Page 104 of Sword & Sacrifice

“You have every right to hate me, Silas,” Braden said softly. “I abandoned you to Alistair. I may not have known everything, but I knew he was killing Claire, and that should have been enough for me to take you away.”

Silas waited for the rage he’d felt earlier to resurface, but the fire had been doused with cold water, all the embers gone out.

During this tense conversation, Koen kept looking back and forth between his father and his brother. After a long silence, Koen finally piped up, “Will you tell him, or do I need to?”

“I’ll tell him,” Braden said, never taking his eyes off Silas. “Legally, in Bellacosta, any child of a royal parent is eligible for the throne. Your mother and I were married until the day she died. Although I had Koen outside of that marriage, he’s … well …”

“My heir,” Silas said on a breath, seeing Koen with new eyes.

Koen hunched his shoulders and looked down at the ground. “I’m not trying to take over your kingdom or anything. Father just said it’s safer if people know I exist, that the royal bloodline will continue.”

Though controlling Silas had been Alistair’s first plan, his second relied on the lack of a royal heir. During a war, no one is searching for the heir. They’re focused on the enemy. If Silas died during the chaos of war, Bellacosta would need a new leader, a new king—a role Alistair had perfectly situated himself to step into.

If Alistair really is possessing Valerian, is he still hoping to take over Bellacosta? Would announcing Koen as my heir delay him? Or would he redouble his efforts to kill me while trying to turn Koen into his new puppet?

Everything was happening too quickly. Archer’s departure. Emmaline’s return. His father’s return. His brother’s existence. Varro’s impending attack. All of Silas’ concerns and worries crowded around him and he didn’t know what to do, who to talk to—

A soft chime sounded before a letter popped into existence right in front of Silas. He snatched it from the air and clutched it so tight, he almost ripped the parchment. “I’m sorry,” he said, pushing off from the table. “I have to deal with this.”

“Silas, wait—” his father called after him, but Silas had already hurried down the hall.

Thumping footsteps followed him, and Silas turned to snap at his father that he needed to be alone, only to realize it was his own guard, once again having to run to keep up with him. Langley had been so unobtrusive during their conversation, Silas had forgotten his existence.

When Silas reached his office, he gave Langley a brusque order to remain outside, then closed the door in his face. Silas’ hands trembled as he opened the scroll, no idea who it was from. Adelaide or Valerian, hopefully, proving all of Emmaline’s fears wrong.

Or maybe it was Alistair himself, taunting Silas, giving him the brief hope that his friends were all right before thoroughly crushing it under his boot.

As he opened the letter, the familiar handwriting brought tears to his eyes. It was no one he’d suspected, and the person he wanted to hear from most.

Silas,

Every time we are separated, I try to convince myself it is necessary. That we made the right choice.

But I never fully succeed.

Even now, while I try to eliminate the obstacles pushing us apart, all I want is to turn my horse around and ride right back to you.

It kills a small part of me to know I can’t.

I found Adelaide, but the threat to both of our kingdoms remains. I am continuing to Casselarn to shield it from the mage. The general now threatens your shores with a new ally. I would tear myself in two if it would allow me to protect both my home and my heart, but then there wouldn’t be enough of me to protect either.

Please believe that I am not choosing my kingdom over you. I am, instead, choosing to believe in your strength. That you can protect Emmaline, your kingdom, and yourself. That when this is all over, we will both be victorious, and we will be together again.

No matter how far apart we are, my heart is always with you,

Archer

A second letter was included with the first, this one from Adelaide, where she explained everything she knew about Niall’s deception, Alistair’s possession of Valerian, Penn’s whereabouts, and Varro’s potential new ally: Everett Shaw, Emmaline’s father.

Silas had already learned most of the information, but Archer and Adelaide didn’t know that. Even as they rushed ahead to save Arnsveld from Alistair, they took the time to give Silas all the information he needed to protect himself and Bellacosta.

Teardrops dotted the letter, smearing the charcoal. Silas dabbed them away carefully, afraid of smudging some necessary piece of information he would need to share with Captain Moira.

Then he took a piece of parchment from his desk and wrote his reply.

Dear Archer,

I wish you were here with me.