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“High General, wait!” Maeva calls as she sprints behind me—attempting to keep up with my stride—as I march toward her chambers. I know she’s trying to maintain the level of decorum we agreed upon outside of the dome, but now isn’t the time to rehash what just happened.

“Not now, Maeva,” I growl.

What in all of Celestae is she thinking, agreeing to the quest for the bloody Crógemma?

Not only did she agree to this wild-goose chase, but she did so with the arrangement that I train her for two months in case of a skirmish. I also have to assist her in summoning her ability as she wills—not just as she feels threatened.

Two months to teach her to be as skilled as a bloody soldier that has trained for years !

The king is mental.

Maeva gasps behind me. “But?—”

“Enough!” I snarl, my shadows flaring behind me in warning.

My anger is coiled so tightly that I fear what my abilities will do if I unleash them. It slithers just beneath the surface, ready for my command.

It took every ounce of restraint to keep them in check during our “meeting” with the king and Domhnall.

I clench my jaw at the reminder of seeing her hand wrapped around his bicep, her eyes dead of all light.

However, the king’s domineering, victorious smile was almost too much as he whispered to her, as if she were his lover.

Everything within me snarls as I’ve internally claimed her for my own, but in that moment, I couldn’t do a blasted thing.

What did he do to my Rosey girl?

What a bloody mess all of this is.

I don’t want to hurt Maeva, but I’m furious with the situation she’s put herself in—as well as the Cadre, as we’re joining her on this suicidal quest.

Yes, it’s an order, but there’s no way, in all of Celestae, that we would’ve let Maeva journey to the bloody Abyss of Zulgalros alone.

My rage threatens to spill over the longer I ponder all of this, so I hasten my steps… again.

The rapid clicking of Maeva’s shoes against the marble grates on my nerves as she struggles to follow, but I refuse to slow my strides for her.

The rest of the Cadre are close by, so I know they’ll remain beside her at all costs.

They’ve learned it’s best not to converse with me when I’m like this; however, Maeva, being the stubborn woman she is, continues to call out to me.

The sooner I get her back to her chambers safely , the better, so I can cool off alone.

I hurl open the door, gesturing for her to enter.

“Will… you… allow… me… to… speak… for… one… bloody… second?!” she gasps out, trying to catch her breath.

“ No,” I deadpan, gesturing again to the opening of her quarters.

She folds her arms over her chest, a storm churning in her eyes. “Well, I’m not entering until you do,” she snaps back.

Normally, I’d find this little display amusing; however, with my rage on the rise, it only riles me further.

“Rosey, go in the bloody room,” I warn.

She rolls her eyes. “Unless you’re going in there too, I’m staying right here,” she replies.

Virgil steps up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Maeva, perhaps you should just?—”

“Stay out of this,” she snaps, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. She levels me with a gaze as her pendant glows, her hair flowing behind. “If he desires to fight, then so be it.”

Her hands illuminate with her starlight, and I have to admit it’s mesmerizing, but it doesn’t change the fact that I should walk away.

But I won’t walk away until I see that she’s safely in her chambers.

“Get. In. The. Room. Now,” I seethe, overly enunciating each word. “Unless you want me to force you.”

She throws her own gesture at the doorway, “After you, Prince, ” she snaps.

I growl, as my nostrils flare.

Siorai, save me!

“Emyr,” Laisren says cautiously, the beast rippling underneath his skin.

Unable to hold my shadows back, they release from my body at an alarming rate, creating a giant hand that pushes Maeva into her chamber. “How dare you!” she yelps in protest.

Movement catches my eye as Laisren inches toward me. My free hand releases shadows that wind around his wrists, pinning him in place. The last thing we need right now is the beast to come out and play.

“Keep your beast contained, Laisy. That’s an order,” I bark out, storming into the chambers, sealing the room in a dome .

Before I turn around, a jolt of intense heat connects with the shoulder of my armor, burning me within.

I hiss in pain, my shadows erupting from me on instinct like broken glass.

I turn rapidly, praying I didn’t harm Maeva, but instead, I’m left speechless.

She stands before me, ethereal and glowing, shining like the sun.

A devilish smile is plastered across her lips, as she creates a sphere of pure starlight.

The heat in her features is such a stark contrast to the beauty of her ability.

“You want to release your anger, General?” she taunts. “Here’s your chance.”

I shake my head, removing my helmet. “Maeva, I don’t want to?—”

I was going to finish that sentence with “hurt you,” but unfortunately, I’m too busy ducking for my life as Maeva launches the sphere at my face. My shadows are licking against my skin, begging to retaliate. “Are you mental?” I growl.

She shrugs, forming another sphere in her hand. “Perhaps,” she whispers, launching the orb at my body once more.

“Maeva,” I warn. “Enough.”

“You’re tense, furious even,” she replies coolly. “So, let’s deal with it.”

She swirls her hands, creating the most stunning sword I’ve ever seen from her starlight.

Holy Celestae, she’s beautiful when she’s lethal.

That is, until she’s thrusting the weapon at me, forcing me to move.

Okay, she’s slightly terrifying as well.

I mold my shadows into a dark onyx blade of my own. I roll my shoulders, circling around her. “You made a foolish choice by agreeing to this quest , Maeva,” I growl, lunging at her with my blade.

“What offends you the most, Emeryus?” she asks, parrying every thrust of my weapon. “The fact that I desire to find the Crógemma, or the fact that you must train me for the perils ahead?”

She launches herself at me, but I deflect with ease, pointing my blade at her chest.

This woman is baffling.

In my hesitation, her fist connects with my jaw. Though the punch is weak, it still shocked me enough to force me to stumble a step. “Does it intimidate you that I could become as skilled as you?” she sneers.

I growl, lunging for her once more in our little dance. “No,” I reply. “But you haven’t the slightest inkling of the dangerous position you’ve put us in by agreeing to this madness.”

“I know exactly what I bargained for, Emyr,” she says breathlessly. “It’s you who doubts I can do this.”

“I never said?—”

“You didn’t have to,” she snaps. “Your disdain for my choice is loud enough.”

“This is serious, Maeva,” I say through gritted teeth. “The Abyss is where the cruelest, most flagitious creatures that Siorai ever created are imprisoned. Tiernan asking you to go after eight weeks of training is suicide.”

The slashes of my sword against her own become more brutal as she physically struggles to keep up.

“Then… you better… train me… well,” she replies.

I swipe at her feet in an attempt to catch her off guard; however, she’s quicker than I expected. “Whatever he promised you isn’t worth this burden,” I reason.

“It is to me,” she hisses.

“It won’t be if you’re dead,” I snarl. As my anger reaches its crescendo, my shadows boomerang around the dome until one strikes Maeva’s cheek. She stumbles back a step. Her eyes widen as her hand brushes against the point of impact. My sword vanishes instantly and I’m rushing to her.

“Maeva, I–”

She thrusts out a hand, pinning me to the other side of the dome, with tendrils of her starlight wrapped around my limbs.

Though I thrash against them, I’m held fast, but this time they don’t burn me like they had previously.

Instead, a feeling of peace—like life—radiates from them, as if healing me rather than destroying me.

The aching pain in my shoulder dissipates as the tendrils sweep across the place they’d once scorched.

What a strange and beautiful ability this is.

Does she even realize her starlight does more than cause pain?

Before I can inquire as much, her hands cup my face, forcing me to look at her. Her lustrous hair floats around her as if she were underwater. Her usually dark ocean eyes are now the color of crystal, blue and calm, unlike the storm that warred within them earlier.

“I’m not going to die, Emyr,” she says softly.

“But what if you can’t handle this journey?” I ask.

“Which is why I requested for you and the Cadre to join me,” she replies. “I know I’ll be protected as long as all of you are there. You’re a skilled High General, Emyr. I know you can prepare me for this.”

“What if it’s not enough?” I ask. “What if we can’t protect you?”

She smiles sadly. “Then at least I’ll die in the company of friends,” she answers.

“I have nothing else but this, Emyr. Everyone I love is gone. My life and distant memories are vacant.” Her eyes glaze over, staring at the wall behind me.

“This is my chance to find the Na Fíréin and make things right. So if that means I must retrieve that cursed blood gem for Tiernan, then so be it.”

She pulls away from me then, unwinding her starlight from me.

She walks quickly toward the balcony doors but stops short of the dome barrier.

Turning to glance back at me, she gestures for me to lower the dome, which I do, allowing her to step out onto the terrace.

I follow closely behind her, stopping short when I’m greeted by hundreds of beautiful dark maroon roses gloriously in bloom.