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It’s as though we are no longer even allowed to be friends.
I push through into my tent and groan when I see Bowman standing just inside. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Where were you?”
“Training. Since you seem to have forgotten that I have a war to fight.”
“You have no war to fight,” he replies. “That’s on me.”
“No,” I snap. “It’s not.” I remove my sword and sheath, setting it on my cot, then head for the wash basin, which is thankfully full of clear water. After splashing some on my face and wiping off my hands, I turn back to my brother. “Is that all?”
“Why do you hate me for his lies?”
I whirl on him. “Excuse me?”
“We’re all we have left, Carleah, yet you despise me for trying to punish a man who lied to our family for as long as he breathed our air.”
“Fort did no one any harm.”
“So he says. Who’s to say he didn’t bring those soldiers to our doorstep?”
“The fact that he kept me alive isn’t good enough?”
Bowman looks away, a muscle in his jaw clenching in frustration. “I received this today.” He reaches into his pocket and withdraws a piece of parchment, offering it to me.
I cross over and pluck it from his hands and scan the words on the folded-up piece of paper, my heart shattering with every single word I read.
Your Highness,
Words cannot describe how elated I am that you have found my dearest Carleah! I have been sick with worry and guilt as, had my father not passed so suddenly, we would have been there to help defend Navalis, perhaps preventing its fall in the first place.
Rest assured, my friend, we will dispatch soldiers as soon as we can to retrieve and bring you all back here where you can rest peacefully and I can be reunited with my betrothed. Once you are all safe behind Soreno’s high walls, we will discuss our strategy for taking back your kingdom and putting you in your rightful place.
Watch for our banners on the horizon,
Patrick
“What the hell did you do!” I yell as I toss the paper at Bowman.
“You said you wouldn’t fight me,” he growls back.
“You moved up the timeline! How can I—” I choke on the panic, fear clawing at my throat and sending my breathing into a ragged fit. We’re out of time. How the hell are we out of time? “When did this arrive?”
“This afternoon. I sent the messenger riding our only remaining horse to Soreno the day you arrived.”
“That’s still too fast. He shouldn’t have been able to get here—”
“He was intercepted by the Soreno army, who were marching toward Navalis. They have since shifted their course and will be here.”
“When?” Bowman doesn’t respond, so I shove him back. “When!”
“Likely the day after tomorrow. An army that size takes a bit longer to move. And the storm rolling in will delay them.”
The air is knocked from my lungs. “If they were on their way to Navalis, why not keep going? Why won’t they just finish the march and help us take back our home first?”
He narrows his gaze on me. “You know why, Carleah.”
“Because he wants us to follow through on our promise first.” Nausea grips me, and I cover my stomach with a shaking hand.
