The fires were burninglow as I wandered back through the camp. My head ached and my stomach sloshed. Whatever meat I’d eaten was turning on me. I was also tired to my bones. I just wanted to sleep and forget this night had ever happened.
I considered wandering into random tents to find an empty one, but I doubted that would go over well with any occupants.
I wondered where Aiden would sleep.
Cursing my treacherous mind and wishing I couldn’t still feel his hands and lips on my skin, I trudged back to the main fire.
The smell of charred meat and sour mead hit me like a sea wave, and my stomach heaved. I scrambled for a bucket just in time to vomit into it.
I groaned, thankful everyone was asleep. Well, almost everyone.
Yarina rolled over from where she’d been dozing next to the man she’d been kissing, her clothes askew.
She smirked. “Ah, so you do it on land, too, princess.”
The title reminded me of Aiden, but exhaustion defeated the rise of anger. “Shut up, Yarina.”
She chuckled. “Take my bed in the lodge over there.” She jerked her chin to the round lodge behind her. “Davka snores, but Sigrid’s on night watch, so you should be safe.”
Comforting. But I was desperate for something that wasn’t a hammock or the ground.
Besides, I had my sunstone knife if someone got hostile.
I patted my hip to make sure it was still there. Odd. I hadn’t even thought to use it on Aiden. Nor had he taken it from me.
“Perhaps because you don’t hate me at all, princess.”
As if he could possibly understand how I felt.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and set aside the bucket.
“I’ll take it,” I told Yarina. I gathered myself off the ground and walked past her. “Thank you.”
“Wouldn’t want you to hurt your royal backside.”
I rolled my eyes and ducked around the heavy fur flap that served as the lodge’s door. The lodge itself was basically a huge, very sturdy tent shaped like an upside-down bowl.
A small lantern illuminated the wooden skeleton frame that housed three beds and an assortment of chests. Clothes and weapons were strewn about the place. It was surprisingly cozy—the hides and furs covering the wooden frame kept out the cold wind.
And true enough, Davka was sprawled across one bed, snoring loudly. The other two beds sat empty. I did a thorough examination of both to guess which one was Yarina’s, as the last thing I wanted was to wake up to Sigrid dragging me out of her bed at knifepoint.
Yarina’s scythes lay next to the one with sky-blue and crimson bedding, so I collapsed into that one. I kicked off my boots and rolled under the blankets.
The bed smelled a little stale and unfamiliar, but it was soft, and I could fully stretch out in it.
I fell asleep in moments.
And then... I was kissing Aiden again. It should’ve shocked me how easily my mind fell back to him. But in my dream, I walked toward him without hesitation.
His familiar scent of salt and sunshine mixed with leather enveloped me. He smiled at me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “My little thief.”
My heart fluttered as it had before. His green eyes glowed before he kissed me. Soft and gentle at first, then deeper and harder, like he couldn’t get enough. Happiness spread through my body. This was right. This was good.
But then something changed.
His rough stubble grew softer and longer under my fingers. His scent changed to that of a candle just blown out. And we weren’t kissing. We were standing on the edge of a cliff, a canyon of impenetrable darkness stretching before us.
I took a step back, taking in his dark hair and beard. His deep brown, emotionless eyes.
