Thyra had suggested the practice, and I’d demanded it so that Vale could say a proper goodbye to his mother. Both my twin and I knew how important closure was. According to the fae who had preserved the queen’s body it would not decompose for weeks.
I was determined to find Vale long before then.
“Thank you, Qildor.” I turned to the trio hovering around Luccan, who was lost to his magic. “Ease him out.”
Clem laid a soft hand on Luccan’s shoulder as Arie made to catch his brother, should he fall upon releasing his power. Duran poured a goblet of water.
“Love,” Clem’s soft voice soothed. “Our princesses need a word. Come back to us.”
The portal of light dimmed, the first indication that Luccan was backing off. It shrank with control until Luccan let out a gasp and released.
His knees buckled, as they had a few times before. Arie caught him.
“Easy, brother. Easy. Here’s a seat.” Arie settled his older brother into a plush velvet chair.
Luccan’s body went limp, his arms hanging over the edge as his breathing began to slow. Clemencia took his hand, rubbed her thumb over it, and sat in silence, a soft smile on her lips. We waited, and when he was ready, he sat up. Duran offered him the goblet of water, which Luccan took and drank all the way down. Then, he twisted to face my sister, Qildor, and me.
“What?” Again irritation clouded his face. Luccan, usually so good-natured, didn’t like being interrupted when he was undertaking a task.
“Will you be ready to make a true attempt at daybreak?” Thyra did not mince words.
“I think so.” Luccan drank again. “But for now I need more practice.”
“I think sleep would be more advisable.” Much rested on Luccan’s shoulders. My mate’s fate. The fate of the kingdom, if we could make this the one and only battle in the war.
“I’m attempting something few can do,” Luccan snapped. “I need the practice.”
“You’ll be no good to anyone tomorrow if you’re exhausted,” I shot back. “You’re barely able to sit up on your own. Rest, Luccan.”
“Just twice more. Then I’ll sleep.”
“Very well.” Thyra stood. “We’ll leave you to it then. You three, make sure he does what he says.” My sister said to our friends. “Isolde?”
I rose, playing along, despite having no clue what Thyra was up to, and we left the office. The door shut behind us, and still, Thyra said nothing. Tonna, Sigri, and Halladora, who had waited for us outside fell in line as our guard.
The upper floors of the tavern were where the brothel was located, and we maneuvered our way through females and malesin various states of undress and a few males being led to private quarters. It wasn’t until we had made our way through the tavern portion of the brothel and on to the streets of Myrr that my sister turned to me.
Her eyes were shining with tears.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, taken aback. My twin and I had grown close, but she kept her emotions close to her chest. “Why did we leave?”
“At the end, it all hit me. We’re moving forward with the war and saving them and . . . Luccan reminds me a little of Thantrel.” A few fae on the street said our names. The Valkyrja took up their positions, and my sister wiped the tears from her eyes before they fell.
“What about it?” I pressed.
She got as close to me as possible. No longer did snow line the streets. Nor did frost cling to the buildings. A coolness lingered in the air today, but not enough to wear a cloak, and I felt our closeness as our shoulders touched.
“I want the mating bond,” she whispered after a sleigh rolled by on new wheels that were more appropriate to a place without snow. “I feel like such a fool for denying myself. Denying him.Us.”
“This is excellent news.” I smiled at her, not wanting to state the obvious.
“It will be once we get them back.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Since Eygin, I’ve been slowly coming around.” She exhaled sharply, her edge still there. Still covering up a person who cared deeply for people. “Even if he is insufferable sometimes.”
I shook my head.
