Page 26 of The Fallen Kingdom

Her strength isn’t physical. She wouldn’t go onto the battlefield for a slaughter. She’d go to aid the wounded, the vulnerable. It takes a rare, exceptional sort of bravery to lose everything and still give so much of yourself. That’s the kind of courage most people lose in a war.

I did.

I sit on the edge of another bed across the aisle, occupied by a young man about my age. His smile is peaceful. His eyes are tearing up, as if caught in an emotional memory.

I wonder if, deep down, he knows I’m here. I wonder if he wishes someone still cared.

Hitching a breath, I lean down and grasp a cloth, dip it into the bowl of water, and raise my eyes to meet Catherine’s. “Tell me what to do,” I whisper.

I don’t remember how to care for anyone.

Catherine comes over and sits down next to me. “You don’t have to do anything,” she tells me. “Just being here is enough.”

An hour later, Aithinne bursts into the cottage. The humans must sense her there—her power, or perhaps the light of her skin shining like a beacon in the darkness. They start writhing, unsettled. It’s the first time I’ve seen any sort of lucidity in their gaze, any awareness at all.

The woman in the bed next to me gasps low in her throat at the sight of Aithinne. “Beautiful,” she murmurs. Her hands reach for Aithinne, fingers grasping.

Aithinne ignores their cries. “Come with me,” she tells me urgently. “I have news about the Book.”

CHAPTER 12

IFOLLOW AITHINNEout of the cottage, matching her pace as she strides through the forest in the direction of the camp.

“Quickly,” Aithinne says. She crosses a clearing in a half-run. “Derrick went back to weave another cloaking ward on those soldiers you killed, and they were gone.”

The way she says it fills me with dread. “I take it that means Kiaran found them.”

“He’ll think I’ve declared war. If he hasn’t sent his soldiers already, he will now.” She shakes her head. “We need to prepare.”

“Can’t you just refuse to fight?” She’s walking so fast that I have to jog to keep up.

“No,” Aithinne says simply. “Kadamach isn’t going to give me a choice. If I don’t kill the soldiers, they’ll slaughter my subjects. There are a few camps scattered across my territory that have wards against opening portals. I won’t be able to get to them in time.”

We reach the edge of the camp and head for the line of cottages. “How long do we have?”

“A few hours at most,” she says. “Hopefully enough time to send you through a portal to see Kadamach.” She shoots me a glance. “Do whatever you can to get through to him. Use threats if you have to.”

What if I can’t get through to him at all? What if that dream was just wishful thinking?

I don’t tell Aithinne my doubts. Instead I try to be nonchalant. “Threats? Too easy. If he doesn’t listen, I’ll challenge him to a duel and beat him a few times with a blunt instrument. He likes that sort of thing.” In fact, I seem to recall it being Kiaran’s idea of flirting.

Aithinne grins. “One day I pray I’ll meet a woman who engages me in combat as a way to say,I love you. Be still my heart.”

I raise an eyebrow. I’ve known ladies who fancied each other, but they only spoke about it in whispers. “A woman, you say?”

Her laugh is short. “Did you think Kadamach was the only one whose weakness was ladies in armor? If you weren’t his, I’d ask you to be mine.”

“Aithinne, I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Don’t you dare tell my brother. He’d never stop teasing me.” She nods to her cottage. “In here. I have a few things for you and then I’ll tell you what I know about the Book.”

Aithinne pushes open the door and grabs some clothes off the bed. “Put these on.”

I glance down at my own clothes, the ones Derrick hastily stitched together when I arrived at the camp. “What’s wrong with the things I’m wearing?”

Aithinne is strapping on her weapons: small blades attached to her wrists, one at her boot. “They look terrible,” she says, checking the point of her blade.

Oh, for goodness’ sake. “I’m preparing to fight either Kiaran or a very large group of soldiers. Not attend a ball.”

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