Page 145 of The Sun King's Noon

“I am going to fetch Flint. I shall be quick, I swear it?—”

A fist closed on the front of his tunic. “Please…do not leave me.”

“I must, Kaelen. You cannot die.”

Kaelen’s lips curved. “I had…the most lovely dream.” He reached up to brush his thumb—too cold, far too cold—against the split in Richard’s lip. “Your parents…were alive…Our fathers…almost had a duel of fists?—”

“Kaelen, hush?—”

“And there was a ball…the Summer Ball.” Kaelen coughed, and more blood came up. “The generals…meant to nominate me for the Greensward…I’d taken on a squire…” Another wheezy cough. “And then—then I—I told my prince.” A tear slid from the corner of his eye and tracked into his hair. “I told him…all that I have held.”

Richard’s face crumpled. Of course,of course, Kaelen had followed him into the dream too. “In the broom cupboard.”

Kaelen’s eyes snapped wide, pupils blown. “Yes!” He beamed. “So it really was you…You led me…through the door?—”

“I was there.” Richard stroked his thumb over a cheekbone. “I heard every word.”

A howl threatened to burst out of him, but he bit it down. He would not. He would not give in to it, because to give in was to admit, and he was not going to admit, because Kaelen was not going to die?—

“Listen to me.” His voice cracked. “Listen, you foolish, stubborn creature. You must not die for you have not yet heard my answer.”

“It is enough…that I…confessed.” The laughter lines around Kaelen’s eyes creased. “But is this not…the part…where my prince…grants me…the sweetness of a kiss?”

“Shut up,” Richard hissed. “You are not dying here, you are not dying, do you understand me—FLINT!” He roared at the canopy with everything left in his lungs. “FLINT, GODS DAMN YOU, GET BACK HERE!”

The forest swallowed it whole.

Richard’s breath shuddered out of him in ragged gasps. He hugged Kaelen closer, bringing a knee up to support the knight’s back.

“Please,” he whispered, pressing his lips against Kaelen’s clammy brow. “Please. I cannot lose you.Wecannot lose you. Your parents, Kaelen. Think of them. My brother, my sisters. There are so many who love you. Who could not? You areeverything?—”

Kaelen’s eyes glazed over, lids drifting shut.

“Kaelen!”

The lids jolted open, eyes still hazy. A faint smile. “Richard.”

The hand at Richard’s tunic loosened, and the arm flopped down. His eyes closed once more.

“No!” Richard whimpered. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe— “Kaelen, please?—”

“All right. What’s all this mess?”

Richard’s head jerked up.

Flint ambled out from between two trees, an apple in hand and pockets bulging with Skullbreath blossoms. Taking a bite of the apple, he glanced over the spider, Richard, and Kaelen’s limp form.

“So.” Flint grinned. “What did I miss?”

Richard trembled. Suddenly, it was difficult to just stay upright. “Flint. I beg of you.”

A sneer flitted through Flint’s features as he worked his way through the apple. “Beg, is it?”

“He is a good man.” Richard faltered. “The realm will not be able to withstand his loss.”

“Hmm.” Flint swaggered close. “Ten years of my life I’d lose.”

Richard’s throat bobbed. Releasing Kaelen’s wound, he caught the leg of Flint’s trousers and forced his fingers to curl. His hands had gone too cold and numb for pain.