Page 97 of The Crowned Queen

“We can’t do anything until sunrise anyway.” Araya pushed back from the table. “Everyone should try and get some rest while they can.”

Serafina caught her just before the door. “You should get some rest too,” she said quietly. “Maybe he needs a moment to cool off⁠—”

“He’s not angry.” Araya squeezed her best friend’s hand. “He’s scared.” She didn’t need the bond to tell her that. It had been written all over his face.

No one else tried to stop her as she stepped out the door, the cool night air kissing her face as she made her way to the edge of the tree line. She made enough noise that he had to hear her coming, but Loren didn’t look up from the churned, blood-soaked dirt at his feet. Not even when she slid her arms around him and rested her cheek against his back.

“Are you alright?” she murmured.

Loren let out a rough breath, his hands rising to cover hers. “I should be asking you that.”

“I’m fine,” Araya said softly. “None of them touched me. You didn’t let them.”

Loren’s muscles tightened under her cheek. “I’m not trying to control you,” he said, his voice thick. “I want to protect you. That’s why I wanted you to stay under cover. When I turned around and saw you there...” He trailed off, his grip on her hands tightening.

Araya rose up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the back of his neck, her stomach tightening at the minuscule shudder that rippled through his muscles. This male was hers. Every frightened and overbearing part of him.

“You can’t expect me to sit out every fight,” she reminded him. “I’m not some helpless liability for you to coddle and protect. I walked beside you into the Shadowed Veil, Loren. I got the children to safety when the Arcanum came⁠—”

He pulled free of her grip, turning in her arms. “And I lost you then,” he said hoarsely. “I can’t be the king our people need without you, ael’sura. I just can’t. I’m not⁠—”

He broke off, taking a step back. Araya’s chest tightened, the sudden distance between them leaving her cold.

“There was a time I never could have imagined killing a restrained man as he begged for mercy,” Loren whispered, his gaze fixed on the blood-stained ground. “But tonight, I did it without hesitation. What kind of person does that make me?”

“You had to,” Araya said quietly.

“I know.” Loren shook his head, his gaze distant. “But I still wish you could have known the male who would have hesitated. The one who would have known better than to make decisions for you without asking.”

“Loren.” Araya stepped forward, closing the space he had put between them but stopping just shy of touching him. “Do you trust me?”

His gaze snapped to hers. “I love you.”

Araya shook her head. “The two don’t go hand in hand,” she said. “I know you love me. But do you trust me? Do you trust me enough to listen when I tell you I have to go to Tirnavel?”

Loren hesitated, his eyes shining too bright in the moonlight. The silence between them stretched long—too long—but Araya didn’t press him.

“I’m so afraid,” he said finally, his voice breaking.

She did reach for him then. Her fingertips brushed his cheek—and then she was in his arms, Loren crushing her against him as he buried his face in her shoulder. She let him hold her, running her fingers slowly through the silken fall of his hair. The dark strands were longer than she remembered, falling well below his shoulder blades now.

“I’m afraid too,” she whispered. “But I can’t live like that. Not anymore.” Loren drew back just enough to look at her, his hands still tight around her waist. Their faces were so close their noses brushed, each breath mingling between them. “Please don’t ask me to.”

Loren leaned in, his lips soft against hers. It wasn’t an answer, but Araya fell into the kiss anyway, letting it consume her. There was nowhere she wanted to be more than in the arms of the prince fate had chosen for her—the male she’d fallen in love with. But if he said no…gods help her, she would have to go without him. Even if it meant they might never see each other again.

“I trust you,” Loren said, breaking their kiss. “I trust you enough to follow you anywhere.” He pressed his lips against her cheek, catching the tear rolling down her cheek. “Even to Tirnavel.”

Thank the gods. Araya buried her face in his chest, letting him hold her for a long, peaceful moment. They were together. And going to Tirnavel. The power there could help them. After what it had said in that last dream—she was sure of it. But what it might cost—Loren’s mother had died waking this power. What would it do to her?

“There’s more I need to tell you,” she murmured. “I had another dream. Some of what I learned...” She trailed off, not sure how to prepare him. “It’s going to be hard to hear.”

Loren looked down at her, his green eyes shining. “Whatever it is,” he said. “I’m ready to listen.”

Morning dawned golden and green, sunlight filtering through the thick canopy of leaves in shifting patches. The birds had woken with the sun, filling the air with song like last night’s violence had never happened. If they had been anywhere else, Araya would have called it a beautiful spring morning.

Instead, she stood in front of the fae who had come to save her, Loren’s steady presence at her shoulder the only anchor that kept her from drifting away on the breeze like the smoke of their last cookfire.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. “For your support last night. Your trust means the world to me, but I’m happy to say that you won’t have to choose between Loren and me.”