Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(85)

“My queen—” Theron started.

I held up a hand. “I grew up with six brothers. Five of whom were older than me.”

“I’m aware,” Kairos said drily.

I gave him a look. “I understand that I’m bruised, and that you all care very much about my safety and my health. You care about chivalry and what a woman may or may not deserve. And I treasure that. Your concern means a great deal to me. But your guilt isn’t about me, or my body, or my pain. It’s about Calix, and it’s about you seeing me as a thing that needs to be protected, like I shattered when he h-hit me.”

They all looked at me as my voice failed me for a moment, and I pressed my lips together, trying to stop more unwanted emotions from rushing out.

“I don’t want to feel broken. I don’t want to give him that power. Calix did not—and will never—break me. So don’t apologize, and if you must feel guilty, then share that with someone other than me. Do you understand?”

They all nodded grimly.

“I hope this is the last we have to discuss it,” I told them.

Zeph nodded, nudging the others away. He, at least, understood when he was dismissed.

Galen glanced at me and turned away, following my guards. Kairos slipped inside my room before I could shut the door.

I shut it behind him with a sigh. He went to the windows, gazing out into the darkness, looking at the windows themselves. “Well,” he said. “We should be able to get pretty far before they realize you’re gone.” He turned back to me. “If we’re leaving.”

Drawing a breath, I shook my head slowly. “We can’t leave, Kairos. Or I can’t leave. But I think you should go back to the desert.”

He snorted. “Like hell,” he said. “Why would I ever leave you alone after all that’s happened?”

“Because he won’t hurt me the way he’ll hurt you,” I said, squeezing my hands together, trying to stop the trembles that came anyway.

“I swore a promise,” he said, crossing his arms. “I’ll make him regret what he’s done to you.”

“No,” I said, looking at him. “No. This,” I said, fingering the bruise on my face, “is a distraction. Yesterday Calix proved that he’s not interested in peace. Maybe he’s interested in submission; maybe he wants war. Maybe he doesn’t care. But I still want peace, Kairos.”

He lifted his shoulders. “How can you get it if he doesn’t want it?”

“That’s what I need to figure out. But it is not so simple as running back to the desert—or anywhere—when he still has men there. We cannot risk more lives.” I looked out the window, into the dark that was dotted with torchlight in a strange pattern. “The greater question is whether peace can ever be achieved with Calix as king.”

He drew a long breath. “Rian believes it can’t.”

I tucked my hands around myself, rubbing warmth into my arms. “And if I believe that, then it would make sense to join Rian. To help the Resistance.”

Kairos’s eyes flicked to the wall, reminding me that my guards were likely next door, not to mention my husband’s brother. “Have you considered other options?”

I looked to him. “Such as?”

“Waiting until your child is born, and then removing Calix.”

I shuddered, shaking my head.

He looked at me, and he appeared so much older suddenly. “None of these options will let him live, Shalia. If he lives, then there will be no peace.”

I thought of Galen, of seeing every face of every soldier and choosing their deaths and calling it peace.

“Besides, you may not have that long,” Kairos said. “Your power is growing stronger. It seems like it’s harder for you to control it. If he ever sees it, baby or not, your choices—if not your life—will be taken away.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“The desert can repel the Trifectate men who are there. It would only take a note from Osmost, and it would be done. We could run right now.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s rash, and it’s risky. Besides, Galen and the Saepia will pay the price for it. I won’t bring that on their heads after all they’ve done for me. I need more time to think. That’s why we came here,” I told him.

His mouth drew tight, but he didn’t disagree with me. “Very well.”

“Do you know if Rian is safe?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. But we would have heard by now if he wasn’t.”

I sighed. “I suppose.”

He came forward and kissed my cheek. “Good night, Shy.”


After everything that happened, it wasn’t my husband hitting me that haunted my dreams. It was the attack in the Tri City, seeing the soldier hack into the man’s arm without cutting it off completely. A gaping wound with a geyser of blood.

In my dream it sprayed all over me, hot and soaking my hair, my skin, my clothes.

I woke up with a scream, and Kairos was in the room before I was fully awake, his double swords unsheathed and ready. Shaking my head, I told him, “A dream.”

“I’ll stay in here until you fall asleep,” he told me.

I shook my head. “That may be a while.” I got out of the bed, pulling one of my thickest coats around me. “It’s colder up here, isn’t it?”