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Nodding in understanding, he held his hands behind him. “Well, she is right about one thing. It is up tometo protect you. Next time, please let me know where you’ll be so I can do my job. I cannot fail your parents.”
He leaned in to grace my forehead with a kiss, but I kind of jumped on him and hugged him, making him chuckle. Accepting my gesture, his hands gently rested on my back.
Kingston was like an uncle to me. As far as I was concerned, he and Willow were Skybornes too—blood of my blood—and as such, the only two people to slip through my walls. They knew the real me, they had seen me grow, and I was certain they would never mistake my affection or emotions for weakness.
Leaning away, I caught his gaze focused on the path Willow had taken. “Just give her a few days. You know she is tenacious, but she can never stay mad at you.”
His lips curved into a naughty smirk. “Are you kidding? I live for her tiffs. It’s what keeps this old man alive.”
“You are hardly old, but I get it.”
“I’ll see you at dinner, Princess?”
I nodded and watched him glance towards my room one last time, then walk away with the warriors on his heel, taking another one of the multileveled stairwells in the limestone-made castle.
He would never admit it, but I knew he carried a torch for Willow; the problem was, he was twenty years her elder. Kingston would never dare speak of something he considered improper and forbidden.
Though Willow was hardly a child—being twenty-seven years old and seven years older than I—she had never expressed interest in him or confessed to having any feelings for the man during our talks. So, it was hard for me to know where they stood.
Perhaps it was better for him not to admit or confess anything that wouldn’t be reciprocated, regardless of their age.
When I entered my room, a fire was set behind the wall that held the large limestone tub at the end of the space, heating the water through it. Willow laid a jewel green skirt and short top on the bed for me. It was made of fine fabrics, similar to the top and hip-hugging skirt she wore, leaving her abdomen and waist exposed. The rust colored outfit on her, contrasted charmingly against her snowy, freckled skin, and the darkness in her onyx eyes and silky hair.
“Time to remind you that you are a princess,” she chided, referencing the leather boots, and bodysuit I wore with the wings belt—its leather panels falling on my legs like a skirt.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need pretty clothes to remind me I’m a woman.”
“Not a woman. A princess,” she clarified. “You spend more time riding those creatures than dealing with kingdom matters.” Willow was afraid of Dragons, so she stayed as far as she could from them.
“I’m never getting paired with a man, in case that’s what has you so riled up,” I declared, somewhat insulted, walking towards the tub while pulling off my belt and bodysuit. “I don’t need a man by my side to rule and protect my people.”
Through the mirror, I saw her mouth moving as I spoke, mimicking me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You are too young to know what you want,” she chided. “Everyone needs someone by their side, to love them. To help them stay strong when everything seems lost. To remind them of the beauty all this darkness seems to hide.”
Sighing, she walked to my side, holding my hands before I stepped into the tub.
“You think of needing a partner as a failure on your part, but we weren’t meant to be alone. You need him to push you, to challenge you, to make you the woman you are supposed to become, just as you will make him mature into the man he is supposed to be. You need someone to love you, Evanna. Just like your parents needed each other. We all do.”
Even as she spoke, Braxton’s voice reverberated in my ears.“You are too worried it means you are not strong enough to help them, to protect them, but you are so much stronger than you even realize.”
“I can do this on my own, Willow. I already have the love of my people, and that is all I need to make me strong.” Letting go of her, I stepped into the bathtub to get ready for dinner.
“Are you sure I have to do this?” I asked, suppressing the nerves that churned in my belly as Willow and I walked towards the communal dining hall.
“Let’s see… Do you have to tell your kin that after everything you risked, forced to make amends with looking for the man who made us who we are and then betrayed us, and going to the mirror world and back, he is still not going to help us?” A finger tapped against her chin while she pretended to think about it. “I’m going to sayyes.”
Huffing, I glared at her. “Do you have to be so sarcastic about it?” I stopped walking, standing on the other side of the tall doors. “The Harbinger of Justice didn’t—”
“Cursed be his name,” she interrupted, spitting on the floor and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath while I prayed for patience.
“He didn’t choose not to help us,” I firmly reminded. “He is dead.”
“Same difference.” Willow’s shoulders rose and fell with apathy. “Hechoseto leave us, so no, there is no forgiveness for him in my book.”
Rubbing at my temples, I tried not to get into an argument with her, which was strange considering almost three weeks ago I felt the same way she did about Khayden Skystorm. True, I had risked everything to go search for a man who fought for us then abandoned us, but I hadn’t done it lightly. And yet, knowing I had decided to cross worlds in order to look for him divided my kingdom.
It had taken so much to convince those still willing to believe in me that this was the only option we had left, and what did I have to show for it?
