Page 58 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

“The rebels have been rallying forces in our absence,” Drake said.

“There are camps like these across the kingdoms. Men are being trained. So are women. There are soldiers and guards training them. Juliette is training them. Witches are training them. We have people on the inside. Men close to the kings’ inner circles.

Women who serve in the castles and hear things.

We have an army. Unified forces. It is small, and it might not do much, but they would rather fight and die than continue as things have been.

They’ve just been waiting for the right time. ”

“This is why the two of you wanted to get back to the continent so badly,” Callan said, looking between the siblings.

They had been in the perfect position for this.

Lord Tyndell had worked so hard to make sure they were in the background.

Unseen and unnoticed. They’d sat in meetings with the leaders of the realms, quiet and absorbing information, listening to plans and strategies.

Tava played the perfect role of the demure, docile Lady.

And Drake? No one had ever really given him a second thought.

A Lord’s son. Nothing special or extraordinary.

Not even worthy to take over his father’s position when the time came.

And all this time, he’d been part of organizing a rebel movement across the entirety of the continent.

All this time, he’d been unknowingly proving himself to his people.

“No. I mean, yes,” Tava amended. “We would have done so for Ashtine either way. Those unborn babes are as innocent as the people we are trying to help. Someone must fight for them too. But yes, we were anxious to return to help in whatever way we could. They knew we would come back. They knew we would never abandon them.”

“How do the Maraans not know you are here?” Azrael asked, avoiding Tava’s gaze.

“That’s where I come in,” Ezra said. He’d been so quiet, Callan had forgotten he was here. He had a knife and a piece of wood in his hand. He’d been carving on it the entire time they’d been speaking. “I am Tava’s newly appointed personal guard.”

Callan couldn’t help the bark of disbelief that came from him because that was the definition of irony.

“When it was reported the Tyndell siblings had returned, I offered to be her personal guard. They still believe I am loyal to the throne.”

“Why?” Callan asked.

Ezra leveled him with a pale blue stare.

“Because when I learned of my father’s death, I pretended not to care.

Because when they told me of his treason , that he and Finn had been implicated in the deaths of your parents, I pretended like they got what they deserved.

When Mikale told me my father had been killed while attempting to murder the king, I thanked him for taking him from this world.

I keep up the facade because my mother and sisters still live in that city.

It will look too suspicious if we leave now.

We would be accused of being unhappy with the king and all that he is doing for us. ”

Callan thought he might be sick. That’s how Mikale had spun the story of their deaths? That Sloan and Finn had been traitors to the crown? Somehow involved in the deaths of his parents?

He swallowed thickly. “No one questioned you volunteering to be her guard?”

Ezra had gone back to carving the block of wood. He didn’t look up when he said, “I have known Tava for years. We grew up together. Met one day at a castle banquet. She was always ignored at such events. Lord Tyndell knows we are friendly. It was no surprise that I volunteered for the position.”

Callan glanced at Tava and found her eyes on her lap again, fidgeting with her fingers.

For several moments, the only sound was Ezra’s knife on the wood. Then he spoke again repeating words he’d said earlier. “She says you’ve been gone all this time finding help.”

“I have been,” Callan agreed.

“Where is it?”

“It’s coming. Your king has been working with the leaders of the other kingdoms. He has built relations with Fae and Avonleyans, Shifters and Witches,” Azrael said.

He met Tava’s gaze. “The Fire Court is preparing to defend Windonelle and Rydeon. The Witches will defend Toreall, and once I have my Court back, we will defend your lands as much as we defend our own. Our queen will not fail you. The Fae will not fail you again.”

Ezra didn’t reply. Instead, he slid his knife into his boot before he stood and slipped the piece of wood into his pocket. “We need to be getting you back, Tava.”

She nodded, getting to her feet and running her hands down the sides of the witchsuit. “Can you retrieve my dress? I left it with Mary Ellen when I changed before going to scout with Juliette.”

Ezra nodded once, slipping from the tent without another word.

“I can show you to an empty tent that you and Callan can share for the time being,” Juliette said pointedly to Azrael, jerking her chin to the tent entrance as she stood. A clear signal for him to follow.

The Earth Prince sent her a bland look. “I know they want a moment alone before Tava must leave.”

“Oh, good,” Juliette chirped, already striding for the exit. “Perhaps you are not as simple as Nuri claims you are.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Azrael cursed, following Death Incarnate out of the tent.

“Do not be long, Tava,” Drake said, stopping to press a kiss to her cheek.

“You will be back at the manor before dawn?” she asked.

He nodded. Then he clapped Callan on the shoulder before he left too.

Tava slowly turned to face him as he pushed to his feet. Her hand went to her throat before she moved it to her braid, fiddling with the end of it. Callan slipped his hands into his pockets, feeling the items he refused to leave lying around anywhere.

“Say something,” Tava whispered after a lingering silence.

“I am in awe of you.”

Her face flushed, eyes fixed on the ground. “You are not upset? That I kept this from you?”

“No, Tava,” he answered softly. “Do I wish you would have told me? Of course. But I understand why you did not. I did not deserve the information. Not with who I have been these last few months. Not with who I have been my entire life, really.”

“I wanted to tell you,” she replied. “But you were grieving after everything that happened, trying to find your way through all that pain and grief. Trying to come to terms with who you had been raised to be and who you wanted to be. I couldn’t tell you.

Not until I knew for sure that you would fight for them.

And then you showed up in Siofra, and now you are here—”

She stopped her rambling when Callan hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her face up to his. “Thank you.”

She blinked at him. Once. Twice. “I do not understand.”

“Thank you. For believing in me when I did not believe in myself. For caring for the people of this kingdom when I did not. For fighting when I did not know there was something to fight for. For showing me the light. Thank you, Tava.”

“You will make a remarkable king, Callan,” she whispered, eyes searching his face.

“Because of you.”

She shook her head, reaching up and brushing back a piece of hair from his brow. “It has always been there. I helped you find it, but it has always been you.”

Callan lowered his mouth to hers, savoring every second of the moment they were about to lose. He inched back just far enough to look into her eyes. “I went to Siofra for you; I came here for my people. I will fight for both. No matter the cost.”

Her arms looped around his neck. She pulled his lips back to hers as she murmured, “You already have me. In this life and the next. Now we fight for our people together.”