I finally tore my gaze from the ring.
“You don’t like it? I can craft another?—”
“No!” I cried, terrified he might take it back. “But… Do you know what it means? For humans, I mean?”
He tilted his head. “I’ve seen women wear such rings, but I assumed it was simply decorative.”
My cheeks flushed. “It’s a promise. You give it to someone to tell them you want to spend eternity with them. It’s… a marriage. A contract.”
“I see,” he mused. “Well then, you are my confectioner. My eternity will be short… but it is yours.”
My eyes widened, and I stopped breathing altogether. Then, I spun on my heel. “We should go!”
I knew he was following, his long strides unhurried behind me. I even heard him laugh. Opening my heart was going to be far more complicated than I had imagined. Especially when he had the power to break it forever.
26
Sometimes, the light of a single heart is strong enough to replace that of thousands.
ARAWN
“Have you chosen your lantern, Mademoiselle?”
It had taken only one simple question from Yeun for Lempicka to finally stop dithering. After what felt like an eternity of watching her stare at the lanterns dangling from the branches of the weeping willows, she reached for a small green one shaped like a star. I remained in the background, arms crossed, my gaze so glacial that no Spirit dared interrupt her precious moment of reflection.
“It’s already started,” she whispered, horrified to see the lanterns sliding across the black water of the lake, carried by the breeze and the Spirits’ silent prayers. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
A sharp smile stretched across my lips. “Because you would have panicked, overanalyzed every detail, and, in a fit of typical you, regretted your choice before the lantern even touched the water.”
Her lips pursed, clearly displeased. She was finally starting to understand, to my great satisfaction, how well I could read her.
“I needed to choose the right one,” she muttered.
For her mentor.
“These lanterns replace the light of the will-o’-wisps,” Yeun explained, twirling around her. “By offering a piece of our own light, tradition says we make a wish or pray for those we’ve lost.” His flame flared deep blue as he looked up at the sky. “Just for one night, it feels as if I’m with my people again.”
Yeun always grew too sentimental during this ceremony. Too open. Too vulnerable. He quickly looked away. But Lempicka leaned close and placed a soft kiss on his flame. He turned scarlet. What misery, to wear one’s emotions so openly. A strange pull knotted in my chest.
“I wish I had known them. You’ve all become like family to me.”
I held my breath. Every Spirit nearby snapped their heads toward her.Family.My body tensed.
“They would have adored you, Mademoiselle Lempicka,” Yeun replied, before throwing me a mischievous look. “Unlike Monsieur Arawn here.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear. “You frown as if you plan to annihilate the entire ceremony. Relax. I’m just relieved you’ve finally opened your eyes.”
I shot him a look so icy it could have frozen the lanterns across the lake. But Yeun, master of evasion, had already darted off after his temperamental ostrich.
“Aignan!” Lempicka cried suddenly, her eyes widening. “I have to find him! I want to make a wish for Nyla with him. I hope I’m not too late!”
I plucked a waterlily from a nearby cluster and handed it to her. “Don’t forget this.”
She darted into the crowd, leaving behind a trail of sugar particles. I raised a hand, but she was already gone. Off in the wrong direction, naturally.
I sighed, then started walking. The lamb was not hard to find. Even from here, I could smell him. Damp earth and gingerbread. A few steps more, and I spotted him, hunched before a dull gray lantern. The other two Cursed hovered nearby, but neither seemed inclined to help.
A solitary tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it with the back of a hoof as if nothing had happened. “You didn’t see anything.”
“If you say so,” I replied flatly, glancing down at the crumpled flower he clutched in trembling paws.
