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“Móirín, obviously.”
Ellie smiled and reached for something in the drawers before darting to another dresser.
“If we’re leaving tomorrow,” Ellie said in Rion’s direction, not pausing to look up. “Then you should probably visit your sister.”
Rion straightened. “You’ve seen Saoirse?”
Ellie nodded, rummaging through another drawer. She scowled. “We’ve had lunch a time or two. She’s staying on the outskirts on the eastern side.” Her face fell. “She’s a little upset that you haven’t been to see her, but she’s good at hiding it.”
Rion’s jaw clenched.
Of course she’d be upset.
A lump formed in Arianna’s throat. What had he said to her? Had she tried to fight for him? Had she even known about the execution? Arianna couldn’t imagine the pain she’d feel if Ellie—
“Go see her,” Arianna said. Rion’s face fell and she felt the sting of hurt mirror her own down the bond. This is what their lives would be like now, constantly having to leave one another to tend to various tasks and meetings. Alone. Separate.
Arianna tried to smile. “Go see your sister. I assure you, you don’t want to see mine piece me together.”
He glanced at Ellie and the items she held in her hand. Arianna knew the emotions that warred within him without feeling for the bond. It was instinct to constantly question their mate’s safety.
“I won’t be gone long,” he assured her.
“Take Talon with you?” The words left her lips before she could think better of them. Rion bristled, but Arianna heard footsteps across the floor moments later. Fear coiled in her gut when Talon peered at them from behind the wall. She braced herself for another fight, though she doubted the small room could handle the impact. All the dresses, the jewelry, the things Ellie had spent her time planning out would be ruined. And her sister would be furious.
The males were so close they could touch, but neither so much as acknowledged the other’s existence. Arianna swallowed, praying she wasn’t making a huge mistake. “Just so the citizens don’t give you trouble.” Both males seemed to note the shakiness in her tone.
Her father had made her a promise, but Arianna didn’t trust him to keep his word. And having Rion stroll down the streets of Levea unaccompanied was equivalent to asking the civilians to take matters into their own hands, which wouldn’t end well for anyone.
Both males looked at her reluctantly, but who else could she ask? The guards didn’t know Eoghan, anyone under her father’s command was out of the question, and Ellie wasn’t about to let Arianna dress herself. She enjoyed the task too much.
“Please.”
Talon sighed and Rion nodded. Her mate closed the distance between them and placed a longing kiss on her lips that had Arianna’s heart aching already. He met her gaze and gently swept his thumb across her jaw before following Talon out the door.
The room fell silent. Arianna counted their retreating steps. She listened for Rion’s heartbeat, straining to hear the comforting rhythm until it faded with distance.
“Do you think they’ll ever be friends?” Ellie asked, holding up a royal blue tailcoat.
Arianna eyed the fabric and the intricate swirling patterns that ran down the front and over the shoulders and sleeves.
“I don’t know.” She was just glad they weren’t tearing one another’s throats out. She prayed the incident from the other day would be their last. Arianna wasn’t sure she could handle another.
“I feel like I’ve wronged Talon.”
Ellie stopped shifting through the pants. “You found your mate.”
She sighed. “A mate that was his enemy. Talon blames himself for what happened to me. I can see it written all over his face. And now . . . I think he’s angry.”
“Oh, he’s angry all right, but not with you.” Arianna gave her sister a questioning look. “I’d say he’s pissed at the gods. Fate. Whatever you want to call the thing that runs the universe around us.” Ellie gave her a gentle smile. “It’s Talon. Just talk to him.”
“I don’t know what to say. Part of me feels like I should apologize, but I can’t apologize for finding my mate. I’m not sad to be with Rion, I’m just upset it hurt Talon in the process.”
“You were gone for almost two years.” Arianna didn’t miss the sadness in Ellie’s tone. “People grow. We change. And we can’t help who we fall in love with. Take me, for example. Kirian isn’t my mate, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him. If my mate showed up,” she shrugged. “I suppose he’d just have to deal with me being taken.”
“You wouldn’t be curious?”
Ellie glared at her. “You know I’d be curious, but I love Kirian. I believe if you truly love someone, you can’t fall in love with someone else.” She eyed her sister, holding up two pieces of fabric. “If you’d loved Talon, truly loved him, then you wouldn’t have fallen for Rion the way you did. The truth is, you and Talon didn’t have the time to form that kind of bond. You were friends, you love him as your friend, and that sort of love is just as deep but different than a romantic sort.” She huffed and stuffed something back in the drawers. “Besides, it might not have worked out between you and Talon even if you’d stayed. Which would have made things super awkward.”
