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Selene had been closed inside the captain’s quarters with Dimitrios for too long. Not that the heir wasn’t trustworthy. He fully trusted the man with Selene’s life and virtue.

It was the reason she was in there, which Augustus had learned only minutes ago in passing. She’d sought the heir out to discuss him taking the throne. A discussion Augustus couldn’t believe had to happen in the first place.

If it had been up to him, Augustus would have barged into that cabin and shaken the man into his right senses. Selene—gods love her—had taken a…softer route.

It felt like hours had passed by the time Selene appeared. He’d forgone his anxiety-induced pacing and reclined right at the threshold, where she nearly stepped on him.

Selene, eyes wide, shot a look behind her before hurriedly closing the door. She shoved him out of earshot. “Are you a spy now?”

She couldn’t possibly blame him, could she? They were in this together, and she was his to protect whether she liked it or not. “I’m a man who needs that man to get his head out of his—”

“Augustus.”

Normally, he found it adorable when she did that but now wasn’t the time. “What? We go in, we kill the king and his bitch daughter, and Dimitrios takes the throne. Why is this hard?”

“He is a human man with human concerns. Give him the space to work this out. Also, what is it with you and brute force? It would never be that easy.”

“Never” was not a word he accepted. “What would you say to explosives, then?”

A wary look entered her eyes. “You want to blow up the palace?”

He’d been mulling this idea over since his conversation with Vasso, who’d inadvertently given him the idea. “A mountain, actually.”

Selene’s head canted at the idea, and he knew he had her.

“We go in, we blow up that mountain, and we disappear, never to be seen again.”

“What? Augustus—”

“Hear me out. The king’s entire plan revolves around dropping us into those fires. But if he can’t reach them…?”

“The gods—”

“Fuck the gods, Selene.” He was so fucking tired of the gods and what they wanted. What about what he and Selene wanted? What about their future? “This is about keeping you alive.”

“A rightful king must stand, or we don’t live to see another year. Either of us.”

If it wasn’t the gods, it was the prophecy. Well, if they had to dive into that topic, he had a few complaints to add. He aimed a finger at the captain’s quarters. “Tell him that, why don’t you? While you’re in there pulling on his heartstrings about his people, remind him that— Remind him that—”

The weight of everything Augustus felt hit all at once. The idea that happiness was right there, and yet out of reach. It was as if he’d gone his entire life sailing against the wind. Then Selene ran into him on that dusty road outside the palace, looked up at him with those incredible eyes, and the course changed.

The sun felt warmer. The sea calmer. The act of living, of breathing, wasn’t hard anymore. He could do anything as long as she stayed right where she was.

With him.

He refused to go back to the way it was before. He refused to accept that they had limited time left in this life.

Selene gave a small shake of her head. “Remind him of what, Augustus?”

Augustus took her face into his hands. “Remind him that I only just found you.”

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Augustus was afraid.

Hours had passed since Augustus stormed from their rooms, leaving Cassia exasperated. Selene in shock. Mettius wanted to follow on his heels and shake the lad to his senses. Didn’t he see how hard this was for his mother? She didn’t want to come here. The gods had given her those visions for a reason. A taunt, she’d said. Dangling their son’s fate like a carrot. Had it been anyone else, they’d already be out to sea preparing the fleet for war.

Augustus needed time to process, though, so Mettius had waited. Let the sun set on this brow-beaten harbor. There’d been no room for their fleet in this little cove, and no room to host their numbers on land. Their ships were miles out, most of their crew still aboard.

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