Page 168 of The Reaping Rose

Chapter 56

Elorie

Stars.

I step through the Gate, and air leaves my lungs. Overhead is nothing but a blanket of stars. So many, the night glows. So bright, my fingers lift to the sky as if I can reach them.

Wilder’s heat presses to my back as the Gate swirls shut, closing out the sounds of the court so that all that can be heard are the waves lapping below.

There’s no chill here like on Alyssium’s shores. The salty sea air is sweet on my tongue. Waves beat against the cliff while we stand on an endless stretch of grass, offering an unobstructed view of the night sky.

“I—” I gasp as I spin in a circle and see we’re surrounded by starlight. “I have no words. What is this?”

“Starlight Reach.” Wilder grins, pulling me down to the ground so I’m sitting between his legs with my back to his chest. “The true crown jewel in the Quietus Court. Although, that was before you set foot here.”

I roll my eyes, glancing back at him. “Nothing compares to this.”

“I beg to differ.” His fingers cup my chin while his magic caresses my jaw. “But I thought you might appreciate it.”

“That’s an understatement.” I relax against him, looking up at the sky. “This is the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.”

So lovely; it saddens my heart for those who will never experience anything greater than Alyssium’s frozen forests. Like Father, spending his whole life describing the stars that hung just beyond the clouds. They’d part sometimes, offering brief peeks at what was beyond before the clouds swallowed them again. But nothing like this.

There is so much life here.

So much more here.

“He would have been happy knowing you got the chance to see it.” Wilder brushes the back of his knuckles down my arm.

“He would have.”

I turn in Wilder’s lap, climbing over him and bringing us nose to nose. “Thank you for showing me this place.”

“Anything for you, Starfire.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Now that I have my crown, I thought I owed you that date you asked for.”

“Are you saying this is a date, King Riven?”

“It’s a start,” he promises with a smirk. “Until I finally convince you to be my queen.”

His queen.

Part of me expected him to change his mind. To decide I’d be too much trouble when I refuse to back down on certain things. But he hasn’t.

“I won’t.”

“I see that.” I can’t bite back my smile. “How is it we always seem to find ourselves beneath the stars the night before everything changes?”

“Who says anything has to change tomorrow?”

“Malachi. Alasdair. Who knows what else we’re up against in Lyrichia. Something is bound to change with the sunrise.”

“Or maybe we finally put an end to this.” He shrugs, and I drag my thumb over the forked ends of the scar on his cheek.

“So optimistic of you, King Riven.”

He grins. “It’s your fault. I was miserable before you.”

“Well, I appreciate the positivity.” Especially when I don’t feel it myself.