He cleared his throat and inhaled deeply. “I don’t have much to say, Sunny.”
“I should run, right? Get on a ship and sail far, far away?”
Leo huffed a small laugh and leaned over the counter, scooping Sol’s hand into his. “I—I think you should go with them.”
She cut her gaze to him, dropping the leaves. “What?”
“I think you should go with them,” he repeated.
“You believe all this?”
“You don’t?”
Sol blinked at him. At the question. Did she? It was something she couldn't quite answer for herself, much less for someone else. Perhaps she was just afraid to say what she truly thought—that a great part of her did believe it, despite the other part wanting so hard not to.
“What’s stopping you, Sunny?” Leo ran a thumb over her palm. “What’s making you afraid?”
“I don’t know these people, Leo. I don’t know them or where they’re from or what they do, I—” Sol took a deep breath, daring a second of vulnerability. “I don’t know my own mother.”
Instantly, she was in Leo’s embrace, his strong arms wrapping around her tenderly. Sol hugged him back, her eyes burning with tears. “I don’t want to leave all I know. I don’t want to leave you or Mina.”
Gently, Leo pulled back and brushed a stray tear from her cheek. “Growing pains hurt, Sol. There’s a reason why they came to find you. Staying comfortable doesn’t change the world.”
You’re needed to restorebalance in Rimemere.
“I’ll be no good as Queen. That’s not me, Leo. I know nothing of that life. I don't want that life.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You can’t know that if you don’t see what it offers first.”
“Why are you being so uncharacteristically calm about this?”
Leo shrugged. “Because my best friend being the heir to a magical kingdom sounds really fucking cool.”
“You’re insane.” Sol rolled her eyes, but the knot in her chest had eased slightly.
“Sol!” Lora’s voice sang through the closed doors, then her head peaked through an open sliver. “Will you fix us some tea, dear?”
“They can get tea themselves.”
“Great, herbal if you can!” She shut the door, completely ignoring Sol’s defiance, and went back to chattering in the foyer.
Leo patted her shoulder and motioned behind him to the door leading to the back alley of the Hound. “I’m going to get something from home for you. Don’t leave without saying goodbye.”
Sol nodded meekly, then turned to the pantries to search for tea as Leo slipped into the back roads.
NINA
“SHE HATES US,”Nina sobbed, slumping into a wobbling wooden chair. “I knew we should have approached things differently.”
“I think any way we would’ve done this would have resulted in her feeling betrayed, Nins.” Alix slid an arm over her shoulders, warming her chilled skin.
The Inn was cold and humid, nothing like the castle in Rimemere. Nina sighed at the thought of a warm bath, of her bed after years of traveling and searching for the Yarrow heir—who was finally here in front of them.
And she hated them.
“Maybe if we give hera gift…” Nina frowned.
Sawyer laughed, leaning back to sprawl on a dusty crimson loveseat. “Like what, Nina? What gift could possibly convey the sentiment of ‘sorry we’re about to kidnap you and make you leave your life behind?’”
