Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,22

love him completely and then leave him alone.

With a gasp, I tore myself away, and he let me go.

We stood motionless, breathing heavily, and then I said, “I’ll come back. I promise.”

He just stared at me, silent and resigned.

Summoning every ounce of strength I had, I turned and strode away toward the curtain that hid the door to the passageway. Just when I lifted the fabric to pull it back, Damian spoke.

“I love you, Alexa.”

I didn’t dare turn around and look at him, afraid it would be my undoing. “I love you, too.” And then I stepped out of his sight and into the darkness.

After a restless few hours of trying — and failing — to sleep, I finally strapped my sword on and prepared to leave. I’d decided to start at the campsite where I had last seen Rafe, but then I’d have to track him north, hopefully catching him before he made it to Dansii. I’d never been to the northern reaches of Antion, and I’d certainly never been to Dansii. I barely knew anything about Armando’s kingdom, and I had no idea what to expect, or how to prepare for what lay ahead.

Outside my window, the black sky was barely melting into gray. The indistinct shade of nothing, when it was no longer night, but not quite morning yet, either. The jungle was a hulking, seething monster, waiting to envelope me in its feral embrace, rising beyond the palace walls. I stood irresolute for a long moment, thinking of Damian in the next room. He was only a few feet away from me now, but soon he would be a day’s walk away. And then an entire kingdom would be between us. I’d promised him I’d come back, but I could tell that this time, he didn’t believe me.

He’d said good-bye to me last night, thinking it was for forever.

Fear clutched my chest, but I took deep breaths and turned to my door. I’d lived with varying degrees of fear as my constant companion for so long, I couldn’t let it beat me now. I would go; I would find some way to save Rylan and get us back to Damian. And maybe I could find a way to get Rafe killed, releasing us from his control. If I was really lucky, maybe I could even find out what Armando was planning — and how we could possibly stop him.

I wondered how long he’d been planning this. When had he found out about the fountain and decided he wanted to drink from it? If Damian’s suspicions were right, and he’d sent his black sorcerers with men pretending to be part of the Blevonese army to attack the smaller Antionese villages like mine — when my parents had been killed — to keep fueling the anger against Blevon, ensuring the continuation of Hector’s war, then he’d been planning it for a long, long time. Almost my entire life.

As I opened my door and stepped out, I was so lost in thought I almost tripped over a package lying on the ground right outside my bedroom. I glanced around, but the hallway was empty. No one was there guarding Damian’s door, which meant the king was not in his bedroom after all. For some inexplicable reason, my heart sank to realize he wasn’t even as close to me as I’d thought. I looked down to see a strange oblong shape wrapped in fabric, with a note attached, lying at my feet. The parchment was sealed shut with red wax, and for a moment, panic seized me. But when I bent down to look closer, I realized it wasn’t the same as the one from last night — instead, it was the Royal Crest of Antion, a jaguar crouched and ready to pounce.

It was a message from the king.

Hands trembling, I tore open the missive.

Alexa,

I noticed that you’ve been without your own bow or arrows for some time now. I want you to have every advantage when you face whatever lies ahead of you. I believe in you — in your strength and your courage. This isn’t the end for us, and I apologize if I let my fears get the better of me last night. I don’t want you to leave believing me to be afraid. I will do all I can to protect my people, my kingdom, and myself so that when you return, we will be ready to welcome back our queen.

With all of my love,

Damian

Blinking away