The first thing I saw when I opened my swollen eyes was Agatha.
She reclined on the stateroom settee, legs crossed at the ankles, her blue silk gown cascading to the floor in a sunlit wave. On the floor, with his back leaning against the same settee, Lachlan polished a piece of his golden armor with a neatly folded cloth. Her hand played idly with the back of his collar.
TheEleuthiosrocked over a gentle sea, and a salty breeze blew in from the open windows, over the bed where I lay.
I blinked, feeling wholly disoriented. Everything, everyone, felt solight.
Even the way my body ached was temperate, the pain at the surface. I closed my eyes again and pressed my cheek into the soft pillow that smelled of vetiver soap and earth and the light, sweet note of Varya’s vining flowers.
Like Theo.
I looked once more at Agatha and Lach, and this time, he was looking back. Eyes twinkling, he gave a teasing, halfhearted wince. “Still looking like shit, Imogen,” he said, mouth curving in an impish smile.
Agatha gasped and looked up at me too. Her brown eyes were hopeful and aglow. “Stop it,” she said, swatting the back of Lachlan’s head, then rising quickly from the settee. “She looks much better.”
Lachlan smiled and set his armor aside. “Everyone looks better once the black blood stops oozing.”
Agatha tossed the book she’d been reading at him and rushed to my side. “Ignore him.” She settled on the edge of the bed beside me and raised a glass of water to my dry lips. “How do you feel?”
I pushed myself up. “Hmm.” I took a sip. Took stock of myself and winced when I felt the deep hurt in my shoulder… where my wing had been. My breath caught. “Tender.”
“I’ll be right back,” Lachlan said, as he made his way toward the door.
Agatha smiled at Lachlan over her shoulder then took my hand. “I killed Eusia,” she said in a rush, as if she couldn’t contain it a moment longer. She shrugged. “Well, we all did, I suppose. But the spell I performed…” Somehow her smile grew wider. “It worked.”
I was stunned into silence as my memories started to slowly surface, but I gave Agatha a wide smile back. I’d never seen her like this. Joy emanated from the very heart of her, unlike the brittle happiness she used to don like a mantle.
“You’re happy.” I closed my eyes, smile lingering on my lips. “Good. I’ll miss you, but how wonderful—”
“Miss me?” She scowled. “Why on earth will you miss me?”
“You have Lach—”
“Where will I go when I need a break from him? Where will I sleep when he’s away or when we’ve had a fight?” Her face softened. “Life would be incomplete if you weren’t close, Imogen. So we will be. You won’t miss me at all.” She patted my hand like we’d made a pact. “Lachlan will just have to deal with it.”
I nodded, as the lump of tears in my throat refused to let me speak.
Agatha rose quickly and straightened her skirt, businesslike. “You’ve been asleep for three days. You’re still pale, though, so you stay put. Another two or so days until we reach port—”
The door swung open with such force, I thought its stained-glass window might shatter. Theodore stepped inside, then froze. His hat was worn low, and he had a wind-whipped look about him, cheeks flushed and hair misted. Fervid eyes beheld me from beneath the shadow of his brim.
I pushed myself up straighter in the bed, chest suddenly aching at the sight of him.
Agatha gathered her skirt in one hand. “I’ll just go…” She gave Theodore the quickest half-curtsy and raced from the stateroom, closing the door behind her.
He stood stock-still, his gaze darting over me, taking in my state. Once satisfied, he removed the tricorn he wore from his head. I watched his throat move with a hard swallow.
“Hello, you,” he said, deep and weak.
“Hello.”
“We’re ahh… we’re just a few days away from Varya.”
I nodded. “Agatha mentioned.”
He nodded back. “When we get there… I thought we’d…” His hand swiped through his hair uncomfortably. “I thought we’d throw Lachlan and Agatha a wedding feast. As a thank-you. They deserve it, I think.” His warm voice sounded graveled, attempting conversational, but his gaze was so ardent and direct that it made my heart twinge.
I fiddled with the tie of the nightgown I wore. “That would be lovely,” I said, softly.
