Valen had acted on instinct. He’d lunged, palms spread before him, and, at the last second, shoved the soldier with every ounce of strength left in him. The soldier had fired.

And the bullet, meant for Nor...had hit Zahn in the chest instead.

It was his fault that Zahn was dead.

His fault that Nor was now alone.

The transport slowed, Averia coming into view, the white walls of the floating gravarock estate glittering in the moonlight as it hung in the sky.

“I’m so sorry, Nor,” Valen finally said. His throat felt raw, the words useless. “I’m so sorry.”

His words seemed to pull Nor out of her stupor. Her eyes, red-rimmed, were swollen from tears as she looked at him. “I want every soldier who failed me to be hung from the estate walls.”

Silence reigned for several long moments, with nothing but the sound of the transport’s engine to break the quiet.

“That is a rash decision, my queen,” Darai said carefully. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two siblings, and Valen nodded his head in agreement.

Did she know what he’d done?

No, he thought. How could she?

Nor’s eyes flicked upward to glare at Darai. Her tears were gone now. Only fury remained in their place. “Do not speak to me about rash,” she hissed. “I want to know what happened. I want to know why—”

“The princeling couldn’t have known,” Darai interjected suddenly, calmly.

Valen’s heart felt like it froze in his chest.

“What?” Nor asked quietly.

Please, Valen thought, desperately wishing Darai could hear him. But the old man had no such power. No ability to hear his mental messages.

“Valen was just trying to protect you, my dear. I saw the whole valiant act.” He placed a cold hand on Valen’s shoulder. “Were it not for his actions, pushing the enemy soldier away...the shot would very likely have landed in your chest instead of Zahn’s.”

Valen couldn’t breathe as the truth was revealed.

For a moment, Nor looked like she hadn’t even heard Darai. Valen wondered if their uncle had really spoken the truth aloud, or perhaps it had only been Valen’s exhausted mind playing tricks on him as the guilt ate away at his insides.

But then Darai nodded as the transport landed, a hiss of steam slipping past the windows as the engines began to cool down. “Valen saved you, Nor.” He glanced at Valen and smiled widely. “He saved your life, doing what he did.”

“You,” Nor whispered, her expression turning to stone as she turned, slowly, to look at Valen.

A dark tendril of shadowy dread crept over him at the sound of that single word.

“You pushed the soldier who shot Zahn?”