After their decisive victory over Orinovo, Lys-Akkaria's army crosses the border to take back territory that used to be theirs. With the combined forces of a lightweaver and shadowforger, Orinovo doesn't stand a chance.
In spite of their newfound a...
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Fennrin was still reeling from what had happened. The following festivities after the feast had been cancelled given the situation, but his hands were still shaking.
He'd not expected Daryan's fake assassin to try to kill him, let alone the way he had. Fennrin had certainly been waiting for the man to strike, but to throw a knife at the Herald? Fennrin had nearly not managed to stop the knife in time.
If he had failed, it would have ruined everything, and it would have been Fennrin's fault. It was horrifying to think about.
"I apologize for what happened," Daryan said, making Fennrin blink. The other man had been talking for a while and Fennrin had not been listening, he'd realized belatedly, much to his embarrassment.
They were both in Daryan's chambers, sitting next to each other on his couch. Fennrin barely remembered getting here. Everything was a blur.
"Was the assassin not supposed to be so convincing?" Fennrin questioned, not sure why Daryan was apologizing.
Daryan blinked at him, frowning. "No, that went all according to plan. I meant kissing you. I...the situation made me forget myself."
Fennrin nodded, somehow having forgotten to have a crisis about that detail of it. Next to everything, it had seemed so unimportant because Daryan had nearly died. Everything else came second.
"Oh, that's—"
"It does not have to mean anything, of course. I wish I had not done it so publicly, too. You were simply too heroic in that moment for me to resist."
Fennrin shrugged. He truly didn't mind. He had liked it, thinking back on it. He'd simply not given this much thought until now. It seemed like he would not be focusing on the right thing here.
"I will be honest, what I am shocked by is mostly what nearly happened to you. Did you truly pay that man to try to kill you? You didn't mention this."
Daryan sighed and nodded. "Very well. Yes, I told him to go after me. It only made sense. An Orinovan loyalist would wish to remove me from the game board, no? The position of the High Herald is a symbol, if nothing else."
"Why did you not tell me?" Fennrin sighed, shaking his head. This had been so foolish. If he'd known ahead of time that Daryan himself would be the main target—
"Because I needed your reaction to be genuine," Daryan explained.
Fennrin wanted to be angry because he had been tricked and much more than that, Daryan had put himself into needless peril just to make this more convincing.
And yet Daryan's kind, deep eyes made his ire disappear as quickly as it showed up. He stood by thinking this had been very foolish, but he couldn't be angry with him.
"You knew someone would attack, but if you knew who or how, it would influence your reactions. People might get suspicious. And you did wonderfully, my dear."
