Page 139 of The Ashborn

Connak stood at the forest line where Trinity lay hidden. He glanced back at Kienna. “You’re sure you’re ready for this?”

“If I do this,” Kienna said quietly, “do I have to let Danek go?”

A sadness washed over Connak’s face. “He’ll love you regardless, but you’ll need to decide for yourself if loving him will strengthen or weaken you.”

Kienna breathed in the thick pine. It was nice to pretend.

You don’t have to decide yet. Talk to him. Ruva crouched in the fallen leaves, panting. The air was cooler, a noticeable shift from summer to fall.

Kienna rubbed her arms and pulled her hair over her shoulders for extra warmth. She nodded to Connak. He stepped into the clearing, the soft sunlight draping gold over the hush of the trees. Connak raised his arms in a slow, deliberate arc, drawing a circle in the air before lowering his palms to the earth. His breath synchronized with each sweep. A ripple, like heat over stone, shimmered along his arms as he pulled upward, parting the unseen.

Mist coiled between the trees, thin at first, then folding like veils. The ground quivered as roots eased aside, and beyond the misted curtain, shapes glowed. Arched roots twined with crystal, towers bending like branches, a city breathing with the light of stars.

Connak’s arms fell to his sides, chest rising. “It’s open,” he said, stepping back.

“Time to change the world,” Kienna replied.

Entering Trinity again carried a new feeling. Fireflies danced around her as the sun lowered through the trunks of the trees, sigils glowing with each step she took.

“I need to find Danek. I’ll meet you at the Heart,” Kienna said to Connak. Connak nodded, cupping her face. He shared one glance of longing with her, then departed. Kienna turned to Ruva. Can you smell him?

Duskveil.

Kienna sprinted up the bridges, taking the winding arches of tactfully crafted wood higher into the trees. Duskveil Island was the farthest in a forest built for illusions. She forced her lungs to keep going, wishing she had the power of the wind on her side. She needed to make things right with him. To help him understand. He would, though she knew she toed the line with his patience.

She reached the island and saw him standing alone, commanding an enormous beast in the air. It swam in the breeze, scales covering its body. It was the color of his healing magic, a blue blur of elegance. The best parts of him in the image of the frightful creature.

Danek let the image float on its own. “It’s a leviathan. I fought one in the desert. I almost wish I had one as a pet.” He was a ball of conflict. Kienna could barely get a read on him. He seemed almost happy to see her, but he wasn’t sure if he should be. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Kienna searched her thoughts for what she could tell him. None of what she uncovered about herself would make Danek feel better about leaving him after giving him every bit of her. She was selfish, and Kienna had no problem admitting it. Even now, the journey was about her. Not him. Yet she couldn’t let go, even when the world screamed at her.

That was selfish, too. Holding onto Danek in a realm that was going to fight against her. She didn’t care. Seeing him again only confirmed it. “I am everything they say I am. Prophecies and all.” She studied the way the green in his eyes swelled against the forest foliage, the gold catching in the sun. “It’s a big thing I’m going to have to carry. I need you, but I’ll understand if you⁠—”

“I told you I was all in, Kienna.” Danek closed the gap as the conjured image of the beast continued to fly around them. It had similar wings to a dragon, but this was no dragon. It was darker, only given light by Danek. Blue ribbons encompassed them. “Let me carry it with you. I need you to be all in with me.”

All in. Danek’s sigil glowed with shades of light blue. He belonged here in the forest, giving freedom to the impromptu climbing and inclination to explore took root deep within him. How she loved every bit of that. Ruva nearly howled at the thought. Kienna brushed it off and held her gaze on this man. Being all in meant he could be her weakness when she decided the next steps for the realm, or—if she trusted him—he could lift her up through it.

“All in,” Kienna said, closing the last few steps of distance between them. She pressed her lips to Danek’s and kissed him as if she’d never kiss him again. She took in the notes of mint on his tongue and the sky plums. Kienna pulled away and laughed. Of course, he found a sky plum.

“I was scared you weren’t going to return,” Danek admitted, pulling Kienna by the small of her back.

She exhaled a shaky breath. “I almost didn’t. I don’t want to be a queen of anything. I still don’t. I needed to get away and process it all.” Kienna took in his face, the way his lips pursed and his eyes lowered. “Before I left River Storm, Maren told me to find Ash. She said he had a letter for me. The letter was the puzzle piece I needed.”

Danek ran his thumb along her cheek. It was unexpected yet inviting. “Did you get it?”

She nodded but didn’t elaborate. The letter was a piece of her past. It was for her.

And me, Ruva hummed. Kienna glanced behind her while Danek’s arms remained tightly around her. Ruva sat on the bridge, waiting patiently, her globes of silver staring out into the forest. Connak’s waiting with the council. The Vikings are not pleased.

“I have to go.” Kienna pulled away from Danek’s embrace. “Council meetings.” She turned from him and then made herself stop. She extended her hand for him to follow.

Danek fixated on it for a moment, eyes dancing between the rings she wore like armor on her fingers. He took it.

“Things are going to change for me, Danek. I’m about to pit both sides against me.” She led him down the bridge, scratching Ruva’s ears before passing. “Vaerin will never let the Elvish keep me, and the Elvish will never let me spark the world. They will all try to stop me. Maybe not today, but one day, when Vaerin’s curse is destroyed from inside me, they will try to break me.”

“I am with you. Forever.”

I love him, Ruva said, falling in lockstep beside Kienna.