“Good thing we didn’t ask your permission, then.” Trugg stepped closer.
“You’re our king.” Jyn rolled to the balls of her feet and shrugged out of her shirt, leaving nothing but a thin camisole and her pants. “And our friend. Did you really think we wouldn’t be watching over you day and night?”
Something hot and thick rose in Kol’s throat as Trugg’s shirt hit the balcony as well. They were preparing to shift. They weren’t trying to talk him out of his decision. They weren’t arguing with his reasons. They were simply ready to throw themselves into danger because where he went, they followed.
“You can’t come with me,” he said, and, curse the skies, his voice shook.
“I dare you to try to stop us,” Trugg said as he dropped his pants.
“You don’t understand.” Kol’s voice rose. “I don’t have time to wait for Irina to get better—if she gets better. Eldr needs help now. I’m going to Morcant to offer myself to the king in exchange for a mardushka capable of defeating the ogres. If you come along—”
“When we come along.” Jyn’s pants followed her shirt.
“If you come along, King Milek will try to enslave you in exchange for the mardushka instead of just enslaving me. I can’t allow that. I won’t. It’s my job to protect Eldr. All of Eldr. And I’m not going to fail my people. Do you hear me?” He grabbed the balustrade with shaking fingers. “I’m not going to fail my people anymore. This is my sacrifice to make.”
“And we aren’t going to fail you, Kol.” Jyn’s dark eyes gleamed. “You think you have to be strong for Eldr, and you’re right. You do. But so do we. So does every single Eldrian threatened by the ogre invasion. You have the responsibility of saving Eldr, but we have the responsibility of saving you.”
Kol stared at her while the thickness in his throat became the sting of unshed tears in his eyes. “I don’t need to be saved.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Trugg said gruffly. “Eldr needs a king, not another loss. And you are the king Eldr needs, even if you pull stupid stunts like trying to fly off on your own to deal with the king of Morcant because sky forbid you should ask for help.”
Gratitude and fear settled into Kol’s chest like a burning stone. He slammed his fist against the balustrade and yelled, “If I ask for your help, I’m condemning you to enslavement in Morcant for the rest of your lives!”
Trugg lunged forward until only the thin space between their two balconies separated him from Kol. “No, you great ugly lizard, I’m condemning myself to enslavement in Morcant for the rest of my life because Eldr needs a mardushka and a king. Now shift or shut up about this plan and go back into your room where I don’t have to worry about you.”
A tense silence fell between them. Kol was trying to swallow past the thickness in his throat. Trying to come up with words that would shoulder the weight of his feelings, but if the words existed, Kol couldn’t find them. Trugg raised a brow and stood in his undergarment, his arms crossed over his chest while he waited for his king’s decision.
Before Kol could choose whether to continue with his plan to petition King Milek at the expense of his friends or whether to give Irina one more day to recover from her illness, someone knocked sharply at his door.
Instantly, Jyn disappeared into her room as if rushing to check the hallway outside Kol’s door. Trugg backed up, took a running leap, and landed beside Kol on the king’s balcony.
“I’ll answer that,” he said.
“I can answer my own door.” Kol decided to save himself the humiliation of trying to push past Trugg and into his bedroom first. “Besides, you aren’t wearing any pants.”
“I don’t need pants to deal with whoever has decided to disturb my king at this unholy hour of the night.” Trugg strode through Kol’s chambers and wrenched open the door.
Viktor stood on the other side, his hair damp as if he’d just finished bathing, and his clothing impeccable. He glanced once at Trugg’s lack of clothing and then looked pointedly over the boy’s shoulder.
“Queen Irina has recovered and requests an audience with King Kolvanismir,” he said, his measured tone giving no indication that he was face-to-face with a mostly naked Eldrian warrior.
In minutes, Kol and his friends were appropriately dressed and standing before the queen as she reclined on a white couch in a cozy office. A torn once-white coat lay on her lap, and her creepy snake was coiled by her side.
“I’m pleased to see that you’re recovering,” Kol said, though pleased hardly covered it. Eldr still had a chance, and Kol hadn’t had to sell himself into slavery to King Milek to accomplish it.
Irina leaned forward, her eyes lit with zeal. “We’re both about to get what we want, my dear boy.”
The queen lifted the coat, and Viktor hurried forward to bring it to Kol. It smelled like burned wood, spicy evergreens, and crisp snow with a hint of something softer underneath.
Something about the scent was familiar.