Page 12 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

The world spun around me in a sickening whirl. But here, with my cheek pressed against the hard ground, I was safe.

Nothing could touch me here.

There was no pain. No grief. No responsibility.

Coward, a voice whispered.He’s waiting for you.

I felt myself frown, but the movement was distant, as if it didn’t belong to me. Still, the spinning slowed, and a gruff voice called to me from a great distance.

“Prisca.”

Something about that voice made my heart ache. Made me want to lift my head, even if it meant losing myself to the awful, dizzying mess around me.

“Wildcat. Please.”

That voice pierced the dark chaos above me, stabbing deep into my gut. I never wanted to hear that powerful, male voice beg. Ever.

Lifting my head, I pressed my hands into the firm ground below me andpushed.

The world came into focus.

Lorian’s eyes met mine, dulled with exhaustion. Why was he so tired? It wasn’t like him to sleep poorly.

His hands cupped my face. The world continued its slow spin. But he’d joined me here in the eye of the hurricane.

“You’re awake.” His kiss was desperate, tasting of grief and hopelessness. Dragging his lips away, he pressed his mouth to my forehead.

I wasn’t lying on the hard ground at all. No, the pillow beneath my head was soft.

“Healer!” Lorian roared. A door was flung open, and a woman was suddenly bustling toward us. She pressed her fingers to my pulse, frowning as my heart began to pound faster and faster.

The room listed slightly, and this time, I knew it wasn’t just me. Ship. We were on a ship…

Blind terror slammed into me, and I clawed at Lorian, dragging him close.

“You’re alive.” I leaned into him, saturating my lungs in his scent.

Confusion creased his brow. “You were the one who nearly died.”

I’d done it. He was talking and breathing andalive. I’d defied the gods for him. And I would do it a thousand times if I had to.

But my memory still served up the image of him, shattering into a million pieces. Anguish stabbed into my chest, and my entire body shuddered.

“We need a moment,” he said to the woman, who fled the room, not even bothering to close the door behind her. Despite myself, I felt my lips curve.

“Have you been completely unreasonable again, prince?”

He ignored that. “Prisca. What is it?” His voice was low, soothing, but a muscle ticked in his jaw, and his eyes were dark with concern.

“When…when Conreth attacked Regner, the human king used a mirror to reflect Conreth’s attack back at us. I think it must be the mirror given to the humans by Faric—one of the meddling gods who started all this,” I said bitterly. “Conreth’s power…it hit you.” My mouth turned watery as that sickening terror lurched through me once more. “You died, Lorian.”

My voice cracked, and I blinked back the tears that flooded my eyes. “You turned to ice. And I watched you sh-shatter.”

His face lost color. “And you brought me back. That’s why you almost died.”

Someone sucked in a sharp breath. Conreth stood, one arm braced against the doorway as he stared at us, his expression devastated. His gaze met Lorian’s, and my chest burned.

I’d vowed that one day I would make Conreth pay for everything he’d done to Lorian. But now…now, I didn’t need to.

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