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I nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. Now come.” He nuzzled my temple, gingerly ushering me to rise before he intertwined our hands and turned me to face him. “Which one is it going to be? Through the flight hole, or the long way around the castle?”
I looked up at those freshly shaved sides, his neat topknot, and that clean brown tunic he wore that I hadn’t known he actually possessed. “Long.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” he said with a smirk, pressed a kiss to the back of my hand, then led me toward the door.
We strolled through the inner bailey where a group of minstrels sat around a fire, assessing their lutes and other instruments before thedrif, dimly lit torches casting flickering shadows over the walls. A few lonely snowflakes swirled down from the sky.
“You’ll feel better soon, you’ll see,” Sebian said as he led me out through the gate. “The Endless Ache? It’s not going to be like that anymore, so long as you’re not separated for a prolonged time. Your void will be sated, too, sweetheart. No more rubbing your chest in your sleep because it’s starving.”
I drank him in and how the moon brought out his handsome features, huddling myself closer against his side. It took a good man to take care of a woman, but only the best would recognize what she truly needed, even if it meant embracing what he couldn’t provide.
Malyr’s figure formed where he stood at the edge of the cliff, his back to us, overlooking the black ocean with a line of silver glimmer dancing on its surface. Swaths of shadows wafted around him, seemingly drifting off with the breeze before they melted with the inky darkness of the night.
Then he turned around.
My heart stalled, caught in a moment between beats. He’d put on his finest tunic yet—the black shadowcloth embroidered with golden star alignments and ravens drifting between them—his face freshly shaven, his boots polished enough that they sparkled under the moon. He looked so handsome, so elegant—the very image of royalty, unable to deny his upbringing.
His eyes met mine, and I saw something in them—vigilance, worry, vulnerability—that mirrored the turmoil inside me. He was waiting, just as I was, here on this cliff, where our fates had first crossed. Where they would intertwine, binding us together ’til death and beyond.
“Wait here,” Sebian said, letting his fingers slip from mine.
He walked over to Malyr, placed his hand on his shoulder, and leaned into him. Whispers went back and forth between them, unintelligible with how the waves rumbled, biting away at the bottom of the cliff.
Malyr nodded, following Sebian back toward me before he came to a stop a mere foot from me. His eyes took in my braids, and a small but sincere smile curved his lips.
Sebian stepped up beside me, cupped the back of my head, and lowered his forehead against mine. “I might not be able to bond myself to you, but I want you to know that I’m yours until the end… whenever that might be. I will forever treasure you. I will forever provide for you. I will forever fly with you. I will forever care for you.”
My breath stuttered in that inch of space between us, the foreboding warmth of tears filling my eyes. “I give you the same promise.”
His eyes clenched shut for a moment, then he stepped back, gave Malyr a slap against his arm, and turned away. “Do it right this time.”
I watched how Sebian hopped onto a nearby outcropping, where he sat and observed us.
“Nervous?”
The sudden baritone of Malyr’s voice had my eyes snap back to his, my heart pounding against my esophagus. “Yes.”
“Me, too.”
Just then, the drift of the wind carried the quiet thrums of strings from Tidestone, resonating the cliff with a low, playful tune. It caught Malyr’s attention, and he looked back at the castle, his eyes narrowing in thought.
“Must be the minstrels in the bailey,” Sebian said and pulled a handful of roasted chestnuts from his satchel, popping the first one into his mouth, chewing around it. “Probably having a mighty good time over wine and old stories.”
Malyr’s gaze returned to me, softer now, before he extended his hand in offering. “May I have this dance?”
The world seemed to pause, waiting for my response. With hesitation, I placed my gloved hand atop his.
Malyr placed his arm around my middle while I lifted my palm to rest on his chest. He took my other hand into his. Then, with a firm frame around my body and a step ever-so-certain, he guided me into the rhythm of the music.
I matched his stride, our movements flowing seamlessly over the snow, our bodies harmonizing with every spin. “This seems familiar.”
“Pleasantly so.” His gaze wandered to my hand on his chest, his brows knitting together in a frown. “Is that my bracelet?”
I looked at where the sleeve of my dress had shifted enough to reveal the blue ribbons tied around my wrist, the moonlight glinting off theaerymel. “It fell out of your tunic when you were injured and we had to undress you. I… I decided I wanted to wear it.”
“I thought I’d lost it.” His eyes found mine again. “But it seems as though it has found its way to the right person all on its own.”
