Page 22 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

“About?”

“Telling Valerian how I feel.”

Temi nodded.

“I’ve…” My hand trembled, and I tangled it in the patch of weeds on the ground. “Well, I’ve considered telling him on this trip.”

Temi’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“You think it’s a terrible idea?”

“Not terrible.”

I kicked my foot out, and dandelion seeds puffed out in the air. In the distance, the guards started a fire that glowed through the mist, lighting it up like a veil. “You getting injured scared me. It made me realize that life is short, you know?” I huffed a laugh. “Well, I guess maybe it’s not for you, actually.”

“I remember… how it felt. I always knew how brief my lifespan would be compared to Apollo’s. So, I understand.”

“I thought, possibly I could say something to him and we’d have a chance to... I don’t know… figure out where we stood before my family got involved.”

She nodded. “I can see that.”

“But you think it’s stupid.”

“No. Not stupid. Brave, maybe.” She bit her lip. “I hate to be a pessimist, but if it doesn’t go well? It might make the trip awkward.”

“I guess I’ll be like you then.”

I bumped into her uninjured shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re both asking questions we might not like the answers to. But we can’t do anything but ask and see what happens, right?”

She drew in a breath and then leaned her head in against mine. “That’s true, Pip.”

I reached out and snagged her fingers, and she gave my hand a squeeze.

That night Valerian stepped away, a towel tucked under his arm, and walked down the path that led to the river. I turned towards Temi. “I should speak to him now while he’s alone.”

She sat before the fire, the apricot color of the flames dancing over her skin. Her features tensed for a moment, but she nodded. “I’ll make a distraction. Go into our tent and leave out under the back when the guards are busy.”

“Thanks, Temi.”

She smirked. “What are friends for?”

“Besides unhelpfully not-saving your life?”

She chuckled. “Go, before you lose too much time.”

I hugged her and then slipped into the tent. A moment later, Temi’s voice carried to me with a note of panic to it. “Theos, did you see that?”

“What, my lady?”

“On the edge of the woods there. I think I heard something.”

The crunch of multiple feet shuffling over dry leaves trailed out, and I lifted the back of the tent and pushed under it and creeped around the side. Most of the guards had joined Theos at the boundary of the forest, the few remaining at the site had their eyes trained on them. I tiptoed across the clearing and eased onto the path.

A breath whooshed out of me when I made it beyond the lantern lights, and I continued walking until I reached the end where a waterfall roared, mist rushing up like a shroud of pastel blue over the stones that peppered the river. Valerian stood at the edge, running a towel through his hair, his bare feet sinking into the mud, a loose pair of pants hanging low on his hips. Droplets of water dripped over the muscles of his chest.