“Jun, do you mind givingPallasand me a few minutes?Youknow, for girl talk?”
Hetwisted his face. “Girltalk?Who’sthe girl that’s going to joinPallasfor this?”
Torimade a rude gesture at her brother. “Fine, stay if you want, ass.”Junsmiled, and it was wicked.Theprincess rolled her eyes and turned to me.
“Ifwe are going cave diving tomorrow, your hair is going to be a problem,” she stated flatly.
“What’swrong with my hair?”Icombed it nervously.
“It’slong and luxurious.Itwill get in the way.”Torimoved to stand behind me. “MayI?”Inodded my head.
Sheguided me to the chair in front of the vanity and gently ran her hands through my hair, softly brushing it and dividing it into sections.Hertouch was so light it sent tingles down my spine, andIshivered.Isaw a gentle smile in the mirror, and she continued, starting to braid the hair near my temple.
“Isthis taught in the barracks?”Iasked.
Shelaughed. “No,Iused to forceJuninto letting me do this to him.Didn’tI?” she called over to him.IsawJunsit down on the bed and rub his head absentmindedly, perhaps remembering when she wasn’t so gentle.
“Hedidn’t complain too much,"Toriadded with her own wicked grin.
“Yes,Idid,” her brother retorted, and she just laughed.
“Recently,I’vebeen practicing onAbraxas.”Theimage of the fearsome dragon king with his hair in a long, delicate braid laced with flowers and clips almost had a smile on my face.Almost.Shesmirked at me again, looking for my reaction.Icouldn’t smile back.
“I’mscared, too, you know.”Istiffened in my seat. “It’sgood to be scared.Itmeans you know what we face and what our failure will cost us.You’vebeen instrumental in this,Pallas.Wecouldn’t have done this without you.”
Ididn’t say anything.Itstill felt wrong after all this time.Hadeonhaunted my every thought, even now.Goingagainst him felt so unnatural.Ilooked in the mirror and sawJunsmiling up at me.Iwould do this for him.Iwould never letHadeonget him back.
Torifinished up the braid, which wrapped around my head like a crown, holding the hair tight to my head.Shesmiled and patted it lightly. “Muchbetter.Showsoff your pretty face.”
Itwisted my face at her, and she laughed again.
“Ihave one more thing for you.”Shecupped her hands in front of me, andIwatched as shimmering blue mana pooled in her hands.Itwas like a tiny star, threads of it orbiting the whole as she gathered up the power.Isaw her lace it with that white magic that flowed between her andJun.Shecompressed it tight, then sent it gently into my chest, where it sat like a warm embrace over my heart.
“What’sthis?”
“You’renot the only one who can run experiments, you know,Pallas.Thinkof it like a container of mana.I’vebeen practicing making bigger ones forAbraxasso he could transform without me nearby.”
“Tori,Idon’t have any fae magic.Thiswill be useless in me.”
Herface lit up with that annoying smirk that was starting to grow on me. “Perhaps.Justconsider it good luck, then.Somethingto remind you that at the end of all of this, you will always haveJunandI, no matter what.”
“Jun… and you?”Iraised an eyebrow at her.
Therewas no teasing in her expression. “Yes, and me.Thankyou,Pallas.Thankyou for everything.”
Ireached up and grabbed her hand, which lay on my shoulder.Shedidn’t have to say anymore.Itseemed she couldn’t help herself.
“Ialso know a certain someone else who would never forgive me if anything happened to you.”Iscowled, and she chuckled.
“Idon’t know what you are talking about.”
“Birdsof a feather,indeed.”
ToriandJunbid me good night, and for the first timeIcould remember,Junleft me for his own room.Withthem both gone and the sunset, suddenly, the beautiful roomIwas in felt like a tomb.Iclimbed into bed.Itwas much too large for just me.Ihadn’t realized how muchIhad grown used toJun’spresence.Ihadn’t thought about how we had shared a bed every single night for the last few months, even if that bed was sometimes a ship’s deck or a musty cave.
He’dbeen smiling and laughing more, and it brought me so much joy.Thatdark, selfish part of me longed for him, longed to keep him in the dark with me.Ifwe were both broken, then at least we would have each other.Ishook my head.No.No,Iwould not want that.EvenifJunleft me behind,Iwould be happy because he deserved that.Hedeserved to be whole.ItwasIwho didn’t deserve that.
AsItried to make myself comfortable in the cold sheets, a knock came at my door again.
