As Bran listens to our story, his eyes widen when Caelen tells him about the vision of my death in the mirror’s foretelling. His head snaps to me. “You’re not going into battle. You will stay here in the mountain, where it’s safe.”
“No, I am not,” I state firmly. “I will not ask others to fight a war for me that I, myself, will not even fight. I would never do that.”
“Kings do it all the time,” Bran counters. “They send their armies to war and receive reports on the progress back in the comfort of their castles.”
“That’s not the kind of ruler I wish to be,” I snap.
Bran jerks his head to Caelen. “And you’re telling me that you are all right with this? You, who claim to love her?”
“What would you have me do?” Caelen asks. “Bind her in chains to keep her away from battle?”
“Yes,” Bran says. “If that’s what it takes.”
Anger roils through me. “You demand that Caelen treat me well, but then suggest that he should hold me against my will because I want to go into battle?”
“The visions in the mirror showed you lying in a glass coffin, Lyana.” Bran runs a hand roughly through his hair. “I don’t understand. Do you want to die?”
My breath catches as the terrible image fills my mind. “No.” I lower my gaze, not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes. “But Caelen also saw the sylven apple. It’s a symbol of hope and life and—”
“I doubt all the apples in the world will matter if you suffer a wound from an arrow through the heart, a sword that’s run you through or an axe that’s cut you in half,” Bran counters. “You cannot pin your hopes on a symbol, Lyana.”
“I’ll be wearing armor,” I tell him. “Caelen brought armor for me to—”
“Perhaps that is the problem,” he huffs. His gaze slides to Caelen. “Maybe that’s the bit you were supposed to pay attention to so as to avoid a dire fate. Everyone knows Elvish armor is inferior to the stuff we make here. Follow me. Bring your armor as well, Elf.”
“Why?” Caelen asks, indignant.
Bran rolls his eyes. “I’ll have my brother reinforce it with Dwarvish steel to strengthen it. I’ll not have you dying out there on the battlefield and leaving my best friend a sobbing widow.”
