She caught his arm, fingers biting into it. “You say that, but you don’t know how sure you are of it.” She laughed bitterly. “I was under Akhnaton’s will, I can’t deny it. But I love you, Ryan. I will always love you. My love warred with Akhnaton’s will even as he tried to make me his own.”
Her hands stroked both sides of his face. “You aren’t physically hurt too badly, but your spirit is wounded. Your pride bleeds because you think you were unable to protect me.”
Ryan said nothing.
“Don’t you see?” Krysty asked desperately. “You did protect me. It was your love for me and my love for you that broke his power, broke Nefron’s power. It was your strength that gave me the resolve to battle him. We defeated him together.”
Ryan released his breath slowly, then he pulled Krysty to him. He didn’t kiss her; he simply held her tightly. She whispered, “Living is struggling. The unavoidable thing. But love makes it worthwhile.”
“Yeah,” he replied very quietly. “You taught me that.”
He relaxed his arms around her. Krysty’s eyes shone like wet emeralds, but her mouth smiled. He took her hand, and they walked along the passage. Even if the gateway functioned, it could whisk them into another nightmare, but there was little point in contemplating that possibility.
Sometimes, Ryan thought, it was better to travel hopefully than to arrive.