Page 48 of The Night Prince

Aquilan didn’t rush to fill the silence.The fire crackled in the hearth.There was the faint noise of the bar beneath them.And yet, Aquilan seemed in no hurry to leave him.

Finally, the Sun King said, “So are we in agreement that I will be the one taking care of you, Declan?”

There was no getting out of this without offending the king.He was nobody.He was nothing.But Michael, Finley and Gemma’s lives might be adversely affected if he earned the Sun King’s ire, too.So he did the only thing he really could.

In a tone that was oddly formal yet felt right, Declan answered, “I would be honored, King Aquilan.”

“You are recovering swiftly on your own,” Aquilan said, but there were faint worried lines appearing on his forehead.“But we do not know what caused you to collapse in the first place.Finley–”

“You spoke to Finley?”Declan’s eyes immediately searched the room for his best friend, but he already knew that he and Aquilan were alone here.He waskeenlyaware of that.

“Yes, he was quite concerned about you.He mentioned you’d gotten ill earlier in the day,” Aquilan let that sentence hang.

Had Finley said too much?No, Finley would have kept his mouth shut even with the king.Except Finley had said if he got sick again, he would go get a Mender.Finley didn’t believe him that the Aravae would look upon him with suspicion if he was Sun sensitive.

Sensitive?It was far more than that!

“Where is he?Finley?”Declan qualified.

“He and General Baston are downstairs with my best friend, Lord Rhalyf Neres.I assure you that both of them truly wished to be by your side, but I thought quiet was better,” Aquilan explained.

“Michael is here?”Declan couldn’t help his shock at that.

General Michael Baston was many, many good things, but he was also a workaholic.He would never go to the Dawn during the workday unless…

“Yes, he met us on our way to Tyrael,” Aquilan said and looked thoughtful.“He is an interesting man.”

“He’s agreatman,” Declan stated firmly.

Aquilan’s blue eyes flickered over his face, but then he nodded.“Yes.He thinks the world of you and Finley, too. You saved his daughter, Gemma, from the Leviathan.”

Declan lowered his head and gripped the empty cup.“We just made it through until you came.”

Though he wasn’t looking directly at the Sun King, he sensed Aquilan stiffen.He let his eyes flicker up to the Sun King’s face.Aquilan’s mouth was flattened into a tight line.

Carefully, Aquilan said, “I saw you three that day.I don’t know if you saw me–”

“You were the sudden dawn,” Declan said, his voice thick with emotion. “You destroyed the monsters. We all saw you.I saw you. No one could miss you. It’s why Helgrom named the inn that.The Sudden Dawn.After you.”

Aquilan had done what he could not: destroy every single one of those foul beasts that had killed his adopted mother and father.

They came for you,his mother’s whispered words went through his head. She hadn’t meant the Sun Elves.She’d meant the Leviathan.

No, they couldn’t have come for me.I’m nobody.I’m nothing.Why would they come for me?His mind went very still and then he thought,Please let them not have come for me.

“I am so sorry that I did not arrive sooner,” Aquilan’s voice was brittle as if it might shatter.“I am sure that is cold comfort for you and yours considering how much everyone lost in Tyrael.”

Declan frowned, confused at the guilt in Aquilan’s tone.“You… you came.You didn’t have to.You could have let the Leviathan wipe us out.We were nothing to you back then, not even part of the Empire.”

Aquilan’s hands bunched in his lap.He had such elegant hands.Declan knew that he wielded swords, bows and magic with those hands.He wondered if the king’s palms were rough with calluses or were they soft like silk.He wrenched his eyes away from those hands.

“Youliveunder the Sun, therefore, you are my concern,” Aquilan finally said.

Not me.The Sun hurts me.

“You did all you could.You conquered the Leviathan.They retreated,” Declan said, feeling the absurd need to convince the Sun King that he had done enough for humanity.

“But notiefyr,” Aquilan murmured.

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