Page 115 of Crown of Hearts
“Are you scared?”
“Not so much for myself but for my kingdom, for the people I care about, yes.” I looked over to her. Her expression was filled with distress. “Are you?”
“I’m terrified,” she muttered softly. I wanted to console her. Wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her that everything would be fine. But I couldn’t do that. Couldn’t make promises that I might not be able to keep.
She was biting the inside of her cheek again, as she did when she was deep in thought.
“What is it?”
“Well, I was just thinking. Norrandale doesn’t have the strongest army at this stage, and by the time soldiers from Everness arrive, it could be too late.”
This I knew only too well. This very thought was keeping me awake at night.
“What if we...” She hesitated. “Do you think it would be possible to use the Myrgonite objects to help?”
“Elara.” I sighed. “It’s too dangerous.”
“No, I know but—”
“Those damn Myrgonite stones are the reason Aries is coming after us. It would have been better if they never existed. They’re more trouble than they’re worth, and we’re not even entirely sure what the objects are.” We had our suspicions about the necklace and the dagger but no way to confirm it.
“But if we don’t have a choice,” she pressed on.
I turned my hand and laced her fingers with mine. “I’m not willing to pay the price for it.” And that seemed to be the end of the conversation. She remained standing next to me and eventually leaned her head against my shoulder.
“I’m sorry I dragged us all the way there. We should never have gone.”
“If we hadn’t gone, we’d have had no way of knowing that Aries was coming. At least some chance is better than no chance at all.”
She nodded slowly but didn’t respond.
“You know, of all the ways I saw today panning out, this was not it.” I attempted to lighten the mood.
“What do you mean?” Elara responded with slight confusion.
“We were about to get married last night, don’t you remember?” I chuckled.
“Oh right.” She’d clearly only been thinking about what lay ahead of us the moment we set foot back on Norrandish soil.“Well, a trip back home seems pretty realistic to me. Or did you intend to spend the whole of our honeymoon in Argon?”
“You have a point.” I tried not to grimace. Words like honeymoon seemed so futile when we had a war on our hands.
She groaned and rubbed her eyes with her palms. “I can’t wait to get back on solid land again. I hate that the floor is always moving beneath me.”
“It helps if you stare out onto the horizon,” I told her.
“I think I’m just going to have a lie-down. I didn’t exactly get much sleep last night.”
Neither had I, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t be getting much sleep for the days to come either.
I couldn’t describe my relief when land finally came into view. I might have been perfectly happy if I never had to leave Norrandale again.
“I’m going to secure us some horses,” Jack said as we sailed into the docks. We weren’t due home yet and we’d left in such a hurry that no proper arrangements were in place for our return.
“What about the village?” Elara asked. “This shore is nearest to Argon and most likely where Aries is going to station his ships. He’ll demolish this place and everything else in his wake. We have to warn somebody.”
She was right, but evacuating a village was easier said than done, especially when we needed to get to the palace as soon as possible.
“We’ll stay,” Cordelia offered, referring to herself and Anesta. “If you spare a few guards, then you can go ahead and we’ll warn everybody here.”
