“So now what?” Koji asked, making Florian laugh.
“Well, some rest would be nice,” he replied. “I think tomorrow we’ll head back to the Winter Court. I can teleport us there the same way I brought us here, so...” He trailed off as Koji’s expression seemed to darken. “You’re... Do you want to come with us to the Winter Court?”
Koji was silent for a long moment, making Florian’s heart beat rapidly with nerves. Maybe this had all been too much for him—maybe leaving his home so far behind was asking too much of him.
But then something in Koji’s face seemed to settle, and he met Florian’s concerned gaze with the same calm smile as always.
“Yes, I do,” he replied, and Florian sighed with relief. “I’m... A little nervous about going so far from home, to be honest. But I meant what I said before. I really want to help you both. I think what you’re doing—whatwe’redoing is important. So I’ll stick with you guys as long as you’ll have me.”
Florian smiled, starting to respond, but to his surprise, Kade was the one who spoke first.
“We appreciate your help,” he said quietly, coming up alongside Florian and squeezing his shoulder. “We couldn’t have done this without you, Koji. I’ll admit I had some... concerns when you wanted to help us. But I was wrong. Thank you, and we’ll be glad to have you for as long as you want to stick with us.”
Florian beamed up at Kade, whose face was, to his credit, as stony as always. But he recognized the softness in his eyes, and when Kade glanced down at him, he answered Florian’s grin with a small, indulgent smile that touched the corners of his lips.
“I know,” Koji replied softly. “I would have been wary of me, too. I don’t blame you. But thank you. I appreciate it, really.”
Kade nodded, and after a beat of silence, he set about unpacking their things in the familiar guest room where they had stayed the previous week.
By the time Takeshi returned—surprised but happy to see them—they had washed away the grime of the Blight and were in fresh, clean clothes. Florian’s mood was much improved, though he could definitely feel exhaustion creeping into the edges of his consciousness. Miyuki joined them an hour later, greeting them cheerfully with a box of food in tow.
“I’m glad to see you guys are looking a lot better this time around!” she chirped, as she set out the meal on the table—thin-sliced beef and spring onions in a ginger sauce, along with roasted vegetables and plenty of rice. “I take it that means everything went well?”
“Pretty well, all things considered,” Koji agreed with a laugh. Florian smiled weakly when Miyuki glanced at him. It didn’t feel like the mission had gone any better to him, but he supposed at least he was conscious this time. That was an improvement, wasn’t it?
When they were done eating, Miyuki still seemed eager to talk, but Florian was exhausted. Koji was the same, so they politely said their good nights, and Miyuki promised she’d come by tomorrow to see them off. Takeshi would be gone for the day by the time they awoke and headed out, so he said his goodbyes that night before they slept.
Then it was just the three of them, alone in the same little guest room. Koji fell asleep almost the moment the lights were out; Florian could hear Kade breathing evenly in bed near him for a little while until his breaths too became slow and even with sleep. Tired as he was, Florian found himself looking up at the ceiling in the darkness for a long time.
They had four Arrows now—more than halfway there. But what would come next?
“You’re sure there’s nothing you need from the palace before we leave?”
The question hung heavy in the air between the three of them for a long moment. A last chance for Koji to bow out, or at least delay leaving the dragon kingdom behind—he seemed to consider it seriously for a moment, then gave Kade and Florian a now-familiar amiable smile.
“Nothing important, no,” he said. “As long as there’s clothing and food in the Winter Court, then there isn’t anything I need here that I couldn’t get elsewhere.”
Florian chuckled. “Then we should be all good.”
Kade nodded, then gave Florian an expectant look.
“Well,” he continued, holding his hands out to the two of them. “Ready?”
Koji nodded and placed his hand in Florian’s. Kade looked at him inscrutably for a beat longer, then squeezed Florian’s other hand.
He took one last look around Takeshi’s guest room—Miyuki had brought them breakfast that morning, but had left not long after giving them a quick, tearful goodbye. They owed a lot to the hospitality of Miyuki and Takeshi; he couldn’t imagine how much more difficult all of this would have been if they hadn’t had a safe base of operations within the walls of the dragon kingdom.
Well, they would have no such problems in the Winter Court.
“Time to go,” Florian said softly. The world lurched around them, and in an instant they were no longer in the warm light of Takeshi’s guestroom, but in the cool perpetual twilight of the Winter Court. The three of them stood in the Moon Garden—Florian suppressed a frown. He never meant to bring them here, specifically, but somehow they always ended up in the courtyard where he had escaped to the first time he’d teleported, when his father—
“Dragon-god above,” Koji breathed, his hand falling away from Florian’s, distracting him from the painful memory. The dragon shifter turned in a slow circle, looking around with wide eyes and a half-agape mouth. “Wow. I didn’t imagine it would be like... this.”
Florian chuckled. “What were you picturing?”
“A lot more snow,” Koji replied, and they both laughed.
“Much more snow where I’m from,” Kade replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. “C’mon. I’m sure Tatiana will be glad to see you.”
