will allow the other to win. That is why you are going to the City of the Gods with Destiny.”
“But I want to stay here with you,” she whispered.
“Dry your tears, daughter. Listen to me. I love you so much. I love you so much that it aches to even think about sending you away. I need you and your brothers to be out of the reach of our enemies. Your father is the King of the Horde, and I am the Queen. I am also the target of our enemy. I need to go into this battle without fear of you or your brothers being caught or killed. You three and your father are my world. It would destroy me to lose any of you. Do you understand? I cannot worry about you and fight, and I must fight to protect this world from the monsters who seek to destroy it. Your grandmother gave her life for mine, and I won’t allow them to destroy her legacy. I love you, but this is not something I will change. My job is to protect you first and foremost, no matter how much it hurts me to do so.”
“But what if you die?” she asked, her fat tears rolling down her chubby cheeks while gentle sobs shook her tiny frame.
“Then you will be safe when it happens,” I murmured, kissing her cheek before wiping away her tears once more. “I will live on through you. If your father falls, he will live on through you too. You will have your brothers, and will never be alone, sweet girl.”
“Daddy can’t die,” Zander said with a frown creasing his brow. “He is the Horde King, and immortal.”
“He is,” I uttered, staring into my son’s steady gaze. “He is the strongest warrior the horde has, and next to him are your uncles and auntie, and none of us will allow the enemy to take him from us. Nor would he allow them to get to me.”
“I need to take them soon,” Destiny announced from where she sat, regarding us as we said our goodbyes. “There’s also an entire hallway of people outside, waiting to come in and say goodbye.”
“We need a few more moments alone before you let the masses in,” Ryder replied, standing to move closer. He picked up Cade and Zander and sat with them beside us while I leaned against him, seeing his large hand dwarfing our daughter’s tiny head as he placed it on her.
Out of the three, Kahleena was the tiniest. The boys had shielded her from being revealed in my womb until Ristan had removed them and discovered her. They’d also taken most of the nutrients, evident because she was much smaller than they were.
“Your mother and I wouldn’t send you away if we didn’t need to.” Ryder rubbed his hand over his face, trying to choose the right words. He may have been the most terrifying thing inside this realm, but with our children, he was gentle and always struggled to find the right words to convey his feelings. “I don’t like this either, but knowing you are safe from our enemies, it allows me to have my head here, where it needs to be. I promise to protect your momma and keep her safe. My father was a murderous prick, and he left me a legacy filled with foes and treachery within the horde. I need to be here to watch our people and the enemy. Your mother is right. If you stay, we will worry about you the entire time. We have to be fully aware of our surroundings and who we fight instead of worrying about your safety.”
“Because they would use us against you,” Cade said, frowning, regarding us carefully. “We make you weak.”
“You’re our world,” I said, touching his cheek before kissing the top of his head. “You’re not a weakness; you’re our greatest accomplishment. Do you hear me? You strengthen us, but our enemies would seek to take you from us. They know we love you more than anything, and if something happened to you, we’d do whatever it took to get you back. You make us fight harder to