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Xaden could still taste the blood from the split lip the guard had given him. He could still smell the sulfur from the dias.
Still hear the screams.
And he could still feel the ache in his chest from everything he had lost.
“Lindell wants to see us in the kitchen in five minutes,” Liam said, poking his head into Xaden’s room.
Xaden Riorson and Liam Mairi were two of the lucky marked ones, as they were being called now. Duke Lindell had fought hard, and long, to be allowed to foster the rebellion’s new leader. He had fought to have both Xaden and Bodhi Durran, arguing that as one of the most loyal Navarrian noblemen, it was his right to have first dibs.
Loyalty to Navarre was his greatest deception.
In the end, he was granted only half his wish. He would be allowed to foster Xaden, but not Bodhi.
He was given Liam instead.
“He says he has news.”
Xaden’s head snapped toward him.
It had been two months since he watched his father and all his friends’ parents depart Aretia, never to return.
Two months since he'd looked after everyone else while they waited for news of their parents’ fates.
And it had been two months since the news of their capture. Two months since Xaden had held the most precious thing in his world.
Cora.
His daughter.
Xaden was up and out the door before Liam could say anything more. It took two strides to reach the top of the staircase and three leaps to get to the bottom. He rounded the corner with a purpose he hadn't felt in two months, ignoring Liam’s footsteps pounding behind him.
When he entered the smaller kitchen off the main dining room in the estate Xaden now called home, his footsteps faltered.
There, sitting in a chair that looked too small to hold his weight, was Duke Lewellen.
And…Garrick Tavis.
His best friend. His right-hand man. The boy he sparred with. The boy he climbed trees with.
The boy who had helped him sneak his daughter out of Aretia before the sky opened and all hell broke loose.
“Garrick.”
He had his best friend out of the chair and pulled into a tight hug in one stride.
Garrick pounded his back before releasing him. “It’s good to see you, brother.”
“You too.”
They stepped apart, and Liam immediately took Xaden’s place, pulling Garrick into an embrace of his own.
Xaden dropped into the chair opposite Lindell. Liam took the seat to his left as Garrick filled the one to his right, cementing his place beside the Duke of Tyrrendor, just as his father had done with Xaden’s.
Xaden took a moment to scrutinize Duke Lewellen. He knew very little about the man, and speaking freely about his daughter was not an option.
Lindell seemed to sense Xaden’s tension as he broke the silence. “Lewellen is loyal to the cause, Xaden. He and I are one and the same.”
They never spoke the word apostasy aloud. Never spoke freely of the treason they still openly took part in. But Xaden knew what Lindell was telling him.
Trust Lewellen.
So he nodded.
Lindell leaned forward, lowering his voice. “The viscount is still interested in upholding everything that was agreed upon. But he wants an audience with—” Lindell nodded toward Xaden. “—you.”
Of course Tecarus wanted Xaden.
He wanted reassurance that his interests hadn't died alongside Fen Riorson. That everything agreed upon three years ago would still be honored.
That Poromiel would not be lost to dragon fire like Aretia.
“And what does he propose?” Xaden asked, annoyance bleeding into his tone.
News. That was what he'd been told. This was not the news Xaden had hoped for. He hadn't thought about Poromiel, the alliance, or…her in months. Not since he'd last been there six months ago.
With his dad.
“A trip to see him.” Lindell looked at Lewellen and then back to Xaden. “He wants to host a banquet in honor of your…” Again, Lindell glanced at Lewellen, but this time he didn't continue.
Lewellen did.
“He's throwing a banquet in honor of you upholding the alliance and officially accepting your betrothal to his niece.”
Xaden rolled his eyes. Catriona Cordella. His intended.
Beside him, Garrick shifted uncomfortably. Liam scoffed.
Cat, as she'd told them to call her, was everything Fen Riorson had taught his son not to be. And everything Xaden refused to allow his daughter to grow into.
Bratty. Spoiled. And entirely too fucking insufferable.
Xaden had met her exactly five times since the alliance was signed, and each and every time, he'd begged his father to renegotiate.
And each and every time, Fen had said no.
“A banquet?” Liam asked. “With everything we've lost, he wants to celebrate?”
He did nothing to hide the disgust in his tone.
Lindell and Lewellen shared a look before Lindell nodded.
“I know this isn't ideal, Xaden. The timing isn't…ideal either. But you are no longer the heir. You are the leader now, should you choose to accept it. And—”
“I accepted it the day I made a deal with General Sorrengail and had one hundred and seven scars cut into my back.” Xaden's voice hardened. “Do not question my loyalty or my determination to see this through again.”
One hundred and seven scars.
Not one hundred and eight.
Because Cora was safe.
She'd made it safely to Poromiel. That was the last Lewellen had heard. The last piece of information he'd managed to get.
Six weeks and five days ago.
Lindell nodded. “Then decide. Are you upholding the alliance?”
Xaden nodded. “But I want to renegotiate it. The betrothal doesn't take effect until her twenty-fifth birthday. And—” Xaden looked at Garrick.
They'd discussed this while waiting for news of their parents. After they'd found more information about the alloy and the daggers.
Garrick nodded.
Xaden continued.
“The luminary comes to Aretia.”
Lindell scoffed. “He'll never agree to either of those demands. You know that, Xaden.”
“It's where we start.” Xaden shrugged. “Or I don't go.”
“About that.” Lindell propped his elbows on the mahogany table, worn from years of hushed conversations, spilled mead, and quick meals, and leaned closer.
His voice dropped.
“I know where the sunshine is the brightest.”
Xaden's entire body froze.
The sunshine is the brightest.
His sunshine.
His Cora.
Garrick's head snapped up beside him, and Liam sucked in a breath.
“Where?” All pretense was gone from Xaden's voice now.
“Not far from where we need to be.” Lindell leaned back in his chair.
Xaden's eyes narrowed. Of course. Fucking dukes.
“Where the fuck is my—” Xaden caught himself, dropping his voice even as his tone turned lethal. “—sunshine?”
Garrick leaned closer while Liam's eyes narrowed across the table.
“I've arranged two nights with her.” Lindell held Xaden's stare. “But first—”
“You must go and do your duty, Duke Riorson,” Lewellen finished.
Duke. He wasn’t a duke, not anymore. Lindell had taken Tyrrendor’s seat at the Seniraum. The use of the title now, was more a slap than an honor.
He wasn't looking at Xaden like the sympathetic friend of Fen Riorson anymore. He was looking at him as Duke Lewellen. And the point was clear. Xaden Riorson was no longer the Marquess of Aretia in their eyes.
He was the rightful Duke of Tyrrendor.
Regardless of what King Tauri and the fucking Senarium said. Xaden stared between the two men. They'd known exactly what they were doing.
Lindell had waited until Xaden threatened not to go before telling him they'd found Cora. Lewellen had waited until after Lindell told him he could see her before reminding Xaden of his duty.
Calculated bastards. Xaden almost respected it. Almost.
He pushed back from the table and stood, looking between Garrick and Liam.
“We leave in an hour.”
He said nothing else before turning on his heel and heading for his room to pack.
He had a daughter to see.
—
The party had indeed departed within the hour of their meeting concluding. And seven days later, Xaden was sitting before the court in Cordyn, freshly showered in the room Tecarus announced was his after spending hours negotiating with Tecarus.
The negotiations had been tedious and worked Xaden in a way he'd never been before. His head throbbed from hours of political talk, carefully chosen words, and agreements that never seemed to mean exactly what they fucking said.
And in the end, Xaden felt like he'd given up far too much leverage for the very little he'd gained.
“Lords and Ladies of the court.” Tecarus stood, raising his flute. “I am pleased to welcome our guests from Tyrrendor, especially the new Duke himself. To His Grace, Duke Xaden Riorson of Tyrrendor.”
The assembled crowd shifted their attention to where Xaden sat, Garrick once again occupying the seat to his right.
But to his left now was Catriona Cordella, dressed in dark green, her jet-black hair pinned half up and half down to highlight her high cheekbones and mocha eyes.
She was prettier than he remembered.
But still every bit as calculating and spiteful as she'd always been.
She'd wasted no time claiming her place beside him, nor had she spared him any sympathy over the loss of his father. The only thing Cat seemed concerned about was the state of Riorson House and whether he thought he'd get his title back…officially.
He hadn't graced her with an answer.
Xaden’s jaw clinched when Cat reached over and threaded her fingers through his.
He let her.
If only because playing his part would get this dinner over with and get him to where his heart really lay faster.
“I am pleased to announce that Duke Riorson has renewed Tyrrendor's continued support of Poromiel through the alliance the late Duke Fen Riorson—may Malek commend his soul—agreed to.” Tecarus tipped his glass toward Xaden. “With this commitment, His Grace has also agreed to the betrothal of my beautiful niece, Catriona.”
Tecarus tipped his head toward Cat, and the court raised their glasses to the sixteen-year-old princess.
The viscount's insistence on using the title Navarre had stripped from Xaden irked him. Like Duke of Tyrrendor was nothing more than something else for Tecarus to collect.
Like Xaden Riorson wasn't prize enough.
“The betrothal will commence on her twentieth birthday. This lifelong union will secure Poromiel and Tyrrendor's future for generations to come.”
Cat tightened her fingers around Xaden's, sitting a little straighter beside him as the court drank to their future.
Xaden resisted the urge to pull his hand away.
It wasn't their future he was thinking about. He had plans.
Much more important plans, with a much more important person.
Lindell and Lewellen still hadn't told Xaden where Cora was being kept. Only that they would slip out of the palace as soon as he and Cat had spent an hour alone.
It was part of the agreement, he would spend one hour tonight with Cat and then make the week-long journey every six months, as long as Lewellen and Lindell could ensure safety.
They seemed to both believe there would soon be an easier route, but like with this trip, they hoarded information until it suited them.
The dinner seemed to go on and on after Tecarus officially signed the agreement in front of the court, followed by Xaden, then Garrick in his first official act as Xaden’s aide, and finally Lewellen and Syrena Cordella, as Tecarus's heir.
At some point, Cat had started talking about the pools throughout the palace, asking if Riorson House had pools and, if not, whether they could add onel. Maybe even a butterfly garden like the one at Cordyn's palace.
Xaden rolled his eyes at the absurdity.
Garrick had quickly shut that down.
By the time Xaden was being escorted to said butterfly garden, his hand still in Cat's, he was running out of patience.
“Just one more hour, Xaden. You can do it,” Liam whispered as he walked a step behind them. Garrick had stayed behind to drink with Cat's sister, Syrena, and her cousin Drake.
“He doesn't need you anymore, Mairi. You can leave,” Cat said, never letting go of Xaden's hand.
“Maybe I want to see the butterfly garden,” Liam replied, keeping exactly one step behind Xaden.
Cat brought them to a set of glass double doors and stopped. She finally released Xaden's hand and crossed her arms over her chest.
Xaden didn't want to look.
But his eyes betrayed him anyway, dropping briefly to her chest.
He was seventeen, after all.
“Go,” Cat ordered, looking Liam directly in the eyes. “I'm the Duchess of Tyrrendor now. You will listen to me.”
Rage burned through Xaden so quickly he almost laughed.
How fucking dared she?
She had no claim to that title. No claim to Tyrrendor. And she sure as fuck had no claim to the people Xaden considered his.
“You are not the Duchess of anything, Cat.” Xaden stepped between her and Liam. “And you will not speak to my family like that.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“If you and I are going to be tied together politically for the rest of our lives, then there's one thing you need to get straight right now.” Xaden held her stare. “You do not give orders to my people. And you sure as fuck don't give them to the people I've claimed as mine.”
Xaden didn't think it was possible, but Cat proved him wrong when her eyes narrowed even further, her posture reminding him of a house cat ready to pounce.
“I am your family now, Xaden.” Her tone was almost bored. “You'd do well to remember that. Without me, there will be no heirs to hold this alliance together. Which means—” her eyes gleamed with triumph “—no luminary.”
She glanced past him at Liam as though he'd already ceased to be relevant.
“Keep your friends in line, Riorson. I'd hate for my uncle to think they are more important to you than this alliance.”
Cat didn't wait for Xaden to respond. Didn't seem to notice the rage clouding his vision, or maybe she did and simply didn't care. She opened the door to the butterfly garden.
Without even turning around, she flicked her hand dismissively toward Liam. “Off you go, Mairi. You're no longer welcome here.”
Then, as if Liam wasn't even worth addressing again, she looked at the guard stationed outside the door.
“Escort Mairi back to the dining hall. The Duke and I want privacy.”
Liam looked at Xaden.
“Cut the shi—”
“Xaden, come.” Cat cut him off, her tone dripping with false honey. “Please. We have so little time together. Don't you want to spend it with me? You see Liam all the time. My uncle would be so displeased if I returned to the dining hall this early.”
Cat’s eyes were wide and pleading, she played her part well and knew exactly what buttons to push to get her way.
Her uncle.
The alliance.
The fucking luminary.
Despite every instinct telling him otherwise, Xaden ground his teeth together and nodded for Liam to leave.
“One hour,” Liam reminded him.
Xaden nodded.
Then he followed Cat into the butterfly garden.
—
Xaden hated to admit it, but the butterfly garden was beautiful.
Peaceful.
For just a moment, he let his mind wander back to a time when life had felt simpler. When he could breathe.
When a black-haired girl with dirty feet and even dirtier clothes had made him feel alive and free.
Fiadh.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Three years ago, he'd left this very kingdom furious that his future had been decided for him. Furious that he'd been promised to the girl now walking beside him.
And then he'd found Fiadh.
Now he was back in Poromiel, the same woman once again on his arm, while the daughter he'd created in a desperate attempt to prove his life was still his own was hidden somewhere nearby.
Cora.
She would love the butterfly garden.
He could see her here. Little legs racing down the stone path, stopping every few feet because another butterfly had caught her attention. He could practically hear her demanding he look at each and every one.
Papa, wook.
She'd only just started stringing two or three words together when he'd last seen her.
Was she up to four or five now?
His chest ached.
Fuck this.
He wanted his daughter.
“Xaden? Are you even listening?”
Cat's voice pulled him from his thoughts, but the ache remained.
“No.”
Cat huffed and stomped her foot. “You are such an ass! I want a butterfly garden built for me in Aretia.”
“No.”
Xaden was done with this. Liam and Garrick had promised that the second the clock struck an hour, they'd be pulling him out of this hell.
He hoped they hadn't forgotten and chosen mead instead.
“Xa-den,” Cat whined. She clearly wasn't used to not getting her way. “If not for me, then for our heirs?”
Xaden's feet faltered.
Heirs.
Not heir.
Not Cora.
Cat and Xaden's heirs.
Something in Xaden's expression must have cracked, because Cat noticed.
“What?” Her brows rose. “Did you think we wouldn't have children?”
“I honestly try not to think about you.”
Xaden didn't care if he was being cruel.
Because the reality of what they'd agreed to was suddenly crashing down around him.
Heirs.
But Xaden already had an heir.
One Cat didn't know about.
One Tecarus didn't know about.
And they never fucking would. At least until the luminary was secured.
He'd already been shown that Cora could be wielded against him by people he trusted. People he knew had his best interests in mind.
Or at least Tyrrendor's.
Which, now, were one and the same.
And if Dukes Lewellen and Lindell were willing to use Cora as leverage to get him to do what they wanted, Xaden didn't want to fucking imagine what Cat and Tecarus would do with the same knowledge.
“Ooohhh honeybear! Time's up!” Garrick's loud voice crashed through the silence that had taken up residence in the garden.
“Thank fuck,” Xaden said, not bothering to hide his relief.
Cat's eyes narrowed, and Xaden was sure she said things; a lot of things. He didn't hear a single fucking one.
He might have physically been standing in the butterfly garden with his future wife, in the palace of Cordyn.
But his mind was already elsewhere.
Cora.
—
The anxiety prickled Xaden’s skin with every beat of hooves the horse took. Every step was a step closer to Cora.
The excitement was palpable, as was the anticipation and…fear.
The fear that his daughter had forgotten him.
Xaden knew it was unfounded. It had only been nine weeks since he'd last held her.
But nine weeks seemed like a lifetime ago when your heart beat outside your chest.
“Just another mile or so,” Lindell commented as his horse slowed on the path ahead of Xaden. “I told them to expect us in the morning, but I'm sure they won't be surprised you couldn't wait.”
“Silly of you to think Xaden would want to spend another night away,” Garrick scoffed, before adding, “or with her.”
“In six months you’ll have no choice but to stay. You understand that, right?”
“Cross that bridge when it comes,” Xaden said, focused only on his destination. “How much longer?”
“Not much.” Lindell turned his attention back toward the road.
He wasn't wrong.
Thirty minutes later, the travelers dismounted, handed their horses over to the stable hands, and made their way inside a small, rundown two-story wooden structure. Xaden stopped just inside the door.
“This is where my daughter has been placed?” He was unimpressed.
The interior was dark, with only a few candles lit and the fire slowly dying. There was a makeshift desk, its oak freshly painted black, and behind it sat an elderly man with tawny, wrinkled skin that marked him as an older Tyrrish man and white hair that matched his long, untamed beard.
“This is temporary,” Lewellen told Xaden, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezing. “She has only been here since this afternoon, and she'll depart when we do.”
That eased some of the tension in Xaden but only slightly.
“Good,” Xaden turned his full attention to the man behind the desk, “Where is she?”
“They arrived this afternoon, and are scheduled to depart in two days.” The man seemed unimpressed and not the least intimate by him.
“That is not what I asked. Where. Is. She?” Xaden bit out every word.
Garrick and Liam, the only two capable in this room of bringing sense to Xaden, stepped to his side. Ready to break down every door needed if that’s what it took to find their Sunshine.
Lewellen sighed and nodded to the old man, “We’ve had a long day, Rùn. He won’t back down. What room?”
Rùn nodded and handed Xaden an old worn copper key, “Second floor, last door on the right. She is in there with the woman.”
Xaden didn’t need permission, he was already halfway up the stairs before he heard Garrick and Liam’s footsteps behind him.
When he made it to second floor, and stood in front of the last door on the right and stared.
Garrick and LIam flanked his sides.
“What are you waiting for?” Garrick asked.
“She’s asleep. I should wait.” But even as he said it, Xaden lifted the key to the door and inserted it.
He took one final breath and pushed the door opened.
There in the darkened room, minus the one candle light by the small desk in the corner and the window that allowed the full moon to shine bright through, sat Trissa.
Trissa who Xaden had entrusted to get Cora out of Aretia. Trissa who succeeded and kept his daughter safe for nine weeks and 3 days.
“Trissa,” Xaden breathed out.
The mid-forty year old woman, startled and before she turned in her chair, “Xaden!” She whispered out.
The woman crossed the room in soft feet and pulled the seventeen year old boy into her arms.
The hug was soft, warm, and firm. One Xaden had not had in months. Xaden did not want to break, not now. Not until he saw Cora.
But a tear escaped his eye regardless of his permission.
“Oh my boy. You look well” she said before she released him and tilted her head to the bed, “She has asked about you every day. But don’t you dare wake her. Took me an hour, and four stories to get her to fall asleep.”
Trissa then moved her attention to the two young men directly behind Xaden, still in the doorway. But Xaden paid no mind, his entire focus was on the small, sleeping form of dark black curls splayed out on the cream colored sheets.
“Cora,” Xaden breathed out as he took the three small steps to the bed and dropped immediately to his knees. His hand reached for her soft curls, softer than he remembers, longer than they were in Aretia, and ran his fingers through them.
This time, when tears threatened to spill over, Xaden didn’t stop them. He kissed her forehead, kissed her hair, and took her tiny hand into his and kissed every finger with a gentleness only a father could produce.
He was sure at some point, Trissa, Garrick and Liam said goodbye and shut the door. And he was aware when Garrick tapped on the door lightly before entering and placing his bag on the chair by the desk.
But Xaden only had eyes and awareness of his sleeping daughter.
After some time, Xaden got up and sat at the foot of the bed, where he stripped out of his rider clothes and neatly stacked his boots in the corner. He made his way to the ensuite bathroom, never shutting the door, never letting Cora out of his sight and washed up as best he could in the sink.
A proper bath would have to wait until morning.
Once he was clean enough, he dressed in the sleepwear that he had packed and crawled on the other side of the bed where his daughter slept.
And for the first time in nine weeks and 3 days, Xaden pulled his daughter against his chest, breathed in her familiar scent of vanilla, apples and honey, and let sleep take him.
—
Sleep might have finally come for him, but so had the awareness of his presence just hours later.
“PAPA!” Cora squealed in delight before promptly jumping up and down on his chest.
“Fuc—” Xaden stopped himself before wrapping his arms around her torso and pulling her into a hug.
“Sunshine. Papa's here.”
Cora wrapped her tiny arms around him and squeezed.
He squeezed back.
Then the moment was broken as Cora squirmed out of his hold and climbed off the bed.
Xaden watched as her cream-colored sleep dress hung loose against her small frame, the black curls he'd noticed were longer last night cascading down her back as her little feet carried her over to the desk.
“Papa, wook!”
She pulled down a piece of paper. An inkpot fell with several other sheets, but thankfully didn't spill.
Cora held up the paper as she hurried back to Xaden.
“Yours, Papa. Cora made.”
Her entire face lit up as she climbed back into bed and snuggled against him while he reached for her and the paper.
The picture was of absolutely nothing he could make out. Different shades of black, blue, and red circles and lines covered the page.
It was the most magnificent piece of artwork Xaden had ever seen, and he promptly told her that.
“Papa read,” Cora asked after a few more minutes of cuddles and breathing each other in.
“Of course.” Xaden shifted Cora off him. “Let Papa use the restroom, and then I'll read all the books you want.”
Five minutes later, Xaden emerged from the bathroom to find Cora in the middle of the bed, a stack of books surrounding her and a smile so wide he was sure Aretia could see it from here.
Xaden crawled back into bed, pulled her against his side, and began reading through the stack.
By the time he was halfway through the third book, Cora began to wiggle. Xaden recognized the signs.
Cora was hungry.
“My Sunshine, why don't we go downstairs and get something to eat?”
Cora's eyes widened. Tears immediately filled her honey-colored eyes.
“Papa weave?”
Xaden's heart broke.
“No.” He immediately pulled her back against his chest. “No, Sunshine. Papa isn't leaving. I want to have breakfast with you.”
“Play with me?”
“After breakfast, Sunshine. Whatever you want.”
Cora seemed satisfied with that answer.
Xaden helped Cora get ready for the day before dressing himself.
The sun was just starting to rise, and Cora had always been an early riser, so Xaden was surprised when he entered the kitchen, Cora perched on his hip, to find Liam and Garrick sitting at the table with coffees in hand.
“CORA!” Liam shouted as he leaped out of his chair and rushed over, arms outstretched.
Xaden didn't want to release his daughter, but Cora's delighted “Uncwe Wiam!” combined with her own arms reaching for the blond left him little choice. He reluctantly handed her over.
“Sunshine,” Liam said as he squeezed her tightly against him, closing his eyes and breathing her in.
Not to be outdone or outshined, Garrick made his way over and promptly stole her right out of Liam's arms.
Cora had never looked so delighted. And the boys who had been thrust into manhood far too soon had never looked more devoted to anyone than they did to her in that moment.
The three men and the little girl settled into their seats. Xaden pushed Cora’s chair in and settled beside her, with Garrick and Liam on the opposite side of the table.
When the honey rolls came out of the oven, steam filling the air around them, Xaden placed one on Cora's plate and started cutting it into pieces. It was what he'd done countless times in Aretia, but this time Cora crossed her arms and pouted.
“Papa, no! I do.” She took the roll in both hands and bit into it, honey immediately dripping down her chin.
Xaden smiled at the pure joy on his daughter's face, followed quickly by something that felt suspiciously like disappointment. Cora no longer wanted him to cut her honey roll. She still clearly needed the damn thing cut into pieces, but in the nine weeks he'd been gone, she had changed a little.
That wasn't the last thing he noticed either.
After breakfast, Xaden took Cora for a walk through the garden behind the inn. The last time they'd taken a walk together, she had stayed close to his side, needing his hand and steady presence.
Now she ran ahead. She tripped without crying. Picked herself back up. And gathered flowers with abandon. She was growing up.
With or without Xaden there to watch it happen.
When they finally made it back inside, Cora’s knees were dirty, her dress needed a good scrub and her hair…looked like half the outside had found a new home.
“Cora,” Trissa sighed from the doorway of the common room on the first floor. Xaden could see Lindell and Lewellen sitting at the makeshift table just inside the room, papers and what appeared to be maps spread out.
Trissa then turned her attention to Xaden, “You haven’t even been here a day and the child is already down one dress.” She rolled her eyes but their was not really annoyance in her tone.
Xaden smirked, “I’ll clean her up for dinner.” He then picked up his daughter, “Let’s go Cora before Miss Trissa yells at Papa again.”
Cora giggled. Xaden felt it in his chest.
Garrick and Liam were waiting in his room when they entered. Swords and daggers out, sharpening stones laying on the desk and floor.
“Put those away now.” Xaden told the two.
“I play too!” Cora announced as she wiggled out of Xaden’s arms.
“Here Sunshine, play with this. Picked it up in the village,” Garrick said as he handed her a small wooden dagger.
Xaden rolled his eyes, took it from her and placed it on the side table, on top of the picture Cora had given him earlier.
“I’ll keep it safe for when you are older, now let’s go take a bath so I can braid your hair.”
Xaden had missed taken caring of Cora. He missed the things he had once complained about: early morning wake ups, tantrums that seemed to form at the most unreasonable times or over the silliest thing that didn’t bother her five minutes ago. He missed getting her dressed and ready for the day. He missed breakfast and the fight over too many honeyrolls versus berries. He missed bath time and her splashing the water all over the place. He missed brushing her hair.
He missed her.
Xaden got her out of the bath once Cora’s skin was starting to prune. He got her dried and into clean clothes for dinner. Then he sat down on the bed, brush in hand, and motioned for the little girl to sit between his legs.
“Wiam, read!” Cora demanded.
“You’re bossy, little Sunshine.”
“She gets it honestly,” Garrick laughed out.
“Wead, pwease.”
“Of course, Sunshine.” And he did.
Liam read, while Garrick continued to sharpen his dagger though the rest were put away while Cora was in the bath, and Xaden brushed her hair.
Halfway through the book, Xaden pared Cora’s hair down the middle and did two simple braids, one on each side of her head.
Garrick pulled out two small ribbons from the desk: one green and one pink for his friend to add at the end.
“You like?” Xaden asked his daughter once they were completed.
Cora’s hands felt the braids and then she turned to him and smiled.
“Tank you, Papa.”
Xaden kissed the top other head and pulled her closer to him. The two sat like that for another two books.
—
Two days had come and gone faster than Xaden thought possible.
But now he stood outside the inn, dressed in riding clothes that would take him back to Tirvainne, his horse saddled and waiting beside the others.
Xaden held Cora close for as long as he could.
“I will come back as soon as I can, Sunshine. Okay?” He kissed her forehead and tapped the breast pocket of his jacket. “Your picture will never leave me. You are always with me.”
He knew Cora didn't understand what was happening. Not really. She nodded and kissed his cheek before Xaden finally stood.
He'd delayed them long enough.
He knew that.
But he couldn't bring himself to move.
“We're heading out at midday, when she typically naps,” Trissa had told Xaden earlier.
She wouldn't disclose their exact destination, but Xaden had learned that Trissa and Felix, another loyalist to the cause and new Assembly member, had been living at a noblewoman's home in Poromiel. A woman who had escaped Tyrrendor as well.
Eventually, there was nothing left for Xaden to do but mount his horse.
As they started down the road, Lindell shifted his horse closer to Xaden's.
“It won't be nine weeks again.”
“You don't know that.” Xaden clicked his heels against his horse's sides, urging him forward.
“I do, actually.” Lindell didn't look at Xaden as they moved farther away from the inn. “There are things happening in Aretia. People in positions to...” He paused and glanced at Xaden. “Further the cause. Help us have a different outcome when we're ready.”
“What's happening? What people?” Xaden's head snapped toward him.
“The Assembly, mostly. A rider with a powerful signet and a mind for strategy that will change our approach. He was injured badly at the Battle of Aretia but he has healed at your house where he has pledged his loyalty to our cause.”
“He was injured during the battle?” Xaden cursed as he took one last glance back at the inn. “Fucking Navarre.”
“It wasn't Navarre that injured him. But that's beside the point.” Lindell pulled his horse in front of Xaden's, forcing him to stop. “The point, Xaden, is that things are happening already. You did your part by securing the alliance and, soon, access to the luminary. Now let others do theirs.”
Xaden didn't like the secrecy.
Even knowing he would keep secrets himself.
“What does this have to do with her?”
Outside the bubble of the inn, back in reality, Xaden didn't dare speak Cora's name.
“Riorson House was left mostly intact.”
“I know.”
“It'll be easier to move within Tyrrendor than continue crossing the border,” Lindell said, his horse still blocking Xaden's path.
“Enough with the secrets. As the leader, I deserve to know.”
“You, of all people, should know the power of secrets.” Lindell gave him a pointed look before moving his horse back alongside Xaden's. The two continued down the road. “You need to learn how to wield information, Xaden. When to share it. When to withhold it. You need to learn selective truths.”
Xaden took in his words. He knew what Lindell was telling him. As the new leader, Xaden needed to learn fast who to trust with what information. What people needed to know. What they didn't.
And when to release those truths.
Selective truths.
Catriona.
Tecarus.
Cora.
“She'll be moved back to where the Riorsons belong by the end of the month.” Lindell looked at Xaden. “Then the real work begins.”