Page 48 of The Blood Traitor

But Kiva couldn’t think about Cresta, her mind too busy processing Ashlyn’s words. She wondered how badly Voshell had been hurt, whether the closing of Caramor’s borders would affect the rest of Wenderall, and what would happen to Serafine now that the alliance — and therefore her betrothal — had been broken. Her thoughts spun until she realized the others were all watching her, waiting for an answer.

“I already told you everything Navok said to me,” Kiva croaked to Ashlyn. “He thinks my magic” — she shot a quick look at Jaren, wincing as the damning word hung in the air — “can combat Zuleeka’s. But he’s wrong, because when I tried to fight her, I failed.”

“You didn’t,” Caldon disagreed, his unusually grave eyes on Kiva. “You broke her hold on us.”

Kiva shook her head. “That took almost everything I had, and itstill wasn’t enough to keep her from — from —” Her eyes flicked to Jaren’s chest, right where Zuleeka had stabbed him, and she rasped out, “I couldn’t stop her. Whatever Navok thinks, whatever my mother told him, I’m not powerful enough.”

She turned back to Ashlyn, silently begging for help. The princess eyed her closely, then sighed and said, “I think we’ve all had enough for tonight. In the morning, we’ll talk with Galdric and see what he can tell us about Navok and Tilda. Hopefully he’ll be able to shed some light on the situation with the anomalies — and with Kiva.”

“Galdric?” Torell repeated, his forehead scrunching.

Kiva cursed quietly, having forgotten all about the supposedly dead ex-rebel leader who had likely already been delivered to the base.

After hearing their quick explanation about how he’d been waiting in Navok’s dungeon as a wedding gift for Kiva, Torell looked stunned, but Cresta just drawled, “This is lovely and all — weddings and reunions and people coming back to life — but have you decided what to do with us yet?” She held up her re-bound hands. “Can I take these off again?”

“No.”

The word came from multiple voices — all three Vallentis royals and Eidran — causing Cresta to grumble under her breath and slump down in her chair.

But then Caldon mused, “Whatarewe going to do with them? She escaped Zalindov — do we just send her back? And Torell...”

Kiva’s heart jumped to her throat as he trailed off, and she turned pleading eyes to Ashlyn for what felt like the millionth time that night.

The princess sighed again and said, “Let’s sleep on it and figure that out in the morning. They came here for Kiva — they won’t try to escape without her.” To Eidran, she said, “Take them both to the barracks and allocate them bunks, but make sure they remain under watch all night.” When Cresta’s stomach rumbled loudly, Ashlyn added, “And have someone bring them some food.” To Kiva, she said, “You should eat, too. You haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

“That’s what happens when you knock me out for an entire day,” Kiva muttered, but her voice carried more than she’d intended.

“You knocked her out?” Caldon asked Ashlyn, his eyes narrowing.

“Only so she wouldn’t do anything stupid while I went to spy on Navok and Voshell,” she answered, brushing a wrinkle from her apron. “It was for her own good.”

Caldon frowned. “You make it sound like you were at Blackmounttoday. But Zadria is hundreds of miles away.”

As Eidran began to lead Torell and Cresta away — the former looking at Kiva like he wished he could stay by her side, and the latter merely yawning again — Ashlyn quickly explained about Galdric being an anomaly who had used his air magic to help them escape, causing wide eyes around the room. No one was more surprised than Torell, who heard everything just before Eidran prodded him out the door, and who had clearly been oblivious to the ex-rebel leader’s magical ability.

“Can you do the wind tornado thing?” Caldon asked Ashlyn, curiosity lighting his features. Kiva tried to focus on the conversation, but she was achingly aware that she was now alone in the room with the three Vallentis royals, one of whom would normally have been an active part of the magical discussion, but no longer had any power. Because of her.

“I’m not sure,” Ashlyn said. “But that’s something I’ll be asking him tomorrow.”

With how much they’d been through that day and all that was still ahead in the morning, Kiva felt suddenly exhausted and was desperate for someone to show her where she could sleep. But her night wasn’t over yet, and she knew that when her eyes skittered toward Jaren, only to find him already staring back at her.

Her chest constricted, and she made herself hold his gaze, keepingher face as open and remorseful as possible. But her hopes for any kind of reconciliation were dashed when he turned to Caldon and said, “Bring her.”

“Jar —”

“Now, Caldon.”

Caldon planted his feet. “It’s late, and she’s been through —”

Kiva had no idea what was happening, but her alarm grew when Jaren leaned forward, his voice low as he repeated, much more firmly, “Now,Caldon.”

And then he turned and strode out of the command center, clearly expecting them to follow.

Caldon swore and looked at Kiva with an apology in his eyes. “I know you must be tired, but this hopefully won’t take long.”

“What’s going on?” Ashlyn asked, staring at the door, her face puzzled. “I know he’s upset by... everything... but he’s never acted this way before. Jaren’s not the kind of person to lash out or —”

“He’s been through a lot,” Caldon defended him.

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