“Do you have a better idea?”
“I don’t like the notion of working with the Knights.”
“Trust me, I’m not a fan of it either.”
They arrived at the single-room hovel they’d been staying in near the market. Most nights, Vi longed for something better. But it was a roof over their heads and they didn’t have much in the way of gold or silver—some pilfered treasure Vi had stolen from the palace before they left, Deneya’s meager wages from working in the stables, and whatever coin Deneya’s craftsmanship brought in.
In the back corners of the room were three pallets. Two were pushed together, the third on the opposite side. They went about their business, readying for bed with habitual precision before crawling under their respective blankets.
“Think the beds on the ship will be better than this?” Deneya asked the darkness.
“There will be bunks or hammocks, if it’s anything like the other vessels I’ve been on,” Vi answered, twisting both her body and her words as she dodged the heart of the question.
Taavin slotted into place behind her, one arm stretched out underneath her pillow. The other wrapped around her waist and tugged lightly, bringing her close.
“A hammock sounds nice. Fewer bugs probably.” Deneya yawned. “I bet it sways with the rocking of the ship. Lull us to sleep like babes.”
Vi laughed. “The first time I was on a ship, I was nothing like a babe. More like a drunkard, vomiting everywhere.”
“It can’t be that bad. The ride over from Risen was easy enough.”
“Risen,” Taavin murmured sleepily in her ear. Warmth flooded her at the sound of his voice so close, at the feeling of his body flush behind her. Vi savored every precious sensation. She’d been taking them for granted since he’d gained his body. “If we get all the weapons—” he yawned “—we’ll need to go to Risen and get the flame, to get Yargen’s essence within it.”
“I know.” Vi had been accounting for it from the start. She kept track of where Yargen’s essence was stored: the flame, the Caverns, the three remaining crystal weapons, Taavin, and herself. Every night, Vi reminded herself of the count. Because the question of what would happen to her and Taavin when the time to summon Yargen came always circled back into the front of her mind. “One step at a time. First we have to find the crown.”
“And get all the other weapons.”
Thoughts of Risen brought her mind in another direction. “Deneya.”
“Argh, I was just about to fall asleep. What?” she said with a flair of drama.
“You were not about to fall asleep.” Vi grinned. “What does Lumeria think has happened to you?” It had been over ten years since Vi had last heard of Deneya checking in with the queen.
“I told her when we last spoke that business here would keep me from giving updates to her regularly. I’m sure it’ll take about fifty years of silence before she starts to wonder.”
“Makes sense,” Vi muttered, her lids becoming heavy.
It didn’t even occur to her that she had just found the idea of someone checking in once every fifty years reasonable. Fifty years would’ve been half of her lifespan once. Now, it was little more than a moment.
With every day that passed, she drew closer to the end of the world and further from the world she’d known… and the woman she’d been.
* * *
Vi woke up before her friend and lover.
Taavin’s breathing was slow and easy. The sunlight from underneath the crack of the door was already bright enough to see by. Vi twisted in Taavin’s arms. He sighed softly in his sleep and tightened his embrace slightly.
She ran her fingertips from the point of his ear down his cheek. His eyes fluttered open at the touch.
“Sorry to wake you,” Vi whispered, soft enough that Deneya wouldn’t hear.
“Waking next to you is nothing to be sorry about.” He blinked the morning’s haze from his eyes. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderfully.”
He must’ve seen something on her face. “Is everything all right?”
“I hope so,” Vi started cautiously.
