Page 47 of The Unseen Hour

He leaned down, cupping some of the water in his hands and letting some trickle down the side of my face.

“Oh.” I was certain I was still blushing furiously. “Thank you. I’ll just …” I reached up, wiping at my face with my bunched up sleeve. Just a few drops of red stained the fabric when I pulled away.

I was still in Orion’s clothing. Tan trousers and a flowy shirt. No vest or overcoat or intricate buttons. No dress or underclothes.

Just a single layer of fabric.

I swallowed, my throat a little too tight.

Orion wore similar attire to my own, but with darker trousers. The flowing white shirt also looked much different over his chest than mine. Not that I was looking.

“Thank you, for distracting the slycat. And for trusting me,” I offered.

“Thank you for luring it away,” he responded, breaking into a grin. “Exhilarating, though, wasn’t it?”

With a laugh, I had to admit he was right.

“Yes, it was. Much more entertaining than a summer ball!”

“Or a meeting of the lords.”

“Or being fitted for dresses.”

Some of the torturously sweet tension I felt between us melted away as he continued to speak about our home.

“I concur. Before I came here, the men’s fashions in Emrys were intricate. So much pomp and circumstance just to ride into town. I must have wasted so much of my life just getting dressed for the day.”

I nodded, thinking his outfits had nothing on the many layers of women’s fashion.

“And for what? None of it is comfortable,” I said.

“I heartily agree. Another benefit of being down here—you can be comfortable instead of fashionable. Although I’m sure many people would find that horrifying.”

I snorted, covering my mouth with my hand. I could think of several members of the nobility who might find a lack of suitable fashions more off-putting than the Shades.

It took me a moment to regain my composure.

“I didn’t expect there to be animals. Or woods. Or books. I didn’t know what to picture, honestly. I just kept thinking of who I wanted to find and tried to prepare myself for an inhospitable environment awaiting me.”

Orion’s expression drooped a bit.

“It’s inhospitable enough. Unless things have changed in Emrys, you were brought up the same as me—believing in two gods who divvied up souls when they died. An afterlife of shadows, or light. But either way, one of peace and rest. As you can see, the Ether is nothing like that. It’s got things that will ensnare you with their beauty, but it’s far from an idyllic place to spend a lifetime.”

He looked around the forest, and I waited, sensing he had more to say.

“This place may be run by a god, but it’s a land just as real as Emrys, or Sez, or any country in Rayus. The only thing it lacks is people, and the influence they bring. There are no roads, or shops, or cities. Just nature and its inhabitants. And of course Charon and the Shades. Not all bad, but I would have traded anything here in a minute to escape my own company. I’m not especially interesting as a conversational partner after a while.”

He gave a forced laugh.

“Well”—I beamed at him, my expression equally forced—“now you’re stuck with me. You may soon wish you had your silence back.”

This time his smile looked genuine, reaching all the way to his eyes.

“Actually, I haven’t been in silence. And I think I know what to show you next. My favorite conversational partner, aside from myself, and now you, of course.”

He pointed to a branch overhead.

I scrunched my eyes. Then, with a flutter of movement, I saw it.