“Why not?”
Hermes shrugged. “Adversity reveals character.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and leaned back in his seat, grinning at Daris. “You, my new friend, are about to find out if she truly loves you.”
Daris pushedat the oversized metal handle on the heavy wooden door to the rooms he’d been provided for the night. Walking straight through to the bedchamber, he frowned at the large four-poster bed with thick fur blankets and pillows. After removing his armor and sword, he untucked his tunic.
With a sigh, he walked back into the dining area where he spied doors leading to a balcony. Opening the doors, a brisk wind greeted him and he immediately felt the tension ease from his shoulders. Daris hung his head, his grip tight on the stone balustrade, and looked out over the village.
A sound behind him made him stiffen. Daris looked over his shoulder and saw a shadow move toward the bedchamber. His sword was on the bed and he smothered a curse before steppingquietly back into the room and over to the bedchamber. He stopped in the doorway when he saw his sword was no longer on the bed.
Daris took one step before a blade at his throat stopped him.
Awareness tickled up his spine and he knew without looking who was there with him.
Terena stepped out of the shadows, her face impassive as she held his sword steady.
“Ren,” he said. It was the only thing he could think of right then as a slew of feelings threatened to overwhelm him. He’d dreaded and longed for this moment for so long, and now it was here he could not think of the right thing to say.
Terena lowered the sword slowly, her eyes locked on his. He saw the emotions mirrored in her gaze and something else, a haze he speculated came from a night spent drinking.
As if reading his thoughts, Terena dropped her eyes and tilted her head. Stepping away, she regarded him, assessing. He tracked her but did not make a move. He wanted her to decide.
“Are you real?”
Daris’s eye widened as she paced before him.
“Aye, Ren. Are you?”
She pursed her lips, and the movement made him want to embrace her, ready to wipe the worry and uncertainty from her face with his passion. Instead, he stood rooted, waiting.
“I think so,” she said at last, still pacing. She looked like a caged animal, waiting for someone to tear apart. “I was… I was in Ermanel, with,” she looked around, confused. “Where is this? Where am I?”
Daris wiped a hand over his mouth and the movement made her stiffen. “We’re in Pera. In Pyrgos. Hermes is?—”
“Hermes!”
Daris jolted with the force of her exclamation. Her face turned thunderous.
“He’s here? Where?” Terena lurched forward, and he instinctively reached for her arm. The contact sent a jolt of awareness like lightning through his body. Terena’s eyes flew to his, the shock registering on her face as well.
For a lifetime they stood still, eyes locked. He wished he was eloquent, gifted with the ability to say what he was feeling.
His sword was lax at her side, but he didn’t care. He had to touch her.
He couldn’t fight it anymore.
Daris reached out, cupping the back of her neck, and pulled her to him. For a moment she seemed to melt, as hungry for him as he was for her.
“No!”
She wrenched away, breathing heavily. Terena’s lip curled as she lifted his sword.
He dropped his hands, watching as she took another step back, her eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said, shaking her head, “but this can’t be real.”
“Aye,” Daris replied. “And yet, if I’m dreaming, you wouldn’t have pulled away.”
She laughed harshly. “What if it’smydream?”
