“What? Right now? We don’t even have Rafe’s ring.”
I think back on how furious Rafe was earlier with me. “He doesn’t have it. Why would he have kept it?”
Ginna glances towards the direction where Elia had gone and Rafe had followed, her face stern.
“Now you’re the one who’s going to leave without a word? No, we’re done with that, Cal. We can leave as soon as they come back, ring or not, but I’m not leaving without a goodbye from Rafe this time. Plus, we need to wait for Elia.”
Ginna’s right. As much as I want to leave Sevrin behind and this mess of a trip, I won’t strand Elia here. I promised her I would help her business andhelp her settle into a new life, and I would keep that promise. I need more time on theMidaswith her to beg for forgiveness, to try and salvage any possible hope I have with her.
I lost any hope Elia had given me about reconciling with Rafe.
It isn’t long until we hear footsteps walking our way and see Elia and Rafe emerge from behind the cottage.
They both have their jaws set, as if an important decision was made between them.
I stand immediately when they come over, hiding my spasming fingers behind my back.
Surprisingly, it is Rafe who speaks first. “Here. As promised.” He holds out his fist, turning it over and opening it to reveal the ring.
My eyebrows shoot to the sky. “You kept it.”
“Of course I did.” His eyes bare straight into mine, and for a second we are the only people here. Back when it was only the two of us meeting up for a secret rendezvous.
Our hands brush when I pick up the ring and a shiver runs through my body. It’s the first touch we’ve shared in five years, and it is over too soon.
“Thanks,” I mumble, trying to ignore the buzzing sensation lingering from only the lightest touch.
I slide the band on my ring finger on the same hand with Rafe’s simple band he gave me. I’m expecting to feel different, somehow, wearing the relic. But I feel the same, if not worse.
“Your hands still shake?” Rafe asks, and I quickly drop them out of sight.
“Sometimes.”
“What happened?” Rafe’s eyes drill into me, and I’m transported back to that same night, one of the few we’d shared before he left where he had asked me the same question. Despite everything that has transpired between us, he is giving me one last chance. One last chance to prove to him that I can take down my walls, open myself up to him.
The King punished me for touching you. He threatened your life if I took any step out of line.
The words are so close to the surface, bubbling up like a geyser close to erupting. I open my mouth to vocalize exactly that, but what comes out is, “An accident.”
Rafe clicks his tongue. “Right. An accident.”
I watch his face fall, and with it I see any hope of us rekindling things fall with it. A door slamming shut between us.
“We’d better get going before it becomes dark out.”
Rafe nods curtly before Ginna pulls him into a tight hug.
“Don’t be a stranger, Rafe. Please.”
“I won’t. I’ll write to you and Hanson more. Ex-prince’s honor.” He raises one hand in a mock salute.
Ginna laughs. “I’ll miss you.”
“You know where to find me.”
“No chance you’ll come visit Ashven?”
“Not even in the slightest."
