Page 102 of War Hour

How many times will we have this conversation?

Looking to the side, I can’t meet his eyes. Doesn’t he know it hurts me, too? Every time that I have to tell him I’m not choosing him.

Evander chases my gaze, moving into my line of sight. “It is still an option, Lysta.”

Tangling my fingers in the fabric of his shirt, I drop my head and inhale deeply. “Maybe playing it safe is how I got to this point. Back in Falland and here, once I got to the capital. If I’d taken a risk, maybe things would be different.”

Evander’s fingers slide under my chin, raising my head to look at him. A sad smile twists his lips. “But why does it have to be you? Why does the one who takes the risk and puts herself in danger have to be you?”

My heart clenches at the anguish that laces Evander’s tone.

He doesn’t know how much it means to me. He cares so deeply about what happens to me. Knowing that I have someone on my side, looking past the bigger picture. Not a pawn in a game or a weapon to be used—but a person to be protected and valued for more than my usefulness.

But it doesn’t change what I need to do.

I smooth my palm over his chest until I can feel his heartbeat beneath my fingers, swallowing thickly. “Because I don’t think anyone else will, and waiting around to find out will be a life sentence for so many Untrialed. Why is my life any more precious than any of theirs?”

Evander’s jaw clenches at my words, looking down at me with a pained expression. “I’ve just found you.”

Leaning up, I press a chaste kiss to his cheek, and his fingers tighten around my waist. “I need to do this.”

Evander looks down, eyelids cinched shut, before looking at me with a new hardness in his glare. Pulling me to him, he sighs.

“Then, I better sharpen my sword, becauseno onewill touch what is mine.”

Chapter 40

Adrenaline ignites me like a match catching fire, and I burn with renewed purpose.

I have all the bones of a plan that could turn the table back on Lord Drytas. The details matter less when the most difficult part would be convincing the Crowns.

Evander said he would come with me to convince the Crowns after revealing they were all conveniently convened in a meeting. But I couldn’t let my hope make him reckless. If my plan doesn’t go over well, Evander should be free and clear of the fallout.

Gathered in the meeting room where they’d let Drytas sway them, I know exactly where to go. I’m not surprised when the same guards stand at the entrance, but they will not deter me.

My plan could work. I just need to get in there for them to hear it.

At the sight of me stalking toward them, dagger holstered visibly at my belt, the two guards tense. They exchange a look of fear, a world of difference from last time. Now, they have seen what I’m capable of in the arena. Now they know they can’t keep me out.

Reaching for their swords, the surly guards march toward me, but I raise my shield. Creating a barrier tunnel connecting my path to the door and blocking out any interference.

I don’t pay the guards any mind as they pound on the shield.

Standing in front of the last obstacle between me and the Crowns, I center myself with a long, shaky breath. If I follow through, I will no longer have the option to join the Court of Truth or any other.

Lord Gennady warned me, almost as if he knew being forced into inaction against Drytas would change everything—and it had. But now, I face the last step. If I make my way in there and tell them my plan, it will be the only option I have left.

Flexing my fingers at my sides, I clench my fists, curbing any remnants of the everlasting tremble. For this to work, I need the Crowns to be confident in my plan and abilities, meaning my anxiety dies here.

As I push open both doors, they swing with enough force to clang into the walls on either side.

Five crowned heads spin to look, shocked at the sudden interruption.

Upon recognition, Lord Bralas stands, the first to protest my intrusion into the meeting. “How dare you disrupt our meeting? This is a closed-door session.”

Lord Gennady is the first to meet my eyes. He sits back in his chair, not seeming surprised by my appearance. When the corner of his lip turns upward in a discrete smile, I find my confidence knowing I have Lord Gennady’s support.

The other Crowns join Lord Bralas’s raised voice.

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