Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 64

Chapter 64

The one who held her was the one she was expecting. Jai had pulled her back against his chest, burying his face in the crook of her neck as his tears fell onto her skin. But she couldn't focus on him, not with what was happening to Escarral in the distance and hearing everyone's cries from the surrounding ships they were sailing toward.

There was nothing they could do now, not with another, more important issue at hand.

"Where did they take Bence?" Lyv demanded as she turned around in Jai's hold.

Before he answered, though, he took her face in his hands, searching for any signs of injury before focusing on her eyes, which she knew he expected to be completely black. He was met with emerald green, though, and the relief that washed over him was clearly evident.

Lifting her hands to his, she tried to redirect his focus. "Tell me, Jai. Where did they take him?"

Jai shook his head, trying to rid himself of all of the awful thoughts that plagued him. "Captain's quarters, I think. I couldn't really focus on what they were doing, not with what you did in sending me here without you, without letting me help." He let out a heartbreaking moan as more tears fell. "Lyv...just give me a moment. I thought you...gods, why did you have to..."

Hearing his voice crack with emotion, Lyv realized he wasn't the only one who was needing a moment. A moment to breath, to know they were with each other, especially when she knew he thought he'd lost her again. So, she allowed herself to hold him for as long as she dared, somehow finding herself smiling at the thought of Bence pointedly looking at her and telling her to take a moment with the male who loved her most in the world. She clung to Jai with everything she had, her hands moving to his hair as his fingers wiped away her tears.

"Why?" Jai choked out. "Why did you have to scare me like that? I thought you were..."

"I know. I shouldn't have done it," she whispered. "But I had to get all of you out before...before we lost everything. I promised I'd be back, didn't I?"

"That didn't help, not when all I saw was what happened before when I lost you in Asturia."

"I'm sorry."

"Never, ever do that to me again."

"I won't."

"I swear, you're going to make my hair go gray just like my father's. If you don't, Dessa and Elys and Eamon and the rest of the kids will."

Somehow, through all of her pain and heartache, Lyv found herself laughing. "Well, you are three hundred and twenty-eight, are you not? I thought I saw a gray hair earlier this week when you were still sleeping..."

"You did not."

"Did to."

"You're so mean to me."

"And I love you, too."

Jai leaned back to stare at her again, though she could sense there was something else that was tugging at his heart and mind. The words were stuck in his throat, though, along with his breath.

Tears welled in her eyes once more, barely escaping before he swiped them away with his thumbs.

"He knew, didn't he?" Lyv whispered raggedly. "Bence knew he wasn't going to make it. This is what you were going to tell me before."

Jai paused before letting out his held breath. "He's known for a while. Longer than a while, actually. Lenora told him whenever they were together, but he didn't tell me about it until we came here last year after we found you and Elys in Ethran," he admitted. "Gods, I wanted to tell you, but I swore to him I wouldn't. Because he wanted to tell you himself...up until he asked me to do it whenever we talked a few days ago. I'm so sorry for keeping this from you, Lyv. So sorry."