“A couple more trips, and I’m fairly certain we could do it while sleeping,” Ariana said with a small laugh.
“Indeed. Our little group is becoming more and more efficient at it. How are things between you and Edda?”
She remained silent for a few breaths before saying, “Strained. To be honest, I don’t know why she even came back here with me after the Ascension.”
“Because she worries for you and wishes to keep close,” I answered, shifting to better view her.
Ariana stared straight ahead, though not truly focused on anything. “Edda’s words, the way she behaved towards me . . . they were like daggers to the heart, and now it feels like I am bleeding out. No matter how much I try to seal the wounds, I keep getting blood all over my hands and making things worse. I’m a bloody mess that is now letting nature take its course and do what it wishes. I give up trying to understand Edda’s reasons for her behavior. If she only wishes to act as an adviser to me, then that will be what it will be.” Her eyes misted over.
An urge to sooth her slammed into me.Ashes. I wanted to protect her, to ease her pain.
I remained silent for a long moment before saying, “If I could take some of your pain away, I would.”What in Spirits name was I doing?
Ariana broke her unfocused stare and turned to me in surprise. Apparently, she was as taken aback by my declaration as I was. Her cheeks tinged with blush.
“And what would you do with a pain like that?” She asked lightly. Playfully.
I smiled. “Why, I would put it in the royal arsenal, of course.”
“Of course. Where else would it belong?” Her eyes flickered as she held my stare.Always, so boldly holding my stare.
“There’s nowhere else that could handle it.”
“You think me in such pain? Certainly, you have seen worse?” She arched a brow.
“Oh, I have seen wild and unimaginable displays of pain. However, never from someone quite as strong and bold as you. If it’s something that is enough to weigh on you, then I know it is more potent than most others.”
“That healerdefinitelymissed something healing you,” she teased.
“You think?”
Her eyes narrowed, though the corner of her mouth threatened a smirk.“You are being too… sweet.”
“Oh, I can be sweet if I want to.”
Her gaze dropped to my lips and lingered for a heartbeat too long. I couldn’t help but smile, slow and knowing. Green eyes lifted back to mine, and she tensed, realizing she had been caught appraising my mouth. Blush further colored her cheeks. Oh, how I enjoyed this. A particular type of immeasurable tension spread between us.
Ariana averted her attention to a patch of moss on a nearby tree.
Not meeting my eye, she asked, “Do you think that we can work together freely?”
In a way, she was again asking me to release her. Was that all this was to her? An attempt at subtle seduction to get what she wanted? I couldn’t blame her for trying.
I remained silent a long while, contemplating how to best answer. The entire time she continued staring at the patch of moss.
“I want to, but my people have risked so much. I cannot release you only to have you join our enemy. My world would be torn apart if that were to happen. It is simply a risk I cannot take at this time, even if I wanted to. Perhaps we can one day.”
“You don’t trust me,” she commented, sounding discouraged. Did she think batting eyelashes and a couple suggestive glances would turn my head so far that I would lose all control and release her? I could not even fully trust my own kind. Hedrek was a problem. Something she now knew of. And the risk of trusting Bavadrins did not expose my neck alone, but the necks of my citizens. I would not risk it. Not when there was no point to, not when I already had control.
A sigh rumbled against the back of my throat. “Our storybegan with us being prisoners of one another. That does not make for a solid foundation of trust. It is no secret that I like you, Ariana. I have promised no harm would come to you or yours if not provoked. But your race is known for deception. The only way for me to truly know if you speak the truth is to set you free, and that is something that I cannot risk at this point.”
“You werenevermy prisoner,” she said, voice colder. “If I had been the leader at the time, and you stumbled onto my territory, you wouldn’t ever have been a prisoner.”
“You do not know that. I am a Lysian, a threat to the Bavadrins. I certainly would not have been free in your territory,” I pointed out, shifting my attention to a tree branch above. My words were complete horse shit. In my gut I knew she would never have followed in her father’s footsteps. My skin would have remained pristine had she been the Bavadrin leader.
Her eyes flared as she said, “But you were never truly a prisoner, were you? You found yourself exactly where you wished to be. Even the unjust punishment you received was something you desired, at least in some ways. You always had the power to leave that cell but chose to stay.”
Silence fell between us.
