“Joslynn,” he said softly, gently. The words practically pleaded with her to understand and forgive.
She glanced over her shoulder and the look on his face about broke her. His eyes were wide and wild, haunted as they took her in. The clear, ice blue eye was still perfect among all the scar tissue. It was strange to have him looking at her with both eyes.
Joslynn opened her arms.
Sirus crossed the room in two strides and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He lifted her up until her feet no longer touched the floor and she squeaked, hardly able to breathe. “Sirus put me down. I want to yell at you.”
He laughed and buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. “Just let me hold you, and then you can yell at me for as long as you like.”
Joslynn stroked his hair. What Sirus had gone through, she didn’t know. But it had been enough to shake a hardened warrior. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again,” he murmured.
Those words made ice run through her veins. A chill ran down her spine and she tensed. Her anger drained away as she considered how close she might have been to losing him. When Sirus set her down she kicked off her shoes and climbed up onto her bed, shoving clothes to the ground. Once she was settled against the pillows she patted the spot next to her.
Sirus never looked away from her face when he unstrapped his boots and pulled them off. He crawled onto the bed and lay next to her, resting his head on her belly. A massive sigh heaved through him and Joslynn felt terrible for wanting to yell at him. She stroked his hair and stayed silent.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t send any messages,” Sirus said, his voice shaky. “The Neprijat knew we were coming, they were inside our borders waiting for us when we reached Treon. I had to be careful.”
Joslynn could barely breathe, but Sirus needed her. So she kept stroking his hair back from his forehead in a soothing rhythm and let him talk the horrors from his mind.
“We were afraid to send messages that could be intercepted by traitors, pirates, and the Neprijat. We had to split the armada and take different routes back. We didn’t rejoin our forces until we made it to Ushanov space. Even then we still had to be careful and hide where we could. Getting a message sent out through a nebula is impossible.”
Sirus’s voice was lifeless; rote, as though he had to explain the same thing to the Crown Princess. Joslynn noticed there was a new scar on his temple, a perfect circle. It was all she could do not to shudder.
“They have ships that are nearly indestructible. We were only able to take one down in space with Giselle’s worldbreaker.”
Joslynn’s hand stilled. A worldbreaker – Giselle would have ended life on Treon with it if she’d had to. Her fear of Raena grew and Joslynn wondered if she should consider something drastic to save her people from such a heartless ultimatum.
Sirus continued, pulling her back from her thoughts and she ran her fingers over his forehead and through the silky strands of his hair.
“The monsters they have are only minions, but strong, quick, and destructive enough to soften a battlefield for certain victory. They wait until those hounds rid them of most opposition and…”
Sirus stuttered and his body began to shake. Joslynn pulled him up until his head was on her chest and she wrapped her arms around him silently. Whatever had happened, she almost didn’t want to know. “Finish it quickly, my love,” she murmured into his hair.
“They can control your mind,” Sirus said in a rush. “One of them nearly killed me by telling me to shoot myself with my own gun.”
The scar on his temple…Joslynn felt silent tears fall from her eyes and land on Sirus’s cheeks, forehead, and in his hair.
“Thankfully one of my own men beheaded him, but they can control us with only their words. We were unable to capture one and study it. And then they have their weapons, and stealth, and those indestructible ships…” Sirus trailed off and the silence was ominous.
How could they possibly fight such creatures?
“Princess Adelina is leaving in four days to ask the dragons for aid in the war,” she told him, softly so as not to startle him out of his reverie.
Sirus turned and looked up at her. “Raena didn’t mention the dragons at all in the War Council.”
Joslynn shrugged and kissed his forehead. “I don’t think she believes Adelina will be successful. What was said in this positively secret meeting I, as a fellow noble ruler, am not allowed to attend?”
Something died in his eyes and he laid his head back on her chest, right over her pounding heart.
“The recording of what transpired on Treon and in Treon space was played back for all to see. I lost so many warriors. We had to wait for days to gather the bodies of the dead, floating in space as though we’d forgotten about them. There were too many and I couldn’t find them all. They had to be burned on Treon. We didn’t have the space for so many bodies on the remaining ships.”
Bile rose in her throat, sharp and acrid. Joslynn closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks Sirus had managed to come back to her alive and well. “I’m sorry, my love. What can I do to help?”
Sirus rolled, turning into her until his face was pressed against her stomach. He stayed like that for a few moments and then sat up on his knees, raking his hand through his hair. “There is nothing. I left most of my forces on the border. No doubt there are Neprijat ships we don’t know about. With their stealth tech they can avoid the outposts and all the patrols with ease. There is no way to detect them.”
“Then what is the plan?” she demanded. What had been the point of such a showy War Council if nothing would be solved?
“Raena gathered numbers from all leaders of armies, and all nobles will be required to supply a percentage of their warriors and those soldiers will be delegated to guard certain sections of space. There will be another meeting later tomorrow with all ruling nobles to go over this, and to select where each evacuated planet will go.” Sirus shrugged. “With so little information all we can do is defend. Prince Nash is holding the border with his soldiers, aiding our own forces. He was headed to Seprilles after setting up his forces on Treon. We only saw him for a day before returning to Draga Terra.”
There was that at least. She trusted Prince Nash not to leave them stranded. “Someone will have to warn him about the evacuation,” she mused.
Sirus had that strange look again. “I’m not sure he’s planning to pull back from the border,” he said quietly.
“You’re not sure, or you already know he’s not?” Joslynn snapped. “Stop playing games with me Sirus. I understand your position, but I have my people to worry about.”
“Our people,” he reminded her sharply.