Page 124 of Dare

Or perhaps the knight straddled that line. As did the princess, who exchanged meaningful looks with the jester. It did not take a mind reader to know they were thinking of their son—Nicu—who lived and breathed at the center of their consciousness. That accounted for Poet’s impassioned outburst. He was a skillful player, but for all his manipulative cunning and talent for deception, the man was also a father.

I clarified, “By oversimplification, I’m not referring to myself. I’m illustrating how others will view the matter. Your campaign benefits from prudence as well as spirit. But to sway Winter, one methodology is more viable than the other.”

A sheet of parchment slid in my periphery. My head veered toward Flare’s handwriting across the paper. If you could return today, would you?

Everyone craned their heads to read her question, then awaited my response.

I kept my face neutral. Because I knew Flare better than anyone here, I did not like where this line of questioning would lead.

Before I could formulate a response, Flare withdrew her limbs from my lap and straightened. You should leave, she wrote.

Indeed. I had seen that coming. Just as I saw her features struggling to remain intact, which wasn’t like her. Flare did not conceal her emotions. On the contrary, she flung them at the world.

Yet the only facet giving her away were those golden eyes, which shimmered with pain. The sight churned my stomach. I knew what she meant. With Autumn’s ship docked here, I had a chance to return, to incite widespread change.

And she was right. But for one problem.

I twisted in my chair to face her. The word dropped from my mouth like a stone. “No.”

Thunderstruck expressions surrounded us. They had not expected that from me. Regardless of my stance on the matter, an opportunity to go home had crashed onto my lap, yet I wasn’t taking it.

Flare’s tattooed throat bobbed. Her quill scribbled across the parchment. We talked about this.

“We did not talk about this,” I spat.

“If you stay, there will still be labs and dungeons and towers,” she rattled off, dismissing the paper entirely. “Innocent people will still be traded, locked in chains, marked with collars. If you go back to Winter, would you do something to stop that?”

Goddamn her. Since the shark attack, I had been questioning the treatment of born souls.

Had my court made the most of learning? Or had my people restricted it? What constituted madness? Some exhibited it more than others, but were the Seasons handling those complexities competently? Doing all they could to comprehend and classify them?

No, I had not expected to stay here indefinitely. Yes, I had been deliberating how to act on this subject.

Nonetheless, most of my time—seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months—I had only been thinking of Flare. Her plans. Her freedom. Everything beyond this woman had become secondary.

Flare gave our visitors an apologetic look and scripted an abbreviated version of her argument. By the time she finished, I recuperated my voice. “I would take the steps, as Autumn has done. But no court can change the world swiftly.”

My little beast compressed her lips and penned another response, for the benefit of everyone in attendance. Then you should start now, while Poet and Briar are here with available transport. You should go where you can make a difference.

“You’re saying I make no difference here,” I accused. “What about your quest? The key to your part in this crusade?”

Briar’s head flew from me to Flare. “What key?”

I’ll find it on my own, she wrote. Like I found this realm.

Hours ago, we’d been making those plans together. Hours ago, she’d gotten me to serve my feelings on a platter. Hours ago, I’d been fucking her like an addict, both of us succumbing to this chemical reaction.

Now she was pushing me away.

Flare held my gaze, her chin trembling. As I opened my mouth to raise hell, she turned to the group and wrote, When I’m ready, may I call on you?

“We’re a clan,” Briar said quietly. “You can always do that.”

Aire inclined his head. “You have my word as well.”

I’ll need transport to Summer’s mainland—

I hissed, “Flare.”