Daufina walked briskly from her chambers and down the back hallways that led between her and Edric’s rooms. Ever since he had gotten that blasted letter from the Eleysian Princess, claiming that Cyrene was in their country, he had lost himself in the hunt again. Daufina couldn’t believe it when she’d read a copy of the letter Edric had sent her.

An army!

He was amassing an army to send to Eleysia to retrieve one girl. Daufina wanted to bury her face in shame for what was happening to her country. How could he be so stupid?

In the time that Cyrene had disappeared off the face of the map, she had seen Edric become renewed. He had been somber about her disappearance, but the news that Kaliana was pregnant had brightened his mood. It was treason to even think about what Kaliana had done to get the baby, but Daufina couldn’t deny that she had been happy with the results thus far.

Edric had been acting like a doting husband. Perhaps not loving, like he had been with Cyrene, but still, he had been taking his marriage seriously once more. It had made all the difference, and they had even announced Kaliana’s pregnancy to the entire country at the Eos holiday.

All of that for nothing.

“You’re truly sending an army?” Daufina called, barging into his war room.

Edric stood before a large table scattered with maps, measurements, paperwork, supply readouts, drawings of new techniques and maneuvers. Merrick stood just to his side. His right-hand man. He was whispering something into the King’s ear. Poison.

“Hello, Daufina,” Edric said coolly.

“Edric, be reasonable. Send an envoy to collect her. Think of diplomacy, for Creator’s sake. We can reopen trade negotiations with Eleysia. If Cyrene has been there, then we could use her knowledge of the country to acquire an ambassadorship. This could open up Byern to a world of new possibilities.”

“Diplomacy,” Merrick spat. “It is past time.”

Daufina drew herself tall. He could not speak to her like that. She was Consort after all. “Captain, perhaps you should remove yourself while I discuss this with His Majesty.”

“No, stay,” Edric said. “I’ll need your views on how best to infiltrate their defenses. We don’t have a detailed map of the islands surrounding the country, and with so few ports, we’ll have to be cautious. Their navy is supreme if we have to engage on water to get there.”

“Edric! Are you listening to yourself?”

“Enough!” he yelled. His blue-gray eyes were molten. “They took her, Daufina. They are holding her. I have given them a sufficient amount of time to return her, but if they do not, I need a contingency plan. And I will follow through on my statement. It was not a threat to Eleysia; it was a promise.”

“You would go to war for her.” It was a statement.

Daufina always knew that he would. For her. She’d known it the day he sent troops into Aurum. He would do anything for her.

Edric’s eyes softened for a moment. “I would go to the ends of the earth for her.”

“Can you not wait a few days for a reply?”

“It costs money and time to mobilize an army. That, I cannot wait for if they refuse,” he told her stiffly.

“I know the cost of war. It’s that very thing I believe you are overlooking.”

“Do not belittle me, Daufina,” he growled. He flicked his hand at Merrick, who bowed and retreated from the room. Clearly, whatever he wanted to say, he preferred to be in private.

“I am not belittling you, Edric. I am thinking past Cyrene. I’m thinking of the country, of the land and the people. War is blood and sweat and tears. It is tragedy and heartbreak,” Daufina said, hoping that he would understand where she was coming from. “It is lives lost…and over what?”

He shook his head and looked away from her. He seemed lost in thought, and she almost spoke but waited for him to address her again.

“Do you know that it has not rained a single day since she has been gone?”

“What?” Daufina asked.

“I spoke with one of the High Order about weather patterns. We’ve been having issues with crops. He said that it had not rained a single day since Cyrene had been kidnapped and dragged out of our country,” Edric told her.

“I don’t…you think that is somehow related?” she asked warily. “When I hear that…all I think is that you want to send good soldiers…good men to war during a dry season when the crops aren’t growing. You are sending them to fight for you while the countryside is already bleeding.”

“There is something about her, Daufina,” he said. He held his head between his hands.

He looked pain-stricken. I want to go to him, but what could I do to cure what is ailing him? Nothing.

“She is calling to me, pulling me toward her. It’s like I can still feel her. Here.” He grasped at his chest. “It’s faint, but I cannot escape her.”

“Edric,” she whispered.

“I sound mad. I know. Believe me, I know.”

“It is obsession. You feel tied to her in some way because of something you had for such a short period of time. Then, she was taken away from you. It is no more than that.”

Edric sank down into a chair behind the table. He looked worn, as if Cyrene’s absence had hollowed him out. Daufina had thought that Kaliana’s pregnancy would revive him. She had believed it was in the process. But it was just a patch for the wound. She saw that now. He would not rest easy until he had Cyrene back. That desperation made him very, very dangerous.

“All those months ago, you told me to make my country whole again,” Edric told her. “I cannot see a way to do that without bringing Cyrene back. And I will…by whatever means necessary.”