“A diplomatic answer, Carys. I would expect nothing less,” Lina said with a huff, adjusting the leather belts of her shoulder harness.

Bri had to hold in a groan. Lina’s battle-axe perfectly framed her shoulders, its lethal blades flaring out behind her like wings. Bri’s gaze lingered on the beautiful weapon then moved down to the straps that pulled back Lina’s posture and framed her large chest. Bri had the sudden urge to invite Lina to train again, to watch her wield that monstrous weapon. So evenly matched, so unexpected—Bri couldn’t stop thinking about that day in the ring.

Instead, Bri found herself saying, “I will make you my ambassador when I am Queen of the East, Car.”

Carys cackled. “When I am Queen, you can be the captain of my army, Bri,” she said, winking. “No ambassadorship for you.”

“So eager to play Queen,” Lina muttered more to herself than to them.

They both looked at the Princess riding between them. Bri could see the restraint in her expression, hear the control in her voice. The weeks since Lina had taken up the mantle of Western ruler, title or no, were wearing on her. Bri understood why the Princess was so eager for a coronation. She even begrudgingly understood why Lina was so eager for Tem to become her consort. Leading a court alone was an incredible burden, but if anyone could handle it, it would be Lina.

“Ruling a kingdom is no easy feat,” Carys conceded. “We didn’t mean to belittle it.”

Lina waved her hand in dismissal. “When you have citizens lined up waiting to air their decades-old grievances to the new sovereign, you’ll see then how fun it is to wear the crown.”

She said it as if in jest, trying to sound lighthearted and failing. At least she was sleeping at night now—one burden Bri could help with. Bri had given up trying to keep her mind from drifting toward images of Lina’s sleeping face. It happened so often throughout the day, in all of the quiet moments when normally anxiety would prickle across her skin. She wasn’t searching the darkness for threats anymore, but instead she listened for the steady rhythm of Lina’s sleeping breaths, like a heartbeat outside her own body.

“I’m sure the people of Wynreach will have complaints that stretch beyond the start of Gedwin Norwood’s reign,” Carys said. “None of the Norwood Kings cared a sniff about the humans and witches of their kingdoms.”

Clenching her jaw, Bri studied the canopy above them.