He watched her move farther away before he again gave his attention to Aramus.

“Would you like to tell me precisely what has you so uneasy?” he demanded low.

“He is a god and gods do not do something for nothing.”

“We have no choice but to move forward,” Cassius pointed out.

Aramus opened his mouth.

But Cassius spoke first.

“The sprites and pixies fly, and Lahn rides with True and Farah as they drive their demons here,” Cassius bit. “The gnomes and Tor ride with Elena and I as we drive ours here. The Mer ride with you and Ha-Lah as you drive yours here. And the fairies fly, and Apollo rides with Mars and Silence as they drive theirs here. All our captains will already be here to offer might and magic. Frey uses the dragons to keep them here. We unleash all hell on them with the Mer in the depths at the ready to force them into that underground cavern if we fail to do nothing but shove them over the edge. At the least, in the end, they will be contained. This is our plan. It’s a shite plan, but it’s a plan. We chuck everything we’ve got at the bastards and hope like fuck it works.”

Cassius moved closer to his friend.

And he spoke on.

“I’m uneasy too. Everyone I love, save my daughters, will be here.” He pointed to the rock beneath their feet. “I don’t wish to lose a single one of you. I definitely don’t want to lose all of you. And I for one am going to fight like hell to make sure none of that happens.”

Aramus’s stare was intent.

He then grinned.

“Just to note, I love you too.”

“Always a pain in my arse,” Cass muttered, looking away.

Aramus clapped him on the shoulder and held.

Therefore, Cass looked back.

“If there’s loss, if the good we accomplished in our realms remains despite that loss, it was worth it,” his friend said quietly.

Cassius drew in a deep breath, shifted his eyes to the side, and saw his wife standing, staring out at sea, hands on hips, the sunshine of her hair blowing in the sea breeze.

And he determined he wasn’t going to lose shite.

Regardless, he looked to Aramus.

And said, “Absolutely.”

King True

The Beach, Keel Castle, Nautilus

MAR-EL

“She’ll be fine,” True assured.

Mars scowled at the lapping water that, not long ago, Silence and Jorie waded into.

And then disappeared.

“She’s with Jorie,” True reminded him. “She’ll come back, pink in her cheeks, delighted with her adventure.”

Mars looked into the horizon. “Two years ago today, you and I faced each other on a battlefield.”

True’s body locked.

Gods, he was right.

“And now you are my brother,” Mars went on.

True said nothing.

“They will not take her from me,” he told the horizon.

“No,” True replied.