Elyria lay aloneunder the bough of a silveroak tree, watching the final streaks of orange and pink fade from the sky through the branches overhead. The grass was soft beneath her back, and she exhaled on a sigh, closing her eyes. Today was...a lot. As was yesterday. And the day before that. And the week before that. And the months before that. She wished she could take a moment, wished time would stop for a little while. She wanted the freedom of not having to make decisions, of not needing to have a plan or a goal or a mission. She just wanted tobe, to take in everything she’d learned, everything she now knew.
It was ironic, considering how eager she had been to get moving before leaving Kingshelm. How sick and tired shehad been of waiting.
Now, all she wanted was for things to slow down.
“You look troubled, Trouble.”
Elyria smiled as Cedric’s voice drifted into her ears. The steady sound of crunching leaves had her opening her eyes just as he came to stand over her, looking down with amusement.
She sat up, her head still thrown back as she looked at him, and Cedric bent at the waist to give her an upside-down kiss before settling into the grass next to her.
“How are you?” they both asked at the same time, then laughed in equal measure.
“You first,” Elyria said.
“I feel...overwhelmed? But strangely at peace? I don’t quite know how to describe it. There is something to knowing more about yourself, even if the things you now know aren’t what you thought they’d be. I don’t know if that makes sense.”
“It makes sense,” she replied solemnly. “Believe me.”
The wind whistled through the branches above them as they watched the sun continue setting. Finally, Cedric said, “So, how are you then?”
“Oh, just dandy. Sorting through lots of feelings. Very fun for me, as you can imagine.”
Cedric chuckled. “What kinds of feelings, in particular?”
Elyria picked at the grass, ripping blades out one by one. “Oh, feeling a bit worried about Sid. Feeling motivated by Larkess’ invitation to meet with the elder council tomorrow, and excited at the possibility of figuring out where to look for Malchior next. And feeling a bit melancholy over how time continues to move forward, even if I’m not quite ready for it to do so.”
“That is?—”
Elyria wasn’t done. “I’m also feeling glad that Shep and”—she rolled her eyes—“Zephyr retrieved Polonius and Fjaethe for us. Feeling relieved, on your behalf, to have learned more about you, like you said. But I also feel sad for you. Because there’s so much about your own life you didn’t know until now. And I wish you had been able to.”
Cedric’s expression was somewhere between amazed and stupefied when she looked at him again, though he quickly tried to school it into neutrality. “That is, ah, yes. Those are a lot of feelings.”
“As I said.”
“I confess, I’m impressed you are able to articulate them,” he teased. “I hadn’t thought of you as much of a ‘feelings person.’ ”
Elyria snorted at that. “Guess there’s still plenty for us to discover about each other. Isn’t there, Sunbringer?”
Cedric grimaced, but Elyria simply stuck out her hand, offering it to him as if in greeting. “Elyria Lightbreaker, nice to meet you. Nightwielder. Wildshaper. Revenant. Troublemaker, allegedly.” She grinned. “Bacon aficionado.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re a bit prouder of one of those monikers than the others?”
“You’re boasting a few new titles yourself there,” she said. “And here I was thinking ‘Lord Thorne’ sounded regal. I had no idea I was talking to an actualprince.”
“Noctis take me,” Cedric said with a groan. “Please don’t start.”
“Do you prefer ‘Your Royal Highness’ or shall I simply call you ‘Prince Cedric?’No need to answer just now, you can take some time to think about it.”
Cedric leapt on her with a growl, pinning her against the grass. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”
She snapped her teeth at him, taking a bite out of the air. “I know I’m funny.”
He made a humming sound, as though he just couldn’t bring himself to agree despite theobvioustruth of that fact, and that made Elyria smile. She rose to place a gentle kiss atop Cedric’s scarred lip before he rolled onto his back to lay beside her in the grass.
“Loath though I am to inflate your ego even more,” he said after a moment, his hand draped across her leg, drawing lazy circles on her inner thigh, “once again, you were right.”
“And as we had previously determined, I often am. But I like it when you’re specific. Right about what?”
