Alaric searched Julian's face, his chest heaving. He hated it. He hated every syllable of the plan, but he saw the truth in Julian's eyes: the scholar was willing to walk into the fire to keep the North from burning.
If even now, he wanted to be defiant and keep Julian just so he could see him every waking hour and hold him in his arms, Julian would call him childish and an unreasonable leader.
This plan… was for the safety of all of them, not just Julian.
"Two months," Alaric vowed, the words sounding like a heavy, iron seal coming from his lips. "Not a second more, Julian. I will have my scouts at every pass. I will have my knights stationed at the border. And if you are not back when the time has come…"
His eyes turned into shards of ice, reflecting a violence that made the air in the hall grow cold.
