“Yes.”
“So how does this Twilight Kingdom protect us, if Fallor is one of them?” Vi kept her focus on the pressing matter of their survival rather than any questions on magical theory.
“He’s a morphi… but the Twilight Kingdom holds no love for him. He’s a famous exile from their lands, forbidden from entering their territory.”
“And the Faithful won’t follow us into the forests because the shift magic is anathema to them?” Dislike of the morphi still seemed an arbitrary and ill-founded prejudice, but if it protected them, she wouldn’t complain too much about it.
“More or less.”
“Can we seek refuge in the Twilight Kingdom?”
“No, we’ll rest here until I can recover.” Taavin rested a hand lightly on his ribs. “Which may be some time since we’ve lost the contents of my trunk.”
“Sorry…” Vi muttered. It had gone up in smoke with the rest of the shack.
“It’s all right. I didn’t have much left anyway after traveling for a good week.”
“If we can’t seek refuge, can we at least restock in the Kingdom?” She couldn’t blame Taavin for wanting to keep a low profile, given who he was. But surely she could at least go and get what they needed?
“No. The Kingdom is protected by an impenetrable shift. Even if you could get through… you shouldn’t.”
“But I can—”
“The enemies of our enemies are not our friends in this case. Neither of us should venture to interact with anyone from the Twilight Kingdom.” He spoke as though it were a declaration. Vi bristled at the tone but didn’t object. He knew far more about Meru and its nuances than she.
“Why would they have a reason to be hostile to us?”
“For the same reason that I will not heal myself withhalleth… The feeling of hatred is mutual between the Faithful and the morphi. If they sense Lightspinning in their lands, we will be hunted. We conceal ourselves here in body and in magic.”
Which meant they weren’t really safe at all. Vi turned toward the narrow entrance they’d squeezed through. The rain still pounded outside, perhaps intent on raising the water in the small stream and flooding them out like two rats. In the distance, thunder rolled.
“Raspian is getting stronger…” Taavin mumbled, his eyes finally closing for slumber. “The end of the world is drawing near.”
Vi remained silent, allowing Taavin to slip off to sleep.
She didn’t bother worrying him with the fact that this was the second time she’d seen red lightning.
Chapter Four
The first thingVi felt was the reassuring warmth of someone next to her.
The soft dripping of the cave filled her ears. Wetplopsthrummed a rhythm underneath the echoes of the quietly babbling stream that ran by the entrance. The world was far quieter than when she’d gone to sleep.
Vi slowly opened her eyes, her attention drawn immediately to the man at her side. The gray light washed out his features and darkened his hair nearly to black. It clung with grime and sweat around his face, the natural waves of it almost clumping into curls. Slowly, Vi raised a hand, lightly pushing his hair away from his eyes.
Her fingertip brushed the point of his ear, her hand lingering there almost of its own volition.
He truly was different from her. She’d always known it. Yet when she had summoned him withnarro hath, he’d existed in the framework of her world. Now, she was an occupant of his, and even the princess who belonged nowhere had never felt so out of place.
She’d finally made it to him. Somehow, he felt farther away than ever. They were from different worlds, pulled together by fate. Two people who should have never met and seemed destined for nothing more than heartache.
Vi lifted her hand off his person, though he was still heavy on hers. He was far heavier than Ellene had been when she’d fallen asleep on Vi’s shoulder during too-long stories around campfires.
Ellene.
Vi had begrudged her life in Shaldan. Those endless nights of storytelling, the expectations of royalty, her never-ending lessons, the seemingly insufferable captivity. How grateful she would be to have one more night to relax with Ellene and sip cider, safe and protected behind walls meant to keep the world out as much as Vi in. She had never fully appreciated how good she’d had it.
And now it was gone.
