“I'm willing to take the brunt of it, if it means the others will at least stand with us against him.'

I clenched the tufted arms of the chair.

'You shouldn't have to.'

'It might be the only choice.'

'I don't accept that as an option.'

He blinked at me. 'Prythian might need me as an option.' Because with that power of his... He'd take on the king and his entire army. Burn himself out until he was-

'I need you. As an option. In my future.'

Silence. And even with the sun warming my feet, a terrible cold spread through me.

His throat bobbed. 'If it means giving you a future, then I'm willing to do-'

'You will do no such thing.' I panted through my bared teeth, leaning forward in my chair.

Rhys only watched me, eyes shadowed. 'How can you ask me not to give everything I have to ensure that you, that my family and people, survive?'

'You've given enough.'

'Not enough. Not yet.'

It was hard to breathe, to see past the burning in my eyes. 'Why? Where does this come from, Rhys?'

For once, he didn't answer.

And there was something brittle enough in his expression, some long unhealed wound that glimmered there, that I sighed, rubbed my face, and then said. 'Just- work with me. With all of us. Together. This isn't your burden alone.”