Page 201 of The Sun He Buried

Pale hair covers one cheek. Her curls dried badly near the hearth and have spent the night expanding. One has reached her mouth. She breathes it in, pushes it out, and doesn’t wake.

I could move it.

I stay at the window.

The mask catches the Hall at a low murmur. Servants in the lower passage. Two guards changing at the west door. A woman near the kitchens who saw Snowpetal cross the gallery and has decided breakfast can wait until the creature chooses another floor.

Old fear. Clean and sour under the silver.

My people can face failures in the mines, armed borders, and days of a storm trying to remove every roof I own. One white animal walking through the Hall has made half of them reconsider their duties.

I should deal with that.

I should’ve dealt with several things last night.

The west rooms were warm. Solveih’s bed stood empty. Baldr’s was beside it, and at the turn toward that door I kept walking.

There were reasons.

She was wet. The west stairs were crowded. My quarters were closer. Baldr had gone to find Asta. Solveih had fallen asleep in my arms and moving her farther would’ve served no useful purpose.

All excellent.

None survive the fact that I couldn’t put her in my brother’s bed.

I carried her here.

I took off her boots, put her beneath my furs, and sat down with every intention of leaving once she settled.

Then she found my hand in her sleep.

Her fingers are still curled near her mouth where mine had been.

Tedious.

Snowpetal opens both white eyes.

She lifts her head and looks at me.

“Do not.”

Her purr starts.

Solveih stirs.

The wall comes up before her eyes open. Every part of last night goes behind it—the storm, her cheek against my coat, the quiet answer she pulled from me, my hand in her hair while she slept.

The Dróttin remains at the window.

Nothing else was here.

Pain reaches the bond first. A hard throb behind her eyes, then a mouth dry enough to make swallowing difficult. Confusion follows when she notices the mattress beneath her.

Snowpetal rolls onto her stomach.

Solveih opens one eye.

It closes again.