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army at our backs.” That sympathy remained.
“I can’t trust you enough to let you join us any
other way.”
“But you’ll let me swear the blood oath?”
“I want nothing from you, and you want
nothing from me. The only order I shall ever
give you is the one I would ask of any citizen
of Terrasen: to protect and defend our
kingdom and its people. You can live in a hut
in the Staghorns for all I care.”
She meant it, too. Swear the blood oath,
swear never to harm her kingdom, and she’d
give him freedom. And if he refused ... He
would never see Elide again.
“I don’t have another choice,” Aelin said
quietly, so the others might not hear. “I can’t
risk Terrasen.” She still held her arm toward
him. “But I would not take something as
precious away from you.”
“What you don’t realize is that is no longer