“Indeed.” The word is heavy, and silence stretches between us for several long minutes. Save for a few owls and a pair of raccoons that cross our path, we don’t encounter anyone else.
It’s not until we reach an area where the glistening air above our heads seems brighter than the others that I stop. “The net.”
Alaric glances up, then back at me. “What of it?”
I cross my arms, studying the glimmer. The way it moves. The divide it creates between us and the rest of the world. “Soldier-to-soldier, how safe is it, really? How worried do I need to be for my mate?”
This is the first time I’ve said those words out loud to anyone else, claimed Wren in such a fashion, and it feelsright. Our bond, incomplete though it may be, thrums in my chest.
Alaric cranes his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s made of magic, and it’s regularly reinforced.”
“But is it secure?” I press.
“We’ve never had an incident.” A vein in his jaw pulses, though.
“But . . .”
Alaric sighs, shrugging. “But it’s not infallible. Nothing is.”
“Could it be breached?”
“Maybe. It’s possible, I suppose.” He starts walking again and points into the distance where two shadows stand out from the rest of the forest. “The perimeter is patrolled twenty-four seven, and we are always watching for signs of an opening.”
His words are the opposite of reassuring, and unease swims inside me. “Do you trust it to keep your people out of harm’s way?”
The captain seems to mull over my words before he nods. “As much as I trust anything or anyone.” He stops, clasping my shoulder and meeting my gaze. “Look, you know as well as I do, nothing is ever completely safe. People like us learn that lesson early on, but it’s a universal truth. All you can do is your best for the ones you love. Everything else is out of your control.”
And isn’t that gods-damned awful?
Our conversation drifts to other things, but Alaric’s words stay with me long after he heads over to speak with one of the guards on duty, leaving me alone. I wander for several more hours, replaying my conversation with Alaric until the first rays of sunlight paint the sky in pale pink and yellow, before returning to the cabin.
Mist blinks as I let myself in, and Wren is still asleep, clutching the pillow to her chest. Her features are peaceful in sleep, her Mark softly illuminating the room. Her chest rises and falls steadily, signaling that she lives, and her presence grounds me.
My chest thrums, the bond never truly quiet, and I drink in the sight of Wren. My mate. Seeing her here, at peace, is a reminder of how far we’ve come—and how far I’ll go to ensure she remains out of the king’s clutches.
After all, he cannot have her.
She is mine.
39
LESSONS IN CONCENTRATION
WREN
The suns are shining, birds are chirping, and I’m sitting outside on a blanket, my back resting against a tree trunk. A silver coin is flat in my palm, the object of my focus. Gabriel is sitting next to me, sharpening a sword, and Jasper is across from me. Soren was here earlier, but he was called away.
I turn the coin over, a frown pulling on my lips as I study it. The king’s sigil, an eagle flying in front of the twin suns, is on one side, and the other is stamped with a dagger. Becauseof courseit is. This wouldn’t be King Andreas’s kingdom if there weren’t constant reminders that this is a place of bloodshed and death.
“So I’m just supposed to... put my magic in this?” I look at Jasper, who is holding his own coin. He nods. “But... how?”
This is the part of my magic that has been stumping me. We’ve been out here all day, and I can’t seem to figure this out.
Of the two brothers, Jasper is far more patient, but both he and Soren have been good teachers, educating me about the basics of our magic over the past few weeks. An accelerated education, since Marked Ones who are born to the People of the Wilting Roses start learning at a young age.
Now, I have a much better grasp on summoning my magic without relying on my emotions, holding it in the palm of my hand and sensing the well of power within me.
Those lessons hadn’t been easy, but at least they had made sense. I had already had a basic understanding of how to draw up my magic thanks to the battle and all the practicing I’d done by Gabriel’s sickbed.
