Dain's claws dug into me, and I didn't ask him to stop. "There's one fae on the continent who can deal with those constructs, and he'll likely need the full moon in the sky to do it. If the First Army tries to fight them alone, the casualties will be catastrophic." He sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth, shuddering. "I'm Stag Court's most powerful defender. Whoever has been trying to kill me must have wanted me out of the way, so that they could destroy us without contest. At this point, I'm not sure it matters who." Dain rested his face against me, and whispered, "I had almost convinced myself she would sacrifice the Court to kill me, but to kill me so that she could destroy the Court? Why would she do such a thing?"

"Go," I said softly.

He went still, his shivering stopping and the pressure of his hands easing. "What did you say?"

I cupped his face in my hand and leaned against his head. "Go, beloved," I said, using the endearment that had slipped off of Dain's tongue several times in the past days. "You're right. It doesn't matter who did this, or why. You're the Regent, and you may be the King, but that doesn't even matter. You've been given an incredible gift, and you can use that strength to save an entire country." I smiled, trying not to cry, knowing that by sending him off I'd lose my chance at forever with him. Another answer to the trolley problem, the one where you have to push someone to save five people? Throw yourself on the tracks, instead. "Protect our people, Dain. Go."

"'Our people'?" he asked, his voice very quiet.

"For at least five more days, I'm the Stag Princess," I said. "Maybe I'm even the Stag Queen. They're my people, too, and I can't face an army of the dead. You can. Keep them safe for me."

Dain lifted his head, then tilted my face up and to the side to look into my eyes. He searched my face, his wolf-gold eyes hunting for something, and whatever he saw in my expression seemed to satisfy him. Closing his eyes, Dain pressed his mouth against mine, warm and final.

He was saying goodbye. He knew as much as I did what this meant for us.

I held back the tears. He didn't need to see me cry. I wouldn't make this any harder for him than it had to be.

"I'll go," he said, resting his forehead against mine. "Will you be here when I return?"

"Yes," I said. Whether it was true or not didn't matter. He needed to believe it, all the way down to his bones, that there was someone here who would be waiting for him to come home. A reason to fight, and a reason to live. I leaned my face forward so that my lips brushed his again. "Go, and come home safe to me."