Page 77 of Tale of the Heart Queen

Thunder claps overhead, and the rain falls harder as we cling to one another, already soaked to the bone.

“We should try to find shelter,” he whispers.

I want to tell him that I don’t care if we get wet. I want him to take me under the lightning and thunder over and over again as I scream his name. But a chill is setting in, and I’m momentarily reacquainted with the fact that I haven’t eaten properly in days. I shove my legs into my now soaked leggings, which is a feat unto itself.

“Gods, we’re a mess,” I tell him as he takes my hand. Both barefoot, our clothing is torn, and scratches and blood cover our skin.

“You’ve never looked more beautiful, Lor,” he says with every ounce of sincerity, and I feel the delicate seams of my equilibrium pulling apart. I can’t get over the fact he’s standing here, alive and whole. “But let’s find you somewhere to dry off. Then I can finish everything I’ve been thinking about for months.”

“Months?” I say. “It’s only been days.”

He blows out a breath and rubs his hand down his face. “Later. We’ll talk about this later.”

I nod and tug on his hand. “I left some things behind. We need to get them.”

He follows me to the spot where I was sleeping. I scoop up the arks, cradling them in my arms, then turn around to find Nadir’s shocked expression.

“Where . . . the hell did you get those?”

I cringe and hug them tighter. “I stole them from Zerra.”

His mouth gapes. “You did what?”

“She refused to give you back and . . . Let’s talk about this when we’re dry?”

“Right.” He takes them from me and stuffs them into the pockets of his loose pants. Then he tugs my hand, and we begin to run through the forest, searching for something to use as a shelter as the rain pounds us from above.

“I see a light,” he says, pointing through the trees, and I squint through the darkness, picking up on the same yellow glow.

“You think it’s safe?” The Aurora King is still no doubt looking for me, and somehow Nadir managed to escape Zerra, and she’s probably after both of us.

“Only one way to find out,” he says, guiding me down the path.

We emerge from the trees to find a small village surrounded by a stone wall, and I almost cry in relief. Of course we don’t exactly look like well-to-do travelers at the moment, but maybe someone will take pity on us.

“Come on,” Nadir says, tugging me towards the gate.

“But we have no money,” I say as we enter. The streets are mostly empty except for a few hurrying people who pay us no mind as they attempt to keep themselves dry. The rain continues to drench us, turning the street into muck. Gods, my feet are disgusting.

“Let me worry about that,” he says. We spy a sign that indicates an inn with rooms for rent.

We open the door and step inside the warm common room filled with travelers eating and drinking. Thankfully, the rain actually washed away a lot of the blood, improving our haggard appearances by the merest fraction.

A human woman stands at the bar, and she turns to face us, eyeing us up and down, her gaze pausing at our bare feet before she places her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow.

Or maybe not.

“Can I help you?” she asks, her voice dripping with skepticism. I have a feeling she’ll throw us out on our asses when she discovers we don’t have a dime.

“A room for the night, please,” Nadir says in his most formal, princely voice. It almost makes me burst into laughter because it sounds nothing like him at all.

“You have money?” she asks.

“Not at the moment,” Nadir replies, and she opens her mouth, about to order us out. He raises a hand and then lets out a tendril of his magic in a swirl of green and purple. Her gaze follows the trail.

“You’re a royal,” she says, not in an impressed way, but in a resigned one.

“I can assure you that you will be compensated more than fairly if you allow me and my companion to spend the night.”