Page 33 of Clash of Kingdoms

AURELIAS

The sunrise crested the horizon because we’d spent the entire night interrogating Rancor. Now we stood near the river, replenishing our canteens as we enjoyed the cool morning air. Huntley drank the entire contents before he refilled it and returned it to his pack.

“This isn’t a good idea, Huntley.”

He looked across the strange world, one that was mostly desert with dried shrubs and red dirt. “Then don’t come.”

“I can’t let you go alone.”

“Then silence your protests.” He continued to look across the stream, his eyes squinting in the light.

“You’re giving them your head on a silver platter.”

“And what would you have me do?” He turned to regard me head on, his stare hard, his blue eyes identical to his daughter’s…eyes that I loved. “Return home and sit on my ass and wait for them to march on our gates? That’s no plan.”

“The second we step into their territory, we’re at their mercy.”

“In case you haven’t noticed,” he said coldly, “we’re already at their mercy.” His stare was vicious. “The Exiles of Palladium know a path to their kingdom, but based on Rancor’s information, their city is so vast that the odds of us finding what we seek are very unlikely?—”

“Less unlikely than walking out of there with our heads still on,” I retorted. “This is a bad idea.”

“Then don’t come.” He turned away.

“I can’t fucking do that.” I said it under my breath, doing my best to bottle my frustration.

He stilled and looked at me again.

“Harlow asked me to watch your back.”

“I don’t need your protection, Aurelias.”

“Even I wouldn’t dare walk into their domain alone. I understand you’re scared and desperate, but throwing yourself into this isn’t the answer.”

Huntley marched back toward me. “Then what is?”

I held his stare.

“What is the answer, Aurelias?” he snapped. “We fight them when they arrive at our gates, and if we somehow succeed, we do it again…and again? Or do we take the passage into their domain blindly to try to find what we seek? If we walk in with Rancor, it will give us the only opportunity we’re ever going to have to observe. To persuade them to turn their attention elsewhere. To glean whatever knowledge we can. That is the most effective plan—by far.”

“And also the riskiest.”

“The greatest risks yield the greatest rewards,” he said. “I know that all too well.”

I knew there was no way to convince him otherwise. His mind had been decided.

“I release you of any obligation.” He prepared to turn away again.

“I’m not leaving you, Huntley.”

He continued to walk away. “My daughter would prefer to lose only one of us—not both. I’ll tell Pyre you’re returning to HeartHolme with the others. Storm will remain behind and wait for me.”

“I’m not leaving,” I repeated. “And not just for her.”

He stopped, his boot grinding into the red dirt beneath his feet. He slowly turned around, looking at me over his shoulder.

“But for me.”

At nightfall, we began our procession, leaving the Teeth behind at the campsite as we trekked forward toward the ring of fire. As the night deepened, the fire became more visible, and the closer we approached, the bigger the flames became. They were stagnant, burning without fuel, lighting up the world around them.

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