Chapter 13
Thirteen
Brevan
“We found her!” someone calls.
I turn toward the sound. “Where?”
A guard comes running toward me, breathless. “This way.”
My heart races and fear consumes me. Why is she out here? “Is she alive?”
“I don’t know,” the guard says.
There’s several guards gathered together, blocking my view.
“Empress? Wake up.” Nate is on the ground beside her, leaning over her. His voice is clear but calm. “Wake up, Empress.”
“Is she breathing?” someone asks.
“Move.” Ludis shoves Nate aside, then kneels down next to her. “This isn’t funny. Open your eyes. You are not allowed to die yet. I need you.”
“Stop.” I grab him and pull him away from her, then shove him toward the guards. “Someone get him out of here!”
I drop to her side and press my fingers to her neck. She’s freezing to the touch and her lips are blue. Her eyes flutter, but don’t open. “Thank the gods.” I let out a breath of relief when I feel a pulse.
“We need to get her warmed up, but we can’t do it too quickly.” I scoop her up in my arms. “Find Caiden. She’s going to need body heat. Someone get blankets. Anything warm.”
“What can I do?” Nate asks.
“Get a tent ready. Make sure it’s secure and get her fucking husband in there without his clothes on.”
Nate’s eyes widen, but he nods, then hurries in the direction of the camp.
I hate to say it, but I think Sabina made the right call trusting him. If he hadn’t noticed the footprints leading from the rear of her tent, then checked to see if she was inside, we may have gone until morning before realizing she was missing.
“Gods, Sabina. What were you doing out here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” My words come out in an angry staccato.
I pull her closer to me, hoping some of my body heat will help prevent her from dying. There’s a blue tint to her skin and she’s in just her underclothes. She’s not even wearing any slippers. Was she trying to die? Was being married to Caiden so bad she thought this was the only way out?
He probably told her if she killed herself, he’d kill her friends.
Maybe she was trying to make it look like an accident.
Rage flares in my chest, burning hot. Caiden doesn’t deserve her.
I already knew that, but I’ve been trying so fucking hard to leave her alone.
To honor the fact that she’s another man’s wife, but if she died and I never got to touch her face or taste her kiss or see her smile…
“Is she going to make it?” Ludis says.
I glare at him. “What do you care?”
“She is my sister.”
“You didn’t give a shit about her until she could help your ambition,” I bite out.
“True. But does it really matter what my motives are if I am interested in keeping her alive now? I’d think you, of all people, would see that sometimes letting someone live is necessary to your plans.”
“You’re not helping your situation,” I warn.
“But I am. Because I know you want her alive.” He makes a show of looking around and I realize that it’s the two of us. The other guards are probably already at the camp. I’m moving quickly, but I don’t know if she’s got any other injuries, so I don’t risk running with her.
My voice comes out in a growl, “Ludis, I don’t need your shit right now.”
“But now is exactly the perfect time.”
“If I wasn’t holding her, I’d bash your head into a tree and leave you to bleed out.”
He laughs. It’s an unhinged, crazy sort of sound. It sets me on edge. “I know you would. Which is why I think we should work together.”
“I work for the empire.” I can see the camp. We’re so close.
“I know. But I don’t care about Pendralia. I only care about my crown. And once I have it, I no longer need their emperor. But I do need allies.”
“What you’re suggesting is treason,” I hiss.
“Good thing I know your loyalty is bought.”
“And you can’t afford it.”
Nate runs toward us. “I got a tent ready, but nobody can find the Emperor.”
“You can’t be serious. It’s the middle of the night. Where did he go?” The rest of the camp is scrambling. Guards and legionnaires running everywhere, checking everything. The calm of the earlier evening gone.
“Someone find him!” I shout.
“You two, check the carriages. You, ride to the nearest town. See if he went for a pint,” Nate calls.
We both know if he’s in town, it wasn’t for a pint. I touch her cheek again. She’s still like ice. If we don’t get her warm, she’s going to die.
“Fuck. Where is he?” I hiss, more to myself.
“As I said, you have no loyalty to him,” Ludis cuts in.
“This is not the time.”
“You know, I can do the body heat thing with her. I am her brother, after all,” he offers.
“Ludis, respectfully, go fuck yourself.” I carry Sabina into the tent, lay her gently on the pile of blankets that were prepared for her and begin to peel off her wet clothes.
Before I let myself imagine the consequences, I strip my shirt, but leave my trousers, then lay beside her.
Once I get another blanket over us, I pull her close to me.
Her skin against mine sends chills though me.
She’s so cold. I weave my fingers into her hair and pull her face against my neck.
“Please, please wake up. I can’t do this without you. ”
There’s breath against my collarbone, faint, but it’s something. I feel for her pulse again and find it quickly. It’s stronger. The back of my throat stings. What if she never wakes? What if this is it?
I kiss the top of her head, then smooth her hair away from her face. “Taylan, you can’t leave me. Please. Please, stay with me. I love you.”
I pull her in closer, pressing my chest against hers, moving my hands to her back. She’s feeling warmer, then she begins to shiver. It’s violent and full body, her teeth chattering. Her eyes flutter open.
“Taylan?”
“Am I d-dead?”
“No.”
“H-h-how. Am. I. H-here?”
I stroke her hair. “You were in the woods. Nearly frozen. Just rest. You need to get warm.”
She nuzzles her face into my chest, then curls her arms against herself before burrowing closer to me. My heart swells while sorrow and joy fight for dominance. I didn’t think I’d get to hold her ever again but how did I think I’d be able to let her go?
After a few minutes, her shivering eases, and she’s breathing more regularly. I remove one of my arms from around her waist. “I should probably go.”
“Alright.” She closes her eyes and a tear streaks down her cheek.
I wipe it away. “I’ll send for something warm for you to drink.”
“Thank you.”
As I unwrap myself from her, she turns away from me, pulling herself into a little ball, then dipping her head under the blanket.
I pull my tunic over my head, then take one last look at her. She’s hidden away, but the blanket rises and falls so I know she’s breathing.
I hate myself right now. I hate Caiden. And Pendralia. My hands are balled into fists as I approach the tent flap. I’m fighting myself. All I want to do is turn back and take her away from here.
But we’d be signing the death warrant of others we love and neither of us would do that.
Ludis is waiting for me when I step outside. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Is she alive?” he asks.
“Yes. So your plan can continue as you hoped.”
“Good.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, then takes a couple of steps before turning back. “Brevan?”
“What?” I round on him, hands balled into fists. It might be worth it to let my frustration out on him.
“What if I could save your sister? Do you think I could earn your loyalty with that?”