Status Updates From A Rainha Traidora (A Ponte ...

"I swore to fight by your side, to defend you to my dying breath, to cherish your body and none other, and to be loyal to you as long as I live." Picking up her knives, she slid them into their sheaths with twin thunks. "And that means where you go, I go, too."
"As you say, Your Grace." Offering his arm, Aren bent low, his breath arm against her ear. "There's no one in the world like you, you know."

"There were hundreds of them. And Ahnna said the biggest swam right up next to you, looked, then swam away. Over and over again.
They killed every single soldier in the water, but not you. And no one is calling you the traitor queen any longer."

"Ahnna saw. Taryn saw. Aster, God bless his superstitious soul, saw you jump off that ship and then swim, bleeding and thrashing, through shark-infested waters, and not one of them touched you."

"Do you know how we try traitors in Ithicana?"
"You feed them to the sharks."
"We suspend the accused traitor in the sea, then chum the waters. If the sharks kill the person, it means the charges were deserved, as was the punishment. But if the sharks leave the person be, that means the person isn't a traitor. I’ve never seen the sharks do anything but feast. Never heard of it. Until now."

"As soon as I'm well enough to walk, I'll leave."
Aren was silent for a moment. "If that's vour decision. I won't stop you.”
"Decision implies a choice, Aren. And in this there is no choice. I'm not wanted here."
He hesitated, his Adam's apple moving as he swallowed once. Twice. "I want you here, if you're willing to stay. If you want to stay."

"I can't."
"You can." He kissed her hard. "I've never once seen fear make a decision for you."
Lara shook her head. This was too much.
"I need you." His breath was hot against her lips. "And I need you to keep fighting."

Reaching through the bars, she caught hold of his face. "Look at me. Listen to me."
He resisted. Like he knew what she was going to say. But then he met her gaze.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all the hurt that I caused you. All the hurt I caused Ithicana. And I need you to know that I'd die a thousand times over if there were a way to undo it."

"I've got you." He tugged her higher until their heads were just beneath the ceiling of the cave. "I won't let you go."
Vaguely she was aware that there were others behind him, but all she saw was him. And all she felt was the most profound sense of gratitude to God or fate or luck for allowing her to see him one last time before the Tempest Seas took her.

His lips a hair's breadth from hers, he whispered, "Awake or asleep, all I see is your face. All I hear is your voice. All I feel is you in my arms. All I want is you."

Exhaling a shuddering breath, Lara nodded into his chest, waiting for him to step away from her and go back to the others. But Aren didn't drop his hands. Didn't turn his back on her. Instead he pulled her closer, his fingers sliding under the hem of her ruined camisole, stroking the small of her back.

He finished her stitches, wrapping a length of bandage around her leg and knotting it with a practiced hand. Sitting upright, Lara slid off the table onto her feet, but a wave of dizziness made her sway, and she reached out instinctively to catch hold of his shoulders.
She expected him to push her away, but instead his hands slipped around her waist, holding her steady.

"Given the amount of grief you gave me for so much as flinching every time you stitched me up, you're handling this rather poorly."
She gasped out a laugh. "I hate stitches. I'd rather be stabbed than stitched up."
"You're being a baby. It's not that bad."
"Asshole." But their eyes met, and the look in his chased away her pain. This was hurting him as much as it was hurting her. "Thank you.”

"Why, then?" His voice was angry. "Trying to get yourself killed?"
"No." Her throat tightened. "Trying to find a way to live with myself.”
She sensed rather than saw him lift his head. Felt his scrutiny as he asked, "Is it working?"
Closing her eyes, Lara focused on the pain in her leg, trying to down out the pain in her heart. "Not yet.”

"You need to stop doing this."
"Doing what?" she asked, though she knew what he meant.
"Throwing yourself into harm's way?" He scrubbed hard at his skin, washing away dirt and the blood of his enemies. "It won't change anything other than eventually getting you killed." His voice went hoarse as he said killed, and Lara's chest tightened.

Then familiar hands closed on her wrists. Lifting her face, she met Aren's gaze, the lantern light flickering in his hazel eyes.
"Why didn't you ask for help?"
"Because I don't have the right to ask any of them for anything," she said between sobs, turning her face away.

Dropping to his knees, he jerked up the leg of her loose trousers. There was a livid red mark from the force of the snake hitting her calf, but miraculously. the creature's fangs hadn't broken the skin.
"Aren, I'm fine." She tried to pull away, but he pushed his fingers through the twin holes in the fabric and met her gaze, noticing how she blanched. "What you are is lucky," he growled, anger chasing away his fear.

"I'll go first," Lia said, but Aren ignored her, jumping up to catch the rope and then climbing, his shoulders burning by the time he reached the top.
Lara stood among the dead, her face and clothing splattered with blood, the only sign of injury a split lip.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." She swayed slightly, and fear crawled up Aren's spine.

"Your Grace!" Aster's eves widened. Then they narrowed again, his focus going past Aren's shoulder. "That better not be-"
Aren knew Lara had removed her hood because every weapon arupily lifted. Moving quickly, he stepped between them and his wife. "You want to kill her, you'll have to kill me first."

Aren lunged, reaching down to catch hold of her belt and haul her out of the water. Her ankles caught on the edge and she fell backward, landing in his arms.
"What are you doing?" She twisted in his arms so that they were face-to-face, their legs tangled together in the bottom of the boat.
What was he doing?
Unsure of the answer, he said, "It's time we went home.”

"Get in." he shouted at her, the sail rising. "We need to go." But Lara didn't answer.
Dread filled him, and Aren spun around. "Lara!"
She was still there. Still swimming. But she looked up, meeting his gaze. "Goodbye, Aren," she said, and let go of the boat, aiming toward shore.

This was where it was going to end.
And it was not, Aren thought, the worst way to go: with his queen fighting at his back.

Swords clashed, and Aren turned to see Lara fighting them. But there were a dozen of them and only one of her. "Go!" she shouted. "Don't stop!"
"Come on, Aren," Jor snarled. "Push!"
Aren ignored him, letting go of the boat and racing in Lara's direction. Pulling his weapon, he carved into a soldier, barely hearing the man's scream as he dropped, because all that mattered was getting to her.