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Caspian. Kairyn. Even Wrenley.

They forged paths out of the darkness. Faustrius knows that’s a possibility. His people know. And they’ve suffered too long and too hard not to try.

Faustrius’s second-in-command, Aquila, is going to travel with us so she can be a point of contact between his forces and ours. I never got my stuffed lion back from her, I realize. Oh well. Maybe she still needs it.

“Winter’s force won’t be enough to recover Castletree,” Keldarion says lowly.

“They’ll be there.” Spring. Summer. Autumn. And somewhere in the wilds: the Queen’s Army. Once we cross the mountain pass and enter the Briar, we’ll be in our agreed-upon position. The other four armies should be just arriving or have already arrived at their muster points, situated in a semicircle surrounding Castletree. It will be close enough for my thoughts to reach my other mates. When I have confirmation we’re all in position, I’ll give the signal to Kel.

And on the Sworn Protector of the Realms’ command, the free forces of the Vale will attack.

Winter is ready. It’s up to Ezryn, Dayton, Farron, and Caspian now. I close my eyes, feeling the warm tug of my mate bonds spreading out across the entire realm. I wish I could go see them, but all our briar paths withered when Castletree fell.

But I know the strengths of their hearts. I believe in them.

So my focus must remain here, with the Winter people and the underfae.

And with Kel.

I slip between his arms, popping myself up on the table and covering the map. I can’t resist running my hands over the planes of his chest, tangling my fingers in the dark mat of his chest hair. “Do you remember the first night we spent together in the cave? I fell asleep next to a wolf and woke up to…this.”

A crooked smile appears on his face. “I don’t remember you complaining.”

“Granted, I had more than enough things to complain about you at the time. Your body was never one of them.”

I flash a grin up at him, and he shakes his head before cupping my face. “I loved you so much back then, and I had no idea what to do with it,” he murmurs.

“And now?”

“Now I love you so much I feel it overflowing into everything that I am, everything that I do. You are every strike of my sword, every command, every soft word. You are everything, Rosalina.” He traces a finger over my brow, the point of my ear, my cheekbone, my lips. His face is somber. “And if the battle turns ill, I hope you know…you were always my home.”

“And you’ll always be mine.” I tilt my head up, capturing his lips. His hands find the back of my neck, his mouth growing fervent, hungry.

“If this is one of our last nights, then I would spend it with you,” he murmurs.

“Don’t say that. We’re going to have many other nights. And many mornings and afternoons and evenings.” I clutch his face. “Believe in this, Kel. Believe in our family.”

I see the doubt in his expression, the warring indecision. Then he closes his eyes.

I believe in you, he whispers in my mind.

Then he picks me up by my bottom. I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck. He kisses me slow and hard. I kiss him back, but tears drip down my face.

Believe in this, I tell myself. Believe in this.

47

Keldarion

Rosalina’s heartbeat is steady against my chest; it’s all I need. With her in my arms, there is no need to rally bravery or give false pretense. For her, I would do anything: deliver the stars, the moon, the sky itself. Freeing Castletree seems a small ask.

Though a storm rages outside, the tent is warm with flickering firelight. I lay her upon the fur-clad bed. She blinks up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. My breath catches, as it has every time she has looked at me since she first walked into Castletree all those years ago.

I crouch over her. “For so long, I told myself I’d let the world burn just to keep you safe.”

“I remember.”

“And yet now here we are, fighting for it together.”