“Can I help you?” he asked.
“What are you going to do? Lift me up to it?” I shook my head. “I prefer to wait until we get to a stream.”
He pulled his cloak back, yanking his dagger from his belt. With a swift slice, he severed the leaf, balancing the base of it in his open hand. “Can you put my dagger back?”
I grabbed the hilt from him as his other hand reached for the leaf.
“Just don’t stab me with it, please.” He looked down at the sheath that hung near his waist, still cupping the leaf.
“What if I miss?” I tried my best to keep my face entirely still.
“These woods are easy to get lost in,” he grumbled as I reached for it.
His chest barely rose as I slid his dagger back into its sheath.
“Thank you for making that painless.” When I looked up at him, he was smirking. The water sloshed as he lowered the filled leaf toward me. “Place your hands near the edges.”
I cupped the leaf.
“I’ll hold it too, so you don’t end up wearing this one.” He slid his hands under mine, tilting the leaf toward me.
My eyes found his as I drank.
With each sip I took, he adjusted it.
He didn’t blink. His gaze was warm.
I pulled my hands back. “Thank you.”
He let the leaf fall between us as I wiped my lips with my damp sleeve.
“What makes your eyes glow like that?” Every fae’s eyes illuminated with subtle light.
“Some say fae energy is infused with starlight. It’s a part of every living thing in Nythrel,” he said. “Every year Aelira and Lioran infuse the land with the star’s magic in theVerdant Alignment. It’s a magnificent display. It’s too bad we will miss it this year.”
“It’s going to happen soon?” I remembered the stories my sister told of the ceremony. She used a crystal to transport the starlight from the sky to the ground. She said it would run through the land afterwards like a glittering display of silver light. Every bit of it rejuvenated the land.
“It will. Any day now. When the stars are at the highest point above us.”
A raindrop hit my forehead as I looked up at the grey sky that hid behind the treetops. The stars must have found humanity unworthy of their display—my realm wouldn’t even be able to imagine it.
I shivered as a cool gust of wind struck me.
“I’d give you my cloak, but I’m afraid two wet cloaks will do very little,” he said. “The cloud cover is thick. It may not let up for a while. We may have to ride to the next village in it.”
“That sounds miserable.”
“You could ride with me,” his voice lowered. “It would spare you from the wind at least.”
“You are tall enough.” Another chill ran through me as I said it. “And I am very cold.”
“No one wants you to be cold, raindrop.” He pressed his lips together.
“No. This has to stop.”
“I’m absolutely not going to stop.” He walked beside me as we made our way back to the horses. “Let’s go, raindrop. Before I change my mind.”
The rain didn’t stop.
