Page 68 of The Broken Prince

Instead of refusing to pledge her son, Ivory gave a nod.

“I suspect he’ll be safer away from HeartHolme, at least for now,” King Rolfe said. “We’ll depart by dragon.”

My eyes wanted to move to Harlow, but I forced them to remain in the conversation. She would travel to HeartHolme by sky, arriving in just a day, whereas it would take me days, probably a week, to get there on foot. The separation caused a jolt of fear in my heart, knowing that if something happened at HeartHolme, my steel wouldn’t protect her throat. My eyes dropped down to the table beneath me in shame, remembering how shitty it felt to care about something more than myself.

“I think Atticus will be ready in three days,” King Rolfe said. “Let’s plan for then.”

“We should notify Ian that HeartHolme will need to accommodate all the Kingdoms,” Ivory said. “And we should bring all the food we can carry. Their supplies may not be able to feed everyone.”

King Rolfe nodded. “I’ll send the letter.”

NINETEEN

HARLOW

I sat at my brother’s bedside, looking at his weakened body tucked underneath the covers. He was asleep, so I stared at his tanned face, remembering how pale he had been immediately after the battle.

My stare must have burned his face, because his eyes slowly opened and found mine.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

When he spoke, his voice came out strained. “I’m used to people staring at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m still going to die.”

“I don’t think that.”

“But I bet you’re wishing for it.” A teasing smile moved on to his lips.

I rolled my eyes playfully, my own smile coming through. “You got me.”

He ran his fingers through his hair before he sat up in bed, his chest exposed once the covers dropped. He was thick and muscular like Father, with dark hair on his chest. “I haven’t slept like this since I was a kid.”

“Enjoy it while you can. Life’s about to suck.”

“I’ve never been in a war before. Just had my first battle. So, I’m nervous…but I wonder if Father is more nervous.”

“He’s always nervous.” He was always paranoid about the worst coming to pass, and now that it had, his eyes were perpetually bloodshot. He was tense like a tightrope.

“I love the sleep I’m getting, but I’m anxious to get out of bed.”

“Enjoy it while you can, because once you’re better, Father is going to have you evacuate all the Kingdoms and bring them to HeartHolme. Aurelias thinks we should combine all our armies into a single location rather than leaving them scattered and vulnerable—at least with an enemy like this.”

“The stewards won’t like that.”

“They won’t like being dead more.”

He gave a slight nod in agreement. “It’s still a big task. It’ll take me a while to accomplish it. For all the citizens to pack up their essentials and say goodbye to their homes. They’ll all be scared.”

“I’m scared.”

His eyes shifted back to me.

“Father is too. We all are.”

A softness entered his gaze, like he wanted to be a good brother and assure me everything would be alright. But he knew he couldn’t say that, so he didn’t. “Aurelias…the vampire has a name.”