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It was just Joel.
As if feeling her gaze on him, he glanced her way and smiled.
The butterflies in her stomach tumbled faster. She turned her body to stare out the window.
Farmland transitioned into the great walls of the city. Glistening, clear water passed by beneath the bridge as the carriage rolled across. Streaks of golden afternoon sunlight cast a brilliant glow on top of rooftops and red and orange foliage. One of the streaks of sunlight entered through the window of the carriage.
And glanced right off her skin.
In what seemed like another life, the sunlight had filled her body with light, with life, with vigor.
The sunlight no longer sang for her.
A stone archway covered in vines caught her attention, reminding her of pleasant memories of her tryst with Calle when they had both snuck away from watchful eyes. But darkness tainted the memories with vicious, snarled bites as she remembered the darkest day of her life.
Shouts everywhere. Screams. Chaos. A flurry of brown and black feathers.
Nyana struggled for breath as she dodged in and out guests fleeing the Summer Solstice celebration. What had started out as a day filled with hope for hundreds of unmarried young women had quickly turned into bloodshed.
I’m sorry! she sobbed, but only in her mind. This is my fault. She tripped over someone’s foot and crashed onto her hands and knees. Pain jolted through her body, but still, she scrambled to her feet and continued to run. The entrance leading to the gardens was so close. She was almost there. To safety.
She winced at the sound of clashing metal as brother fought against brother. She should have told Calle about her kiss with Liam. It was a long time ago, but he’d tried to woo her ever since. If she’d only been honest with him, especially on the day Liam was to choose his bride.
If she’d only been honest about everything.
Her fingers brushed against her belly and over the child that was growing inside. Calle’s child.
A hand wrapped around hers, and she turned to find Joel, his green eyes hard with determination. He pulled her along with one hand, creating a path through the chaos, and with the other hand, he played a few smooth notes with his flute. The air thickened around them as his magic concealed them from view.
At the entrance to the gardens, she made the mistake of turning around just as Liam smashed his boot against Calle’s injured wrist. He screamed.
And then Liam bashed his younger brother’s head in with the blunt end of his weapon. Calle lay still. He didn’t get back up.
Nyana barely remembered the next few minutes when she’d felt numb with denial. Denial that Liam had killed the man she’d loved. The father of her child. And then she’d found herself huddled against Joel, face pressed into his chest and eyes closed as he weaved his magical illusion. She’d prayed to Saint Theodore, the saint of mercy.
But Liam had found them anyway when his disenchanters had broken through Joel’s magic. Liam’s harpy guards had arrested Joel while Liam had dragged her kicking and screaming into the palace, where he’d forced her into a hasty marriage.
She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the horrors of that day six years ago, but when she felt a warm trickle beneath her nose, her eyes flew open, and she quickly pressed a handkerchief to her face.
Joel noticed. “You all right?”
“Fine,” she reassured as she pulled the handkerchief away to find blood smeared across the white cloth. She hid her despair behind the fabric. “Just a change in the weather,” she lied. Liam’s curse would go away. It had to. Because she didn’t know what to do if it didn’t.
He continued to watch her, worry creased between his brows. Thankfully, the carriage pulled to a stop, effectively diverting his attention toward their destination. He opened the door and climbed out first, helping each of the girls out. And when he turned back to her, uncertainty was written across his face. He held out a hand, lowered it, and then held it out again.
She stared at his calloused fingers for far too long. She gazed at the bronze tattoos on his knuckles and another peeking out from beneath the sleeve at his wrist. They were work-roughened hands. Unfamiliar.
Joel, not Liam. Liam is gone. Forever.
Except, he wasn’t. Liam was etched into her very soul, staining it black and eating it rotten.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for Joel’s hand. Each inch she closed between them shook her raw with trepidation. But when she touched his rough, warm skin, a feeling of safety wrapped around her hand. He handled her gently as he closed his fingers around hers and effortlessly helped her down from the carriage.
And he released her just as quickly.
Heart pounding in her ears, she adjusted her cane in her grip to occupy her hands. She had not touched a man in a long time. It hadn’t been horrible. Warmth still spread across her fingers from his light touch. Sweet. Kind.
The magnificence of the cathedral tore her attention away from Joel’s lingering touch, and her mouth dried as she gazed at the structure in awe. Tall, stone towers rose on either side of the cathedral, framing a beautiful golden stained-glass window in the shape of the twelve-sided Sun Star. Each point of the star represented something different, but overall, it symbolized hope.
