Page 91 of War Hour

I can’t help but wonder if his presence now means perhaps the way things unfolded at Drytas’s judgment hearing hadn’t ruined things between us as I thought.

I know his position as Heir complicated things, and I shouldn’t have expected him to defend me when all he had to stand on was my word. Evander had seen nothing of Falland or what Drytas had done. Torryn had.

“Where were you going?” Evander asks, breaking the tense silence.

I sigh. “Nowhere I just—”

“You left! You had to have some destination in mind, Lysta.”

“I wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t have anywheretogo.”

Evander looks over his shoulder at me. Pity swims in his eyes as he meets my own.

My eyes get hot, and I turn away, trying to keep Evander from seeing the tears welling. “I was suffocating.” My voice cracks. “I was suffocating, and I just needed to get out of there.”

Evander says nothing. Only furrowing his brows as he peers at me. I look at him when he stops. He moves closer, and with every inch closer he gets, words tumble from my mouth as if they will give me the space slowly being taken from me.

“I have nothing. No court to call home. No friends left to trust. And this whole time, Torryn...” I pause as a sob bubbles up. “I just barely escaped with my life—a fact I’m sure Drytas is regretting very much based on how he just tried to have me killed.”

Evander leans back suddenly, eyes blown wide. “He what—” Evander growls, sending a threatening look over his shoulder toward the capital.

“Obviously, he wasn’t successful, so it’s not even like we can use it to convince the Crowns to act against him.”

Evander frowns at me.

“Your life is not some bargaining chip worth trading. Not to stop Lord Drytas. Not for anything.”

I go silent. Looking to the ground.

“You were wrong before,” Evander says, stepping into my space. He towers over me, his stare unflinching, unwavering, refusing to grant me a reprieve, even for a moment. “You aren’t alone.”

Raising my chin as he stares me down, I snap back, “Yes, I am. Until you are right next to me, receiving banishment from the only home you’ve ever known, the home you were trying to save. And are left to find sanctuary in another court, none of which trust you, and they all believe you are some lord’s whore whom he used like a pawn.” My chest heaves as I pause in my rant. “Then,” I continue breathily, “you can say I’m not alone. For you are an Heir to a court, with an entire future ahead of him, and I am nothing.”

Evander sighs, a frown still etched on his face. “And you never considered as Heir of a court, I could help you. Convince my father to bring you into our court.”

My heart skips a beat—a terrible feeling, really.

“I hadn’t thought you would—the way you looked at me, Evander. It was as if you believed everything they were saying.”

A look of hurt flashes across his face. He stares past me, jaw clenching. After collecting himself, Evander looks at me again. Reaching out, he grabs my chin in his fingers, lifting my head toward his own.

Briefly, I’m reminded of Torryn. The night before on the balcony. When Torryn had done the same thing, and I had thought he planned to kiss me.

“It took everything in me to not strike them down where they stood, and if I could do it again, I think I’d forgo that restraint.”

My heart leaps into my throat at his words, eyes widening, lips parting.

“Stand beside me, and I will give you everything they have taken from you.”

And then his head dips lower, bringing his lips closer to mine. His breath warms my face, and my hand trembles as I bring it to the one at his side. At first, it is just a brush of skin. Our knuckles rubbing against each other, before I slide my palm till it touches his, entangling our fingers.

His eyes never leave mine as he squeezes my hand, lightly pulling me in to close the distance between our bodies.

I take a shaky breath, allowing his scent, a mixture of sandalwood and leather, to fill my nose. His gaze darts between my eyes and lips, and I realize he is asking for permission. Permission to close the distance.

As soon as I move forward, he is on me. Lips caressing mine with a firmness that pulls me further, deeper, into the kiss. I’m drowning and Evander is pulling me to the surface.

It is a kiss that promises safety and hope that I have some future in this, and with it, I have control over my life once again.

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