The Bound (Ascension #2)(31)

“We have to keep searching after all the loss.”

“It’s a necessity,” she said, gently placing her hand over his.

His eyes shot up to hers.

She quickly retrieved her hand. “So long as they don’t get a ship out of Aurum.”

“She would be impossible to track,” he agreed. After a pause, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I won’t let that happen to her.”

She shifted in her seat and wished away the warmth touching her cheeks. “Or Maelia?”

His face fell, and he stepped away. Creator, why do I keep doing this? She could have just let it be. Every time she thought she saw affection between them, she would wedge the block in.

“Yes, Maelia, too, of course.”

“So, Aurum then,” she added softly.

“Rhea, I—”

The door crashed inward, and Rhea jumped up. Eren reached for his sword and threw himself in front of her. In walked King Edric. Rhea immediately felt foolish for being so terrified and dropped into a respectable curtsy. Eren bowed low next to her.

“Rise,” he said curtly.

When she glanced up at the King, she noticed that he was a bundle of tension. His shoulders were high, his face set in a stern scowl, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Captain Merrick walked in after him.

“I’ve news that the kidnappers recaptured High Order Ahlvie and left the city with Cyrene in tow. They were pursued, but the guards lost them after they took a ferryboat from the docks on the Huyek River,” the King growled.

Rhea put her hand to her mouth. They had gotten away. She tried not to look relieved in front of the King and Eren, who knew her so well.

“What of Maelia?” Eren asked.

“Safe,” the King said. “Prince Kael managed to do one thing right in all of this.”

He unclenched and clenched his fists. He was at the boiling point, ready to explode at any moment. She would not want to be the one on that end of the tether.

Eren visibly relaxed at the news. He had been worried. Guilt ate at her.

“My idiot brother has decided to go on to the capital to try to sniff out the kidnapper. He believes that is their destination and paid no heed to how it would appear to ride into the capital city with a battalion of the Royal Guard. Even though our sister is there, she cannot stop war if it comes to her doorstep. She was always a weak child, and I suspect nothing less. The fact that she could stave King Iolair off from retaliation for our forces in their country for this long is a welcome surprise.”

“What would you have me work on, Your Majesty?” Eren asked dutifully.

Captain Merrick stepped forward. “His Majesty feels as if this mission is coming to a close for you.” His sharp eyes took one glance at Rhea, and then he added, “For you both.”

“A close?” Eren asked in surprise. “They haven’t even reached Aurum. We still have hope,” he pleaded with the King, a man he considered his friend.

Rhea could already see the King was lost. He felt something for Cyrene. Her absence and the chase of trying to rescue her had turned to an obsession. Everyone always loved Cyrene, but this…to make the King fall victim to her, both amazed and terrified her.

King Edric turned from Eren, as if to walk out, but then added at the door, “Listen to Captain Merrick. He is a good man. He has your new assignments.”

“Edric,” Eren protested.

“What more would you have your King do?” Captain Merrick asked, stepping in his path. “Byern is vulnerable with a sizable number of our guards on foreign soil. The possibility of war is imminent. Sending any more to retrieve the Affiliate while Crown Prince Kael, second in line for the Dremylon throne, is in the country would be sending him to his death.”

King Edric rested his hand on the doorframe before he spoke again, “If Kael cannot bring her back from Aurum with the guards already in the field, I will consider it a lost cause. A number to add to the death toll.”

And, with that, he walked out, leaving them alone with Captain Merrick, who looked much too satisfied for such an ominous exit.

“High Order Eren, you will return from procession to the capital city to resume your work henceforth.”

Eren didn’t flinch, but Rhea could see his irritation in the set of his jaw. “Thank you, Captain.”

Rhea wanted to reach out and comfort Eren. He was to leave to go back to Byern, and she might never see him again. She should have known that it was too good to be true to be in his company all this time. He was First Class, returning to Byern, and she was a Second, forever to remain in Albion where Master Barca’s home was. It had always been an impossibility.

“Rhea Gramm,” Captain Merrick said, drawing her attention.

“Yes, sir,” she said timidly.

“Master Barca has agreed to accompany the court back to Byern for the Eos holiday festivities. You are to travel with him and report to court on his progress.”

Rhea’s eyes bulged. “Master Barca is…moving?”

“He was persuaded to take up a new residence during the holiday season and while we have a military threat at our backs.”

She assumed persuaded meant that they were physically removing him from his house because she never saw the man leaving otherwise. He was a recluse, brilliantly mad, and a bit superstitious.