I’d better get going or Valek will be wondering where I am.”“Yes, by all means go. I noticed you and Valek have become close. Tell him, for me, not to kill anybody, will you?” Sarcasm rendered Rand’s voice sharp.I lost control and slammed the oven door shut. It echoed in the quiet kitchen. “At least Valek has the decency to inform me when he’s poisoning me,

I gave him a bored look. I had been threatened many times before and had learned that the men who didn’t make verbal threats were the most dangerous.

Pretty stupid,” I called after his retreating form. “To give up before all possible solutions have been tried.

Run,” he whispered. “Run.”“No, Rand,” I said, brushing the dirt from his face. “I’m tired of running.”“Forgive me, please.” He clutched my hand as his eyes beseeched me through tears of pain.“You’re forgiven.”He sighed once, then stopped breathing. The shine in his brown eyes dulled. I pulled his hood over his head.

Do you really want to know why you lost?” I asked.“Do you really have an answer?” he countered.“You need to get off your horse and run with your men. You don’t have the stamina for a long fight. And find a lighter sword.”“But it was my uncle’s.”“You’re not your uncle.”“But I’m the King, and this is the King’s sword,” Cahil said. His brows creased together. He seemed confused.“So wear it to your coronation,” I said. “If you use it in battle, you’ll be wearing it to your funeral,” I said.

My mind’s screaming went unvoiced. Logic grabbed the panic and wrestled it to the ground.

I wanted to dissolve into the floor, mixing myself with the hard stone. A stone had a single purpose: to be. No complicated promises, no worries and no feelings.

Reviewing our fight, I asked Janco, “Why do you rhyme when you fight?

Unfortunately, diplomacy was a dance I needed to learn.