Page 68 of The Nightblood Prince

Tipsy, but not yet drunk.

“The First Army has lost both Xiahui and Guilan. They are now trapped in the city of Changchun with limited food and water, surrounded by enemy soldiers.”

He didn’t have to say what would happen if we lost Changchun, our last stronghold for miles.

Only seven major walled cities separated Lan’s army from my village now. From everything I’d seen, this war wasn’t going to end itself.

“I’m ready,” I said. “I know most of the men in my company aren’t ready, butIam, Siwang. Take me with you. Let me fight.”

He laughed. “You are not coming with me. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m one of your best soldiers!” A lie. I was not good. I was barely average. But I had magic. My glimpses of the future, however brief,however rare, were an asset in this war where Rong needed every advantage we could get.

“You are just a fool who thinks too much of herself. You have not seen the men my father had trained, and how fast those vampires killed them. Tore them apart like rag dolls. Even if youwerea seasoned warrior, I wouldn’t let you risk your life like that.”

“But you are fine with all these men riskingtheirlives? Men with parents and lovers and families who depend on them?”

He set the teacup down, not loudly, not aggressively, though with enough force to make me pause. “It’s not the same.”

“Because of that asinine prophecy?”

“Because…” He paused and looked away, hesitation humming in the air between us. A quiet secret at the tip of his tongue. “I won’t risk losing you a second time, Fei. This is my final answer. You will stay here. And if a day ever comes that this camp is no longer safe, then you have my permission to flee. Go home, take your family somewhere north and far from the bloodshed.”

My breath snarled like a ribbon in my chest. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

Siwang didn’t answer. He had come to the last dregs of his winenow. He swirled the liquid in his cup, somber as I’d ever seen him.

“They say that Lan Yexue started this war because of me.” I searched Siwang’s face for a reaction. “Let me end this.”

“Over my dead body will that monster touch you.”

“The people of Rong cannot take any more bloodshed. If we can’t plant crops soon, then there will be no food come autumn. Our people cannot take a famine as well as a war.”

“I have written to my father, and he has agreed to let the women join the farming forces and—”

“Siwang, if you are going to rule, then you need to make these decisions for the greater good. If you cannot stop Yexue, then why not let me try—”

Siwang slammed his hand on the table. When he looked up, I saw that his eyes were brimming with tears. “I don’t care for the greater good; I never have. I will sacrifice myself before I sacrifice you.” His voice cracked, just a little, and my heart cracked with it.

My breath caught in my throat. Siwang was a man who cared for his duties above all else. Never in my life would I expect him to say something like this. A warm silence fell between us, and I desperately wanted to reach across the table and hold his hands, pull his body against mine and hold him. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, though I didn’t believe it. “Can we still turn this war around?”

“I don’t know.”

“Whatdoyou know?”

“This.” With that, Siwang leaned forward and kissed me.

Reallykissed me. It wasn’t the gentle touch of lips that it had been before. This time, there was hunger, and neither of us was afraid to pull the other in. His arm wrapped around my waist, our bodies so close I could feel the heat of him through our clothes, and his hard muscles underneath.

One violent swipe of his hand, and the porcelain tea set shattered on the floor. He pressed me down onto the table, and I pulled him in closer. His hand slipped through the folds of my robe and I pushed my body against him, desperate to feel more of him. I burned hotter with each heart-pounding inch left between his hands and my flesh, already going soft for him, craving the roughness of his fingers, craving him.

Siwang pulled himself back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I lost control of myself. I—”

“I want you,” I whispered against his ear, slowly crawling into his lap and guiding his hands toward my thighs. If this was the touch that the concubines went feral for, then I understood now. “If not now, we might never get this chance again.”

“Fei, you shouldn’t. You don’t have to, I mean.” Even as he said this, his fingers were sliding up my legs, his lips kissing me with more fever than before.

My body was as hungry as his, and I was sick of suppressing this want. No matter what happened tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow, I didn’t want to regret a thing. For it suddenly occurred to me: after tonight, I might never see him again.

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