Chapter 1 Tobias
Tobias
“You need an army?”
“Yes.” Leila swallowed. “Or else Brontes ravages our allies and Thessen is left to rot.”
The campfire crackled. Tobias had coaxed the story from Leila once they’d settled deep in the Krios Woods, shrouded by broadleaf trees and the imposing darkness of night.
They were running for their lives, and She’d promised to explain why, to spare no detail.
At first, She spoke hesitantly, each word a drop sputtering from a spigot.
But eventually Bronte’s plan to assassinate Her and the war that would ensue poured forth in a torrent.
Tobias had expected bloodshed, but not this.
“The sovereign is going to colonize the other realms,” he muttered.
“Starting with Kovahr.” Leila’s gaze darted around the campfire. “That’s why I did what I did. I didn’t want to hurt people. But Brontes was going to kill Me, to destroy the realm—”
“You don’t need to explain Yourself,” Tobias said. “You were acting in self-defense for the good of Thessen.”
He balled his hands into fists. Without Leila and Her blessing, the realm would wither away, and its people would die of sickness. Brontes would lay waste to countless lives for his own personal expansion and greed—yet somehow, that wasn’t the worst of it.
“The sovereign . . . trying to kill his own daughter.” Naomi’s voice wavered. Tobias had nearly forgotten about her and their mother, both frozen around the fire. He saw them now though—the blanched fear in Naomi’s face and the curl of his mother’s lips.
“I don’t know what to do now.” Leila looked down at Her lap. “I knew we had to escape—that he’d come for you—but now . . . How am I supposed to gather an army? Brontes has the entire Thessian armed force, plus countless sellswords.”
“You have Your magic.”
“And what will that do? Am I to heal Brontes to death? Bless him into submission? My power has its uses, but it’s not much of a weapon.”
She was right. How in God’s name were they supposed to assemble an army? Leila, the Holy Savior of Thessen, dethroned and forced into hiding. His mother and sister, villagers who’d never known tactics and treachery. Tobias, a laborer somehow leading them all.
“We’ll get You an army,” he said. “I swear it.”
Some semblance of calm swept Leila’s face, and Tobias squared his shoulders, carrying Her troubles as his own. “Tomorrow will be a long day. You should rest.” He turned to his mother and sister, ignoring the tension working its way through his body. “I’ll keep watch.”
They settled their campsite, pouring dirt over the cinders and fashioning pillows out of lumpy satchels.
Tobias’s mother rolled onto her side facing away from the others while Tobias leaned against a fallen log, looking out into the woods.
The bandages wrapping his torso pulled. It surprised him how little the lacerations on his back hurt, until he remembered the ball of healing light in his lap.
Leila nestled against his chest, eyes closed, Her black cloak slung over them both like a blanket.
She was the reason he’d survived the Sovereign’s Tournament. She was the source of his fading wounds, his flourishing strength, his swiftly improving fighting prowess. If She needed an army, he would give Her that and more. It was the least he could do. He would give Her anything She desired.
“My brother, the next sovereign.”
Naomi lay across from him, smiling. Tobias left a gentle kiss on Leila’s forehead.
“Do you love Her?” Naomi whispered. Tobias nodded. “Then I love Her too.”
“You’ll love Her on your own, regardless of me.”
“I want to hear it. Your entire romance, from start to finish. You can leave out the more intimate details—I’d rather not vomit—but I want to hear the rest.”
“Another time.” Tobias threaded his fingers through Leila’s hair. “Maybe Leila can tell you. She’d be better at it.”
“Can you tell me about Her?”
“She’s perfect.”
A grin blossomed on Naomi’s face, and the weight on Tobias’s shoulders eased. Naomi’s gaze flitted to The Savior in his lap. “We should stop. We might disturb Her.”
“Don’t stop. I’m enjoying your conversation,” Leila said.
Tobias and Naomi chuckled while Leila’s eyes remained shut, a smile playing at Her lips. At some point both his sister and his beloved fell asleep, and Tobias gazed into the darkness.
Light stung Tobias’s eyelids. Blinding white flashed in his memory—visions of Leila standing in the fortress arena, Her flesh aglow.
“As your Savior, I command you, drop your sword.”
Leila’s voice was an echo in his mind. Perhaps the Sovereign’s Tournament had never ended. Perhaps he was still splayed across the sand, carved and bloody, waiting as his life slipped away—as Leila became someone else entirely.
A second beam of light sent him wincing.
There were no stacked stones or cheering spectators, just hard dirt, pestering flies, and the drooping trees of the Krios Woods.
Naomi sat across from him sharpening a blade with a smooth stone, the steel gleaming against the harsh afternoon sun.
She caught his gaze and smirked. “You were snoring, you know.”
Tobias’s nerves settled. He’d only just escaped the tournament yesterday, and its impact was a fresh wound cutting through his psyche.
Shaking the visions aside, he yawned and stretched his aching muscles.
His watch had ended early in the morn, and Leila had insisted he rest. “I can protect your family.” Guilt had laced Her words, but he’d yielded, managing a few measly hours of sleep.
Leila. His mother was off to the side of the campsite whittling wood in silence, but no Leila.
There. She stood on a distant hillside, gazing out at whatever loomed ahead. He heaved a silent sigh of relief.
“She’s been standing there for a while now,” Naomi said. “I think She’s overwhelmed.”
“I’ll talk to Her.”
The back of Leila’s black cloak was pointed his way, Her bright white hands balled at Her sides. His eyes had already adjusted to Her light, but his mind was still turning it over.
“You hadn’t a clue She was The Savior?” Naomi said.
Tobias shook his head. “Not at all.” He met his sister’s gaze only for her to purse her lips, an eyebrow raised. “What?”
“She’s glowing, Tobias.”
“She wasn’t glowing during the tournament.”
“She disappears into black clouds.”
Tobias sighed. “It was all very complicated.”
“She heals wounds with Her hands.”
“And off I go.” Tobias stood, brushing the dirt from his ass before marching past the woods. As the hill steepened, sunlight and the whole of Thessen extended before him, but his eyes were drawn to the black cloak paces ahead and the beaming light radiating around it, pulsing like a heartbeat.
“Darling, are You all right?”
Leila’s shoulders rose and fell as She let out a breath. “It’s just . . . this is My realm. I’ve never seen it before. It’s so beautiful.”
“A beautiful realm for a beautiful queen.” Tobias wrapped his arms around Her waist. “You don’t regret it, do You? Fleeing the palace. Coming with me.”
“No. You were right. I had to leave. And I’m so thankful you’re here.
” She turned toward him, giving him ample view of Her fiery yellow eyes and glowing white skin.
“It’s just all so much. I’ve always wanted to leave—to see My realm.
But under these circumstances? I can’t believe it. I’m free, yet I’ve lost everything.”
“You haven’t. And You won’t.” He cracked a smile. “This is just a small adventure.”
“You’re mad.”
“When I entered the Sovereign’s Tournament, I thought I’d wind up dead. Instead, here I stand with You.” Tobias cupped Her cheeks. “You and I tend to have good luck together, wouldn’t You agree?”
He expected Her to falter, but She hopped onto Her toes, kissing him hard.
He grinned against Her mouth. “Now that I know the Sovereign’s Tournament was Your competition, I have a bone to pick with You. You have no idea what I went through to qualify.”
Leila rolled Her eyes. “Oh please.”
“I’m serious! They examined me. Naked.”
“You look quite handsome naked.”
“They measured my cock!”
“Your cock is quite handsome too.” Leila fluttered Her eyelashes.
“I had to masturbate into a cup.”
Leila nearly started. “You what?”
“I think I speak clearly.”
She tilted Her head back, exploding into laughter.
“You’re laughing?” he scoffed. “It was terrible! You’re being incredibly insensitive right now.”
Her lips collided with his, and She laced Her arms around his neck. “Was I worth it?”
“I’d do it again a thousand times.”
“You’d masturbate into a cup a thousand times?”
“You know what I mean.” He chuckled. “I know our circumstances are trying, but for the first time in so long, I’m happy. Because You’re mine.”
Leila rested Her head against his collarbone, their hands locked tight as She softened into his embrace.
“This will sound strange I’m sure,” he said. “I know we’re on the run—in all sorts of danger, really—but I feel . . . I don’t know . . . free, almost.”
“From the tournament?”
“Well, that, but also knowing who You really are. That I’m not promised to Cosima or anyone else.” He looped a long strand of Her blackish-brown hair around his fingers, admiring the way it shone beneath the sunlight. “We don’t have to hide our affection, and I can finally romance You properly.”
Leila’s gaze brightened, the flames of Her irises flickering to life.
“What?” he said.
“I thought you were already romancing Me properly before. I’m excited to see what else you have planned.”
A familiar smile spread across Her lips, and suddenly the newness of Her light wasn’t quite so unusual.
She was still the same woman—somewhat small in stature, with full lips and upturned eyes canopied by thick lashes.
He could even make out the freckle above her cheek despite the piercing glow of Her skin—skin that would fade to ivory as soon as She entered the shadows, just as Her eyes would fade from yellow to the vivid amber he knew.
Somehow everything was different, yet nothing had changed.