A Thousand Heartbeats

I showed up at Kawan’s door about the same time his three lead soldiers arrived. They all gave me quick nods of their heads as a means of greeting, and I followed silently behind them.

“Heard you buried Aldrik,” Illio whispered.

I nodded.

He looked at the stone wall for a second before turning back to me. “Glad he wasn’t completely alone.”

There was a bitterness in his tone that showed me Kawan was losing support on his own faster than I could move to take it. The only thing that might save him would be a foolproof, brilliant plan. For all I knew, he had one in his pocket. So, I stayed quiet as my mother had instructed, filing in behind the others.

“Why is he here?” Kawan asked, and I knew without looking that he meant me.

I glanced up to see my mother leaning into his arm, looking so comfortable it was hard to believe she’d called that coward a distant second only this morning.

“He’s the only one who’s interacted with their princess, and he talked to those soldiers who defected as well. If anyone could offer insight, it’s him,” she said lazily.

“I don’t need insight,” Kawan retorted, a smirk slowly spreading across his face. “I have everything that I require already.”

Ice raced down my spine, pinning me to the floor. I knew in that moment, in his state of complete calm, that he’d actually unlocked the gates to the kingdom.

“What do you mean?” Illio asked.

Kawan’s smile was still plastered across his face as he spoke. “We received two new recruits this morning, both from Kialand.”

He was delaying, stringing us out.

Finally, Slone encouraged him to continue. “I assume they brought news with them?”

Kawan nodded. “The Kadierian prince is dead.”

A part of my heart shattered. Annika was out there, alone, without her brother.

“Are you sure?” Mother asked, surprised.

“Yes. And it’s possible the king is dead, too,” Kawan added, almost giddy.

“What?” I asked, shocked.

“It’s been nearly a week since he’s been seen, and rumors are spreading. That the girl was named regent, meaning she is standing in for her father and brother. That the prince is dead, but the crown is hiding it, and it seems their so-called king is not far off. So all that’s between us and our kingdom . . . is a little girl.”

No. No, no, no.

“I wouldn’t underestimate her,” I warned.

“Just because she escaped you doesn’t mean she can outrun an army,” he insisted, his mood growing dark. But then, just as quickly, it turned back to light. “Even so, we won’t need an army. All we need to do is wait.”

The soldiers in the room exchanged looks.

But as they did their thinking, I did my own. I realized then that I was holding on to the hope that I’d see her again. Not on a battlefield or in the negotiations of surrender, but . . . I’d thought I’d embrace her again, kiss her. I thought I’d rest my head in the hollow of her neck and just be still.

She flitted in and out of my head so many times a day, I had to stop counting. She clouded every other desire, even the ones I knew I had to pursue to the end. I had my path and she had hers.

I shook my head, coming back to the moment.

“Sir,” I ventured, “how can you be so sure of this?”

“Because, while you were stuck in the side of a mountain, I was camped beneath a cluster of trees . . . in a forced truce.”

All our eyes snapped to him. I wanted to say it was impossible, but I knew from my own experience it most certainly was not.

“With whom?” Mother asked.

“Someone who wants the royal family to disappear as much as we do. And he is going to take care of everything for us,” he replied, the answer so vague it was maddening.

“Take care of it how?” I needed clarity here, perfect clarity.

Kawan’s smile was dark, delighted.

“She should be dead within the next week,” he replied calmly. “And once that’s done, our little informant will be . . . removed. In two weeks, we’ll be living in the palace.”