Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
“Because you are not well.”
It wasn’t a question, and Tem couldn’t fathom why he would say that to her. “Excuse me? I’m perfectly fine.”
“No.” Apollo leaned in. “You are not. You have been different since the night I taught you to petrify. You eat less. You do not sleep. Something is affecting you.”
Tem stared up at him in disbelief. How had Apollo managed to notice all of those things? Even Caspen hadn’t noticed she wasn’t sleeping well. Then again, he was gone all the time, hunting. There were some days when Apollo saw her more than Caspen did. And on those days, apparently, he had been watching her closely.
“What ails you, Temperance?”
Tem let out a tortured laugh. What ailed her? Too many things to count. She was worried about the tournament, the crest, Leo. She was worried that everything was about to fall apart. But Apollo couldn’t fix any of those things. Nobody could.
“Just go to bed, Apollo.”
“It is you who should be in bed.”
Tem frowned at his tone. He sounded genuinely concerned. Normally Apollo would have made some cheeky comment about how he wanted to come to bed with her. But not tonight. Tonight he was looking at her as if she were fragile, as if she might break. It wasn’t an expression she was used to seeing on him.
“Why do you care what I do?”
“I care because you and my brother are bound by blood. Your emotional bond is significant, which means that your well-being directly affects his. If you are not at your best, he cannot perform tomorrow.”
That stopped Tem short. “What do you mean?”
“I mean”-Apollo stepped closer, and she sensed his urgency-“he will need to be strong for the fight, which means you must be strong too.”
Tem bit her lip. She was anything but strong right now.
“What ails you, Temperance?” Apollo asked again, softer this time. “If you do not wish to tell me, I understand. But burdens are easier to bear when shared.”
He was right, of course. But her burdens were not the kind that could be shared. Apollo could do nothing about the situation with Leo-he could not free her from consummating the crest. He could not even guarantee the results of the tournament. And yet, somehow, his offer to confide in him helped. It made her feel less alone. So she said, “I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
But there were no words to describe it. Tem was afraid of so many things. She couldn’t possibly list them all right now, and she didn’t want Apollo to know them anyway. To know them would be to sit in secrecy with her, and she did not wish that on him.
“Of the tournament?” Apollo prompted.
“Yes,” she said truthfully. Among other things.
“You have nothing to fear, Temperance.”
Tem closed her eyes, trying to believe him. “That’s easy for you to say. Your husband isn’t in danger.”
“I do not have a husband.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Caspenon will be fine, Temperance.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know my brother. And nothing could stop him from fighting for you.”
“I can’t live without him.”
“The tournament presents only a possibility of that. Not a guarantee of it.”
A pause.
Apollo’s next words came quietly: “I understand you are afraid. But if Caspenon does not win, I will protect you from Rowe. No harm will ever come to you by his hand. You have my word.”
Tem opened her eyes, nearly losing her breath when she saw how close Apollo was standing.
“I share my blood with him.” Apollo touched his finger to the claw around her neck, the exact same the way Caspen had. “Just as you do.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he finished. “We will not let you go so easily.”
“It’s not up to you.”
“Your heart will call to your true match, Temperance. There is no reason to fear that.”
“Yes. There is.”
“Why?”
“Because I love Leo.” The moment she said it, terror struck her.
Apollo frowned. “Leo?”
Tem realized Apollo only knew him by one name. “Thelonius. The human king.”
She expected a reaction of some kind. For him to shout, perhaps, or berate her. Instead he tilted his head, looking at her with what could only be described as compassion. His gaze flicked down to her hand, where her silver wedding band glinted.
“I always wondered why you still wore that,” he whispered.
Tem twirled the ring around her finger, feeling the cool metal. Caspen had never once asked about it. She was beginning to think he never would. “I…can’t bear to take it off.”
Apollo tilted his head, as if he’d just understood something. “You are afraid your heart will call to him.”
Tears filled her eyes. When he said it out loud, somehow it made it real. “Yes,” she whispered.
Apollo sighed. It wasn’t an angry sigh-more wistful, as if he felt sorry for her. Most likely he did. Tem had allowed this to go too far, had indulged her feelings for too long. Now she would face the consequences. Apollo could not fix this. No one could.
“We cannot help who we love, Temperance.” It sounded like he was speaking from experience. “You are not the first person to enter the tournament uncertain. And you will not be the last.”
“I’m not uncertain,” she said. “I love them both.
That is certain.”
Apollo regarded for a moment before speaking. “I cannot pretend to understand your love for the human king. From what I have seen of him, he looks rather frail.”
Tem almost laughed.
“But I can understand matters of the heart,” Apollo continued, touching his fingers gently to Tem’s chest. “And matters of the heart are never simple.”
Tem looked up at him. Apollo said it calmly, in a tone that implied he had extensive experience in the matter. And she supposed he did. Caspen and Apollo had both been alive for centuries-far longer than Tem. She was twenty years old. She was a child in comparison. But nobody here treated her like a child, especially the Drakon brothers. It was a double-edged sword. She was not afforded the grace a child would be in the same situation. Tem had made her bed, and now she would have to lie in it.
“Temperance,” he said softly, and she looked up at him. “My brother deserves to know how you feel.”
Tem knew what he was trying to say.
I care only that you are loyal with your heart.