with a mortal.”

“You need to be able to anticipate his moves, Callan. We’re all faster and stronger than you. We’re always going to be, and this is without our magic. You need to ?nd other advantages and weaknesses and capitalize on them.”

“How am I supposed to ?ght against magic?” Callan asked, frustration overcoming him. He’d never expected this to be easy, not in the slightest, but he hadn’t expected to be this godsdamn terrible either. He hadn’t expected to get his ass handed to him this easily every morning. How the hell did Scarlett do this before she could access her magic?

As if she’d heard his thoughts, the Wraith herself materialized in front of him. She plucked the sword from his grip, tossing it to her husband, who caught it with ease. Then she shoved two long knives into his hands. “You’re trying too hard, Callan.”

“Trying too hard?” he echoed in disbelief. “Am I supposed to not be trying?”

“You’re so focused, you’re not letting it come naturally,” she returned, beginning to circle him. She’d pulled more long knives sheathed down her back because the female never went anywhere without a minimum number of weapons on her body.

“What is natural about ?ghting a Fae warrior?” he scoffed, watching her as she moved, sliding her feet along the boards of the deck.

“Fighting to survive,” she replied simply.

And then she leapt at him. He had no warning. She’d given no hint she was actually going to attack him. He’d thought she was giving him a pep talk.

He blocked with one of the knives on instinct, and when she spun and brought her other one up, he blocked that one too. She leapt back, a small smile on her lips as she began moving again. “You were trained as a prince, Callan. You were trained for tradition, not actual war. You were never expected to ever step foot on a battle?eld.”

She attacked again, and this time, one of her blades cut a shallow gash along his chest.

“Stop thinking,” she ordered, coming at him again, not giving him any chance at a reprieve.

He ducked as she swung for him, and she smiled as she whirled and swept at his legs. He found himself on his back again when her foot connected with the side of his knee, but she didn’t stop like the others had. She leapt for him, and he barely managed to roll out of the way in time.

“Get up, Callan!” Drake shouted from a sideline somewhere.

And he was scrambling to his feet, blocking a blade that was swinging for him. She came for him again and again, and he didn’t have time to prepare. He didn’t have time to study her movements. He didn’t have to think, only to react. Another blade sliced across his torso, and he snarled in frustration.

“Use it, Callan,” Scarlett demanded. “Let that fury out.”

He gritted his teeth, blocking her next attack and shoving her back.

Her grin widened, eyes dancing with excitement, and he real ized she may have been trained to take life, but she enjoyed this part of it. The training. The sparring. Getting knocked down and forcing herself to get back up.

He lunged at her this time. She blocked easily enough, dancing out of the way.

“Yes, Callan!” she encouraged.

She came at him again, slipping around him and landing a kick to his lower back that sent him to his knees. Drake and Cassius were on either side of him, but it was Eliza who spoke to him.

“Fight, Callan,” the general ordered. “Fight her. Now.”

“I can’t ?ght her,” he panted.

“You can,” Eliza insisted, stepping back as Scarlett came for him again.

Was she ever going to stop? Eliza had him practicing technique and form. She pushed him, but not like this.

“He can’t ?ght me,” Scarlett taunted, circling him once more. “Never could. I was always too much for him to handle.”

He scoffed, rotating to keep her in his line of sight. She winked at him.

Godsdamn winked in the middle of a sparring match, as if this were nothing for her.

“If you can’t ?ght me, Callan, how are you going to ?ght for your people?”

“Stop,” he gritted out, blocking her thrust.

“No,” she replied calmly. “Tell me, Callan. How will you protect your people from those who took your parents from you?”

“ Stop ,” he snarled again, lunging at her this time. She de?ected easily. “They took them from you, Callan. Right in front of you,” she continued. “In front of Eva. Your sister had to see her mother and father murdered right in front of her eyes.”

“Enough,” he spat, both knives swinging for her in a move Eliza had made him practice for an hour straight one day. He’d never gotten the hang of it, even after continuing to practice it every fucking day.

But he got it today. It was perfectly executed, as if his body knew exactly what to do, and one of Scarlett’s knives went skittering across the deck.

She wasn’t even fazed. She ?ipped away from his next attack, his blades barely grazing her tunic.

“They took Finn and Sloan, Callan,” she continued, somehow popping up behind him and landing a clean kick to his back that sent him to the deck of the ship yet again.

He rolled as she moved to jump on top of him, his feet kicking out and launching her backwards. He knew she could have caught herself with her magic, and was even vaguely aware of Cyrus holding Sorin back with a hand on his shoulder.

Scarlett was climbing back to her feet as he got back to his. She pulled a dagger from her boot. “They will come for you, Callan. They will come for you. Your people.”

She lunged for him, landing hits again and again, and she never let him breathe. Never let him catch his breath or collect himself. Just kept coming for him. But he was beginning to hold his own. Sure, she wasn’t using her magic, and maybe she wasn’t coming at him with everything she had, but she certainly wasn’t going easy on him. Years of training he’d never had to use slowly began waking up, and the more she pushed him, the more he began to react on instinct, letting muscle memory take over.

Now she had him back on the ground, straddling his waist, somehow keeping him from ?ipping her off of him. She leaned closer, a manic gleam in her eyes. “What will you do when they come for Tava?” she whispered. “What will you do when it is Mikale who has the blade to her throat instead of Veda? What will you do when he does to her what he did to me?”

He let out a bellow of rage at the mere idea, and before he knew what he was doing, he was ?inging Scarlett off of him. She rolled to her back beside him. He heard her land with a curse. But before he could capitalize on his advantage, she was punching him in the side, and he barked a curse of his own.

“Good, Callan,” she panted from beside him. “Good.” She dropped her hands to her side, the one long knife she still held slipping from her ?ngers with a clatter.

“Are we ?nally done?” he gasped.

“Yes,” she agreed. “You ?nally tapped into that rage you’ve been harboring.”

“And that’s a good thing?” he asked between breaths. He saw ?gures moving towards them in his periphery, but he was breathing too hard to care at this point.

“You will need that rage, Callan. When you’re fighting, when your survival depends on it, you use everything you have. The light and the dark. Use it all. Despite what they told you, you were built for this. You were not built to sit in a castle but to defend the people outside it. A king who fights for all his people, not just those who sit in the castle with him.”

There was a hand in his face as Drake reached down to pull him to his feet.

Sorin was doing the same for Scarlett, but she was smirking up at him as if she hadn’t just sparred for an extended period of time. She opened her mouth, clearly about to say something snarky, when her face leeched of color. Sorin was suddenly yanking her to her feet and into his side, his sword drawn in the next breath.

Callan glanced around at the rest of the Fae. Eliza had gone rigid, pulling a sword from ?ames. Rayner appeared a moment later directly in front of them, and Cyrus was stepping in front of Cassius and Drake. Auberon and Azrael were suddenly there. Callan had no idea where they’d come from or why, for that matter, and a moment later, Briar and Sawyer appeared as well.

“Scarlett, my dear,” came a male’s voice. “How wonderful to see you again.”

“You can all see him, right?” Scarlett murmured. Callan knew the Lord had a strange power that allowed him to alter a person’s reality, but it was still bizarre to him that she was questioning such a thing.

“We can see him,” Sorin replied. “We all felt the warning from the wards.”

Lord Tyndell stood across the deck from them. Eyes that were nearly black skimmed over Callan and Drake before settling on Cassius. “Commander Redding,” he greeted with a nod of his head.

“Do not speak to him,” Scarlett spat, pushing Sorin aside and stepping forward.

The Lord’s head tilted, a corner of his mouth tilting up slightly. “Isn’t the Guardian supposed to be protecting you? Not the other way around?”

“Shut up,” Scarlett snarled, shadows slithering up her body and clinging to her like armor. Exactly how she’d looked when Callan had summoned her to deal with Veda and save Tava. Cyrus moved with Cassius as the commander moved to Scarlett’s side.

“Father?”

They all turned to look at Drake, his features a mask of shock as he looked back at the man. Eliza had moved into position before him.

“Hello, Drake,” Lord Tyndell replied. Callan could swear that there was fondness in his tone, which didn’t make any sense.

Shadows were suddenly surrounding him, herding him closer to Drake until they were both enclosed by them. He felt them slide around his body, as if creating a secondary shield, before additional smoke and ashes were added by the Fae in front of him.

“Shut up, and stay out of their heads,” Scarlett snarled, taking another step towards the Lord.

Lord Tyndall held up a hand. “I am only here to talk at the moment, Scarlett. Think of me as the messenger.”

The wickedness that ?lled Scarlett’s face had Callan ?ashing back to a dark night under a full moon as he’d watched her stand over a female, slicing into her body with malice.

“Careful, Balam ,” she purred. “I’ve become rather adept at sending messages of my own.”

The Lord’s features tightened. “I am aware, Scarlett.”

She moved forward again, shadows writhing around her until those damn shadow panthers Callan had often glimpsed were prowling in front of her. Sorin and Cyrus lazily ?icked their hands and what Callan could only describe as vines of pure ?ames appeared in their hands. The same ?ames ?ared around Eliza’s sword. Sawyer had long daggers of ice in his hands, and Briar had vortexes of water swirling in the air beside him. Azrael and Auberon stood stoically, arms crossed, as they surveyed the Lord before them.

“Did he get my latest one?” the queen asked, her head tilting to the side. There was a burst of white ?ames, and when it receded, she was holding a sword. “Because I am more than ready to return his messenger as a message of my own.”

“I am not here to ?ght with any of you,” the Lord replied with utter calm. “I came to offer an exchange and to see my children.”

“Consider your offer rejected. As for your children , every one of us here knows they are not your children.”

The Lord’s features went cold, his calm facade faltering. “They may not be my blood, but I raised them. I cared for them more than their father ever would have.”

Before anyone could say anything to that, Azrael said tightly, “The sky.”

Cyrus and Cassius stayed ?xed on the Lord, but everyone else looked to the west, where a ?gure was ?ying towards them. As it drew closer, Callan realized it was a male with wings, like he had seen Veda sprout from her back. It had to be seraph.

Then he lurched forward at the same time Drake let out a cry of rage. “Tava!” Drake bellowed.

Because that was his sister the seraph had with him. One muscled arm was wrapped around her torso, the other had a hand clamped to her mouth, muf?ing her screams.

The entire ship rocked when the seraph landed on the main deck beside Lord Tyndell, and it was the Lord who was snarling at the winged male.

“What the fuck are you doing with her?” he demanded. “She is not who you were sent to retrieve.”

“I know what my orders were,” the seraph replied gruf?y. “This one shoved the child out of the way. One of the Water Fae was able to shield the girl before I could grab her, so I grabbed this one instead. I had to take out one of the Fae to get away with her, but I ?gured she would be better than nothing.”

No one dared to move.

“That is my daughter,” Lord Tyndell snarled again. “Remove your hand from her mouth.”

The seraph did as ordered, and Tava immediately looked at them all. “Neve has Eva, but Nakoa...” She trailed off, tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry, Briar.”

Callan glanced at the Water Fae who had gone still as death.

“Azrael, take Briar and Sawyer to the ship with the children. Check on Nakoa. Go now,” Scarlett ordered, turning back to Lord Tyndell. “Tell me again how you are not here to ?ght with us.”

“This was not supposed to happen. It is an unfortunate turn of events, but before your associates depart...”

Everyone stilled once more.

“You should know we have seraphs on every one of your ships. They are not there to hurt anyone, but will if they feel threatened as Haniel obviously did,” Lord Tyndell went on.

“Haniel, is it?” Briar asked, his tone icy and vicious. The seraph stiffened, jerking his head in a single nod.

“If my general is dead, I will drown you on dry land while simultaneously slowly freezing every drop of blood in your body.”

The seraph’s lips curled into a daring, cruel smile. “I would like to see you try, Water Prince.”

Briar’s lips peeled back, and Callan was sure the prince was about to lunge at him, but the seraph still held Tava.

“Let her go,” Drake said from behind Eliza. “If you care for us the way you claim to, then demand that he release her, Father.”

Lord Tyndell’s gaze snapped to Drake before they slowly moved back to Tava. “Haniel, give her to me.”

“That is not what I said,” Drake snarled. “I said release her.”

“I am not going to hurt her,” Lord Tyndell returned calmly. “But I do need to have a conversation with Scarlett. Several of them, it appears. I am certain she will be more agreeable while Tava is by my side.”

“Then speak,” the queen spat.

Lord Tyndell’s eyes drifted over her before moving over her shoulder. “How interested he will be to learn your twin ?ame lives. We will need to adjust our plans to accommodate that fascinating discovery.”

“Fuck,” Callan heard Scarlett mutter. She was silent for a moment, and he could only assume she and Sorin were having some sort of silent conversation using their bond.

“You look identical to your mother,” Lord Tyndell was saying, his dark eyes back on Tava, and there was no mistaking what Callan saw in the Lord’s eyes now. That was... sorrow. Sorrow and grief.

“What is his message?” Scarlett asked sharply, Sorin stepping to her side once more.

King and Queen.

Shadows and the ?ames in which they thrived.

“I suppose my wording was incorrect,” Lord Tyndell conceded, tearing his eyes from Tava to refocus on Scarlett. When Scarlett didn’t respond, he continued. “I am the offer before the message, but considering who is somehow still at your side, I will extend the offer to you both. Come with me back to Baylorin willingly, along with the Solgard heirs, and we will allow the rest of your company to continue their passage west without interference.”

“And when I refuse the offer?” Scarlett asked, twirling the hilt of her sword.

“Then he will deliver his message.” Scarlett stilled. “Personally?”

Lord Tyndell nodded. “He will come for you himself and send these ships to the bottom of the Edria.”

“His little power to crush a heart will not accomplish such a thing,” Scarlett countered.

“No,” Lord Tyndell agreed. “But the seraphs that he will bring with him can.”

“We will see them coming from miles off,” Sorin cut in. “We will take them from the sky before they can get close enough to attack even one.”

“And yet we have a seraph on every ship already,” Lord Tyndell countered.

“One or two is easy enough, but the number needed to take us all down?” Scarlett countered. “That will not be so easily accomplished.”

“We have more than elemental magic, my dear.”

Shadows rose up behind her, the panthers in front of her splitting into several wolves, while blinding white ?ames raced around them in a large circle. “So do I,” she said coldly.

“But will it be enough to save all the innocents you have with you?” Lord Tyndell asked. “Before you answer, I will give you an hour to debate your decision. Not as a courtesy to you, but to my children, who I am hoping will return with you.”

His hand fell from Tava’s arm, and she was instantly racing across the deck, not to Callan, but to Drake. The shields around them seemed to recognize her, letting her pass through, and Drake was enveloping her in his arms.

“Are you all right?” he murmured, clutching her to his chest. Callan could see her visibly shaking.

“They were trying to get Eva,” she replied, her voice trembling as much as her body. “I couldn’t let them take her.”

“I know, Tava,” Drake murmured again, tucking her head under his chin.

“Why won’t he leave us alone?” she whispered. “If we’re not his, what does he want with us?”

“I wish I knew,” her brother replied. Eva.

They were here for him and his sister and Scarlett. And now they knew Sorin lived. An ace up their sleeve now lost.

And yet all he could seem to focus on was that Tava had gone to her brother instead of him.

“Our priorities are the four main ships that house us and the children,” Sorin was saying from where he stood at the head of the long table in the dining room at the back of the ship. “If we lose the others, we’ll make do.”

“Two of those other ships have all of our supplies, Sorin,” Cyrus argued. “We can’t just say the hell with them.”

“I understand that, but if we are forced to choose, we choose the people.”

“Obviously,” Cyrus drawled, “but that doesn’t mean we simply abandon the other ships with us. We already took the bare minimum necessary. If we lose those supply ships, the rest of this passage will be taxing on everyone.”

Scarlett sat silently beside her husband, head propped on a ?st as she listened and watched everything taking place around her. She’d hardly spoken since Lord Tyndell had vanished into the air, taking the seraph with him. Azrael had immediately taken Briar and Sawyer to the ship where Eva was, and the Earth Prince had promised to bring Eva back with him when they returned.

Callan was seated on a bench down the table, his leg bouncing incessantly beneath it as he waited to lay eyes on his sister.

“We make those the second priority,” Sorin was saying. “But our people and those children... We all come out of this alive.”

“How do we prepare for their magic?” Auberon asked. He sat across from Callan, beside Rayner. “These seraphs could have any gift, possibly not even a power from this world. How do we counter that?”

“You prepare for any and every possibility,” Scarlett said, speaking suddenly. The hand she’d been resting her chin on fell to the arm of her chair. “If you have not been trained to expect the unexpected, then you will sit this ?ght out.”

“What?” Eliza balked. “We will need every weapon possible, Scarlett.” Scarlett was shaking her head. “Those not prepared to ?ght this way will be liabilities, and you know it, Eliza. Our focus and attention will be split. We are already at several disadvantages. We cannot afford more.”

“She makes a valid point,” Rayner supplied.

“Those who are not trained to ?ght this way will be placed with the children to guard them,” Scarlett continued. “We take down—”

“Hold on,” Callan interrupted, holding her stare when Scar lett’s eyes connected with his. “Are you telling me you will not allow some of us to ?ght?”

“Yes,” she said, no room for argument in her tone.

But he was damn well going to argue about this. He’d just lost his family and his best friends to these Lords, and she expected him to stay out of this battle?

Not an option.

“No,” he snarled. “I am going to ?ght, Scarlett.”

“Callan, I do not have the time to debate this with you. You are not prepared for this type of battle. Some day you will be, but that day is not today.”

“I am a king as much as you are a queen,” Callan seethed. “You do not get to make these decisions for me.”

Scarlett pushed to her feet, bracing her hands on the table as she leaned towards him. “Tell me, your Majesty , when you die out there today—because you will. My warriors will understand that your safety is not the priority today—So when you die out there today and leave your kingdom to Eva, who would you like to rule in your stead until she comes of age?”

“You are a bitch,” Callan sneered.

A growl emanated from Sorin, but Scarlett raised a hand to stay him. “I am when I need to be,” she agreed. “And right now, I need you to hear me, Callan. I cannot have you up there. You are not ready for this, but you know who you are ready to protect? Those children. Who will be hidden below decks. I need you there, with Drake and Tava, ready to protect those children at any cost. Because if they get through us, you will be their last hope.”

The entire room fell silent, and Callan swallowed thickly.

“The choice is indeed yours,” Scarlett continued. “I am not your queen, but I would assume you desire to protect those you cherish most.” Her eyes ?icked to Tava, who was seated across the table from him, Drake’s arm draped around her protectively. “They are your only subjects on these ships. They are the only ones who are your responsibility.”

“I disagree,” Callan argued. “Those children are from the Black Syndicate. Part of my kingdom. They are as much my responsibility as they are yours.” Scarlett’s head fell forward, and then she was turning slightly, looking at Sorin who was obviously speaking down their bond. “Don’t do that,” Callan snapped. “Don’t speak about me when I’m sitting right here in front of you.”

“We are wasting time,” Eliza cut in. “We need to be strategizing. If Callan wants to risk his life and be up there ?ghting with us, it is not our responsibility to stop him.”

Scarlett’s lips pressed together in a tight line, her eyes ?ickering to Tava again, before she muttered, “Fine.”

Sorin’s hand came to her back, but no tension left her body. She was stiff, and Callan could tell she didn’t like the way this had gone. He understood. He really did. She viewed him as her responsibility. She had claimed him as one of her own. She would die for him, kill for him, just as she had for Tava. Asking this of her went against everything she was.

But how could she ask him to do that same thing? How could she ask him to hide when those children were as much his subjects as they were hers?

Azrael appeared suddenly, Briar and Sawyer with him, Eva clinging to Sawyer.

“Callan!” his sister cried, Sawyer setting her onto the ?oor. She came running to him, and Callan immediately twisted to pull her into his lap. Her eyes were wide, and she buried her face in his chest. How much more trauma would she have to endure? He lifted his gaze, ?nding Scarlett’s stare ?xed on Eva, and Callan knew she was thinking the same thing.

“Nakoa?” Sorin was asking. Azrael had stalked to the table and taken a seat, but Briar and Sawyer were still rooted to where they’d appeared.

Sawyer shook his head as Briar said, “Neve reported he fell protecting Eva and Tava. We didn’t have time to get more than that. We need to prepare.” He paused for a moment before he added, “But Haniel is mine.”

Callan swallowed thickly. The Water Commander had died defending his sister and Tava.

“She stayed there with the children. Two other Fae have joined her,” Briar continued. “But we will need more there.”

“Were all the children accounted for?” Scarlett asked.

“They were frightened and hiding,” Sawyer supplied. “It is impossible to say for sure.”

“I will go there,” Tava said, looking to Scarlett. “I have been spending my days with them. I will help keep them as calm as possible. Keep them busy during... everything.”

“I will go with her,” Drake said quickly.

Scarlett nodded. Her eyes scanned those around her, skipping over Callan. “I do not know you all well enough to say who should be stationed where. Make the plans,” she said, deferring to Sorin as she sank back to the bench. Her head tipped back, eyes closing.

Sorin, Briar, and the others fell into battle talks and strategy. Eva was quiet in his lap, clinging to him, and Callan knew Scarlett was right. He couldn’t leave her while this was all going on. He needed to be with her, defending the ones he cared for. Eva. Tava. Those children that were from his lands. He pushed his pride down, preparing to tell them he would go to the ship with Drake and Tava.

Sorin was handing out assignments. “We will send Rayner with you two. He will aid Neve and those already there, but they will be above deck. We cannot spare anyone to be below deck with you and Drake unless Callan chooses to be stationed there with you.”

“I will be ?ne with Drake if Callan chooses to be elsewhere,” Tava replied. “It has long been just Drake and me. This will be no different.”

Callan’s gaze snapped to her. She was poised, her hands in her lap, but her eyes were on Sorin, chin high. He knew her though. He’d watched her work, watched her use words as her weapons rather than daggers. She excelled at speaking in double meanings, and this was no different. She was giving him an out. She was offering him this path to end the courting that had never really started.

And a part of him wanted to take it.

She had gone to Drake instead of him when their father had released her, and Callan didn’t blame her. He’d hardly seen her these past weeks, and when he did see her, they only spoke of Eva. She would ask if he needed anything, and he would send her away, saying he was ?ne. He was so lost in his own grief and trauma, trying to process it all, and she was giving him that time and space, offering to take this additional expectation off of him.

Would she wait for him? It was wrong to ask her to. And what if Scarlett was right? What if he came out so different at the end of all this that he and Tava simply wouldn’t work in the end? He didn’t want to drag her down while he navigated this darkness. It wasn’t fair to her. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

“Well, your Majesty,” Scarlett said, drawing him from his thoughts. “Where do you desire to be stationed?”

He swallowed thickly, glancing at Tava from the corner of his eye. No emotion showed on her features. She was the portrait of a demure lady, the role she had been raised to play. Submit to the men in her life. Bow to her king. Be seen, not heard.

“Make your choice, Callan,” Scarlett said when he didn’t answer. “We need to get people into positions.”

He looked down at Eva in his lap, her light brown hair braided down her back. Tava must have done that.

“With her,” he ?nally answered. “I will stay with and protect her.”