Page 6 of The Sundered Blade

Ah. There was her anger. Her worry. And her fear.

They were all about to embark on the next leg of their journey, and there was no guarantee they would ever be together again. And once they pursued their individual paths, there would be no more denying how twisted their connections truly were.

Her people and Niell’s had been enemies for centuries. Niell had once thought her father to be his own, and many of his subjects had suffered for years under the man’s tyrannical thumb. And Karreya’s grandmother, Empress of Zulle, would likely send an army to destroy these lands if she did not carry so many other burdens nearer to home.

Karreya knew this path was the right one—she had seldom felt more convinced of anything. It was her task to confront and distract her father while the others attempted to either outright prevent or win the war he had been planning for over a decade.

But what if her future never again converged with that of a certain gray-eyed prince? What if the warmth she’d sensed from him faded, leaving nothing but the starched formality of diplomatic acquaintances? Worse yet, what if she’d imagined everything, and he truly did not think of her as anything more than a temporarily fascinating acquaintance?

“Time for a review.” Leisa called their little group together, glancing around at each person with a tiny crease between her brows that suggested she was not as cheerful and unaffected as she seemed on the surface. “Kyrion, do you still intend to wait and depart tonight?”

“It will be safer to move under cover of darkness,” he returned grimly. “But our plans now depend on the Garimoran prince’s fitness for travel.”

“Pfft, I’m quite all right.” Niell smiled encouragingly, and Karreya suspected she was the only one who could see how much pain he was actually in. “I will be ready whenever you are, Your Majesty.”

“Then I suppose it is time to wish one another a pleasant journey and…” Leisa stopped, lips pinched as she seemed to choke back some powerful emotion. “And to recall what we are all fighting for.”

Indeed, it was sobering to remember that these people—thesefriends, Karreya reminded herself—were not simply fighting for honor or family or personal survival. They could well be facing the end of their world should they fail. A victory for the King of Garimore would mean the fall of not only the Five Thrones, but of everything their ancestors had hoped for when they fled the Zulleri Empire for Abreia so long ago.

And Karreya… What exactly was she fighting for? It was no longer as simple as her father’s safe return to Zulle, where she’d once hoped he would take her place as her grandmother’s heir. Now she knew only that his present course was wrong, and that she felt herself to be responsible for stopping him.

She’d deliberately not thought too deeply about what would happen after he was stopped. At least, not in the sense of heirs or empires or diplomacy. It had been no part of her training to consider such consequences. And yet, she knew she would have to consider such things eventually. What would become of her father and herself if this mission were successful?

No. It was too soon to think of that. Now was for remembering her purpose—to build a world where mages like herself and Niell and Senaya could live without fear of enslavement, death, or control. A world where ordinary people could exist without fear of her grandmother’s cruelty or her father’s hypocrisy.

“Freedom from fear,” she said abruptly. “That is what we fight for. Not that we will never be afraid, but that we need not fear merely because of who we were born to be.”

“Well said.” Leisa nodded in agreement. “We all know the plan. The more swiftly we move, the less chance that the Empire will realize what has happened and send troops.” She paused, her eyes dropping to the ground as her hands clenched into fists. “We will see one another again soon, so…”

Before she could finish the sentence, the night elf crossed the distance between them, curled a hand around the back of her neck, and pulled her in for a kiss that bled both fear and desperation.

Leisa’s fingers curled into his collar and clung there as she kissed him back, eyes closed, knuckles white, pressing into her husband as if trying to memorize the very shape of him.

It was shocking and fascinating and Karreya knew she ought to give them privacy for this painful moment of farewell, but she could not tear her eyes away.

She had seen kisses before. Not many, to be sure, and they were always small, private, stolen moments, hidden in the shadows, wary of watching eyes. She had always thought the participants to be foolish, taking pointless risks and bringing pain on themselves for very little gain.

But this time… This time the sight of such unwavering devotion—such intimate pain—woke a deep pang of longing.

No matter where these two traveled, no matter how far apart or how great the trials that faced them, they would know that somewhere was another soul who would move heaven and earth to find their way back together.

Despite the agony of parting, such love seemed like a priceless gift.

“Here.” Niell had somehow lurched to his feet and now stood beside her, holding out a small leather pouch—narrow and flat, with loops for a belt. “After the money changers tried to cheat you, I meant to change some of your imperial coin, but we never remembered to do it, so… Take this. You may need it on your journey.”

Karreya took the pouch, eying the creases of pain that marred Niell’s forehead and tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll be fine.” He managed a smile. “I will be with friends, more or less, so I will have time to recover. But you…”

He seemed uncharacteristically bereft of words.

“Be careful,” he said finally. “Once you reach Hanselm. I know that you lived with him longer than I did, but I feel like I should warn you anyway. Not to let your guard down. Not to trust him. I know he is your father, but still…”

“I do not lower my guard for anyone.” A statement that Karreya would once have been proud of, but now found frustrating. Limiting. It was true, and for the first time, Karreya wished she felt as if she had a choice.

“I know.” Niell’s lips curved slightly in defiance of his pain. “Except maybe a little for me, I hope.”

Not really. It was more that he’d found his way inside the walls around her heart, and she’d awakened one day to find him there in spite of her defenses.

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