“I was so lonely,” he whispered. “I thought… I thought it was enough. I thought a few close friends were enough. But…” His eyes found hers as he splayed out his fingers across her strong leg. “Let’s not allow that to happen again. I… I don’t know what this is, or what it can be. But I know I care about you, Iviry. I respect you. I am impressed by you every time I see you lead. I think you’re beautiful, yes. But I also think you’re strong and caring, and perhaps not kind, but nice enough. Let’s not allow each other to hide—not when we’re together.”
She laughed, a low rasping laugh that made him take her hand in his.
“You’re not especially kind either,” Iviry retorted, and his mouth flew up in a wide grin at how herblue eyes shone with real amusement, not the pretend flirtiness from earlier.
Her lips hesitantly followed when a breeze wrapped around them, causing her to shiver, and Loche automatically moved so that she could settle against his chest.
He didn’t think she would, so when the Fae started shuffling, her back sliding against his body, he released a deep breath and wound his arms loosely around her.
They stared down at the people standing guard across the ships, and the few groups that had gathered to… yes, they were socializing. Two ships over, a Fae female and one of Loche’s soldiers, who held the bird mask in his hand, stood, and Loche wasn’t sure how it was possible to smile wider, but when the Fae placed a hand on the soldier’s arm, coyly whispering something in the man’s ear, Loche’s cheeks hurt from the widening smile.
“Look at that,” Loche breathed. “Maybe we’re not complete fools.”
Iviry shook her head so that her hair tickled his chin. “Don’t get any ideas.”
The regent rolled his eyes.
Thatit was entirely too late for. He had many ideas by now, and when his arms held her closer and she didn’t fight it but moved to make herself more comfortable, he had a suspicion she wouldn’t be as against them as she tried to sound.
Chapter 35
Merrick
As they rode toward the small white house on the hill, a foreign sound permeated the air, joining the waves crashing against the cliffs to their right and the soft wind rustling through the green grass to their left.
Merrick’s ears perked, and he turned his face toward the sea at the same time as Lessia, her head lifting from where she’d sat leaning against his chest, when the strange melody floated toward them. They stiffened in unison. Lessia’s long hair and the horse’s white mane were the only things moving as the animal also halted—the mare knowing exactly what made that noise.
War drums. That’s what rumbled far in the distance, the waves carrying it over the sea, even though no shadows of ships reflected against the sky meeting the water. Merrick could tell that Lessia had stopped breathing, her chest no longer moving in sync with his own, and he cursed silently when he felt cold guilt creep upher spine, driving one of those horrible noises that sounded like a dry sob out of her.
Nudging the mare forward, Merrick got her into a trot, wanting her hooves beating against the ground to mute the sound of doom and terror that would soon be unleashed upon their friends.
He’d known it was a risk, bringing Lessia here. The north side of Vastala wasn’t just where his commander lived or where the small town he hoped they’d make it to, to officially make her his, lay, but also where they’d need to board a ship to get out of Havlands and to the other Fae realms.
Of course, this was also where the Oakgards’ Fae would come through.
Merrick laid his hands on Lessia’s thighs when a breath rushed out of her, her eyes seemingly fighting to move inland again, and finally, with a jerk of her neck, she forced her face toward the white house, which grew bigger and bigger as they rode closer.
He didn’t say anything as they continued the ride, and neither did she.
While he knew Lessia felt the weight of leaving her friends, Merrick struggled yet again with whether he should just command the horse into a gallop and get them onto the waiting ship before it was too late.
But as she leaned further into him—for comfort or to hold herself back from getting off the horse, he wasn’t entirely sure—Merrick sighed and pushed the possessive, controlling thoughts away.
It would be her choice.
When he came up with this plan, he’d known it would be her choice in the end.
The marriage.
The time.
The life.
He’d vowed to follow her wherever she decided she would go. So, that’s what he would do.
The horse neighed softly when a beaten path revealed itself through the thinning grass, and Merrick cleared his throat when the smells of smoke, food, and ale alerted him that at least someone was living in the old, decaying house despite its boarded-up windows.
“Commander Aixle is very old,” Merrick mumbled as he moved his hands from Lessia’s legs to the reins she kept loosely in her hands, pulling them to slow the horse. “He wasn’t particularly trusting when I knew him, and it appears he might have held on to that.”
