“She was very sad, and just wanted to leave and escape to one of the worlds she read about in her books, but?—”
“But just when she was about to run away,” Weston cuts in, taking over the story. I clamp my mouth shut, waiting to see where he is going with it. “One of the castle guards saw how sad she was and asked her to dance. The music played and even though no one else was there, she still had a great time at the ball. After that night, the princess and the guard became friends, and went off on all kinds of adventures, just like in the books she had read.”
“Where did they go?” Fin asks. “Did they see a dragon?”
“That can be another story for another night,” Weston says, reaching out to ruffle Fin’s hair.
He rolls to his side and curls into a ball, his eyes softly falling closed. “I’m glad the princess made a friend,” he says with a wide yawn.
Tears fill my eyes and I turn away before anyone can see them threatening to fall.
“Goodnight, Lennox. Goodnight, mister Weston,” Fin murmurs.
Clearing my throat, I reach over and squeeze his leg before whispering back, “Goodnight, Fin.”
The room dims around us as I stand and walk toward the door, trying to swipe at my eyes discreetly. Weston follows wordlessly behind, his presence at my back just as close as it was before.
Once we are in the hallway, my head falls back with a sniffle, and I blink away the remaining tears, trying to compose myself. I don’t want him to see me cry, knowing that it was his fantastical story about showing me kindness that did it.
“You and I are on tonight,” Weston says behind me.
I clear my throat and turn around. “Doesn’t Jorn normally go with you?” My voice wavers despite trying to pull back all the emotion.
His eyes are softer than normal as they trail over my face, looking for any evidence of tears that had fallen. I don’t want to admit how much a simple story broke me, causing all the loneliness I felt that night to rush back, the stark contrast to how many people I have who care about me now.
“He asked to stay back with Taril. I can get someone else if you don’t want to.”
“Are you telling me I’m allowed to go back out?”
The night he kissed me, he forbade me from going out on my shift. Besides the permission he gave Sig that I could join the collection crew, he hadn’t revoked the order, and I need to hear him say it.
“Yes, you can go back out,” he says.
“Not just with you?” I quirk an eyebrow, challenging him to say no.
“Yes, princess.”
I nod. “Alright, then I’ll go.”
Sig and I agreed I needed to talk to Weston as soon as possible, and the perfect opportunity just fell into my lap. No matter what that story made me feel, and how much I want to gocurl up in bed and cry myself to sleep, I am not going to pass it up.
“Meet me on deck in a few minutes.”
I step back against the wall, letting him pass me, feeling the heat coming off him as he gets close, before he disappears down the steps. The creak of hinges startles me, and I look across the hall to find Sig peeking through a crack in her doorway.
I point in the direction Weston just disappeared. “Were you behind this?”
“Maybe,” she whispers. “I figured it would be a good time. We need to act fast.”
“I agree,” I say, and sigh. “Wish me luck. I’ll find you in the morning.”
I grab my bow from the armory and my dagger from the bedside table before heading up to the deck. Weston isn’t here yet, so I tilt my head back to stare up at the sky, at the same stars that amazed and excited me when I got here, but now I can’t help but want to go back home where I won’t see them again.
As long as I’m not alone.
So much has changed since I stepped foot onto this island and took in the sky for the first time. I soak it up now, knowing that there is a possibility my time with it will end. Closing my eyes, I listen to the waves roll into the cove, and the breeze ruffles the sails. I breathe in the salt and water, and the fragrance of the beach, trying to commit every piece to memory for the day that comes when it is all gone.
I want to see more of our world; being on the island has taught me that. When the day comes, if it ever does, that I make the decisions, no one will be able to stop me.
