Page 26 of Daring the Drakarn Warrior Lord
"I do."
Nyx hissed at that, but neither he nor Rath argued.
"She could die crossing the market on any given day. It didn't stop you from letting her have freedom before." His eyes held mine, hard and uncompromising. "This is no different, and you know it. This is her choice. Her risk. And if you interfere, you undermine her every effort. This would be fornothing."
The logic was sound. I still growled.
"Besides," Rath continued, his voice softening slightly, "you storming out there won't help the larger mission. We need political capital for the Ignarath rescue. The Council's barely agreed to consider it after the Skalanth concludes. You cause a scene now, abandon your sacred duty for your mate, and that approval disappears. Along with any chance of reminding Ignarath of their place."
Rath was right. Damn him, but he was right.
I looked at Nyx. I would be missed. He wouldn't be. Not here, not now. "Go. Shadow her," I said. "Don't interfere unless absolutely necessary. But keep her alive."
"Understood." Nyx paused at the threshold to the entrance. "She's stronger than you think."
"I know exactly how strong she is. That's not the problem."
He left without another word, disappearing into the corridors beyond.
I turned back to the blood-flame, forcing myself to resume my position. To stand guard like nothing had changed. Like my mate wasn't somewhere in this mountain, ready to face trials designed to break Drakarn warriors.
Rath settled back into his own stance. "She'll be fine."
"You don't know that."
"No. But I know Terra. She doesn't do anything without a plan." He was quiet for a moment. "Even if that plan is going to give you gray scales."
"I don't have gray scales."
"Give it an hour."
The attempt at humor fell flat. I couldn't find it in me to laugh, couldn't pretend this was anything other than torture. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to hunt, to find her, to eliminate any threat before it could touch her.
Instead, I stood in a sacred chamber and waited.
Time crawled.
My claws flexed rhythmically, the only outlet I allowed myself. My tail lashed once, twice, before I forced it still. Wings wanted to spread, to carry me through these corridors until I found her. I kept them folded through sheer will.
"Why would she do this?" The question escaped before I could stop it.
Rath didn't pretend to misunderstand. "Because she's trying to survive in a world that wasn't built for her. Because she's tired of being seen as your weakness. Because she's probably a little bit insane."
"She has nothing to prove."
"To you, maybe. To herself?" Rath shrugged. "That's different."
I thought about the novice warriors who'd confronted her. The ones she'd tried to hide from me. The constant pressure of being the Warrior Lord's mate, of representing all humans to a population that largely wished they didn't exist.
She was trying to claim space in a world determined to deny her.
I understood it. And I wished I could change this world so she never had to worry. But a Warrior Lord's power only stretched so far.
"If she gets hurt," I said quietly, "I'm going to tear apart every warrior who laid a claw on her."
"Fair enough." Rath's tone was mild. "Can you wait until after we get the agreement to attack Ignarath?"
"I'll consider it."
