“Then let us travel to Solis,” she replies, her rosy nature unmarred by my less than sunny disposition. “We can shop there. The winters are milder.”
And be forced to listen to herandFenryn?
In the same company?
I think not.
“Is it wise for me to miss yet another day of lessons?” I ask, daring to peek left, up at her. Lilith, while not as tall as Eve, is still taller than me.
Her hazel eyes fly to mine as she scoffs a bewildered laugh. “Vestaris Moonshadow,” she trills. “Are you suggesting you wouldrathersit through lectures—than goshoppingwith me and Fenryn?”
“I’ve said no such thing,” I reply, trying to smother the creeping smirk on my face. “But you’re entitled to arrive at your own conclusions.”
She bubbles with laughter. “Who doesn’t like shopping?”
“Shopping implies making a purchase,” I counter, dropping my empty, paper cup into a trash bin as we walk past.
“You’ve bought tea and a tart. You’re shopping,” she quips, laughing. Her hazel eyes sparkle with amusement. “If you’d rather, Eve can come along. Fenryn can stay at home.”
That… sounds worse.
Spending time with Lilith and Eve has taken on the same feel as spending time with Vaelyn and Ylara. They tolerate one another on my account. Barely.
It’s a gap I’m not sure how to bridge.
I never figured it out between Vaelyn and Ylara either.
“I’ll consider it,” I relent, for no other reason than to placate the fae walking beside me.
Lilith, the delighted and ever shining creature she is, pops a small, excited skip into her step. With a grin, she snatches my hand, giving it an eager squeeze. Her touch is surprisingly warm despite her lack of gloves.
She lifts my hand, drawing it closer to admire the ring on my finger.
“Ryc did a wonderful job,” she says, her voice filled with awe. “I’d forgotten all about this until I saw it on you.”
He did say he had the ring for some time.
“When we returned from the war, he threw himself into forging this,” she says, shaking her head with a small laugh. “I didn’t understand it at first. Until I did. He spent weeks working with a renowned silversmith.” She tilts my hand—a streak of iridescent blue flashes across the moonstone.
My brows furrow.
Returned home from war?
My knowledge regarding the spats of mortals is admittedly lacking—but I’m confident there hasn’t been a war recently. Netharis would have celebrated it.
Releasing me, she turns her face into the wind once again. Ittugs at her raised hood and the few loose tendrils of crimson hair framing her face. Castle Erus comes into view as we round a bend in the street, the bridge crossing the Daxing ahead on our right.
“Lilith, what war are you talking about?” I ask, confused.
Her eyes swing to me. “The Dividing War.”
Flashes of his face, his downturned piercing stare as a blade grows still against my throat, too easily work themselves to the forefront of my mind.
“He told me he found you then. I didn’t believe him at the time. Thought it impossible—delirium manifesting in strange ways upon losing his brother,” Lilith says with a soft smile. “Then… a century later, I found your ring on his desk.”
As we cross the bridge, she snags my arm, gripping me tight by the elbow. I halt and swing to her.
“Ves, Nektos doesn’t always get it right,” she says, her voice quiet, barely audible over the wind. “But I’m so, so grateful she did for Ryc. Foryou. You’re a blessing, despite what you think.”
