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Most couples flirted by making eyes at each other or complimenting each other’s outfits. We did it by discussing how best to murder our enemies.
But this was nothing like that. This… was two stars colliding. The end of everything and the beginning at the same time.
“Far be it from me to come between a female and her fox.”
“I love you, and nothing else matters beyond that. Wherever you are, I’ll beg the gods and all the fates to let me be there, too,” I whispered.
“Fine. But I swear to the gods, if you talk the entire time, I will kill you and leave your carcass for the crows, Carrion Swift.”
As for me? I was a sight taller than Swift. Significantly better-looking, too, but that was beside the point.
“He is an indoor cat, Your Highness,” she spat viciously. “He’s never stepped foot outside of this library.”
“Hate to be… a bother,” Carrion wheezed. “But if you’re not in a position to… save me right… now, then… could you possibly kill me instead? This… really sucks.” Gods, how was he still talking? I couldn’t even think.
I didn’t love this realm, but it had produced someone I loved with a fierceness that took my breath away, and I was not going to leave this place worse off than when I had found it. For Saeris’s sake, I would protect it.
Do you think I am afraid to face my demons? I’ve faced them before. I know them all by name. I’ve conquered them and bent them to my will more times than the sun has risen over Yvelia in my lifetime. I’ll face your nightmares if I have to, and I will still be the most frightening thing prowling around in the dark.”
I could be dead in the ground five thousand years and the frosts could have taken my bones, and still no other male will ever have loved another female the way that I love you.”
No. That plan was no longer viable. Because boy oh fucking boy, was I going to cause a fucking scene.
Carrion squinted at Fisher, hand in the air. “Is it weird, knowing that people’s balls retract up into their bodies whenever you’re around?” He made a cupping motion of something being sucked upward.
THE FOX SMELLED like wild winter and frost-bitten mornings. I held him tightly under one arm, humming a lullaby that my mother had sung to me as an infant quietly under my breath. Not to the fox. I wasn’t humming to the fox. That would have been weird. I just liked the song, and I had a feeling he did, too. There was nothing wrong with that.
“Who’s Carrion?” I almost laughed. In another life, gods almighty, they would have relied upon each other, those two males. Ruefully, I admitted, “He’s a friend. You’ll meet him soon enough, I’m sure.”
I didn’t even have a house back in Zilvaren—” “It’s true,” Carrion said. “She was as feral as a hellcat. She would slink through any open window and take a nap when she could.”
When Saeris turned her blue eyes on me, I didn’t have a choice. I was laid bare before her. I was brought to my godscursed knees.
I ducked down and whispered into her ear. “You’re a wildfire, Saeris Fane. There’s no controlling you.”
“And what if there comes a day when all of this becomes too much, and I want to be carried? At least for a little while?” “Then it would be my honor and a privilege to do so, Saeris. Never doubt that. Whenever you need me to catch you, I am here, ready and willing.
If she wouldn’t toe the line, I would make her. If she wanted violence, it would be hers.
Just a moment’s peace. Was that too much to ask for?
“Dancing is like fighting, Osha. It’s also like fucking. And I pride myself on my skills in both of those arenas.”
But sometimes, if you wanted to… you’re allowed to soften, Saeris. You’re allowed to stop baring your teeth at the world and take a breath. Because I’ve got you.”
“You want me to stay. You missed me.”
“I shouldn’t tell you this, since you seem blissfully unaware of the power you hold over me, but… I will give you whatever you want, Saeris Fane. Always. No matter what it costs me.”
“How can I consign myself to another endless dark when I’ve been given back the light?”
“Ahhh, gods. He’s going to be insufferable after this,” I groaned.
For the first time in Yvelian history, a god sword had entrusted itself into the hands of someone it wasn’t bonded to. Because Kingfisher loved me. I had come here to save him… and that was good enough for his sword.
