“For blo—” Eira didn’t get a chance to finish; a hand closing around her shoulder interrupted her.
Cullen was at her side again. “Sorry to interrupt, Lady Arwin.” He bowed his head and looked to Eira. “It’s time for us to go.”
“I didn’t think they were taking the competitors back for another hour?” Arwin arched her brows.
“We have some business with the other Solaris competitors that almost slipped our minds. Please excuse us.” Cullen grabbed her hand and tugged her away, barely giving Eira a chance to set down her flute and say goodbye to Arwin. Two knights were waiting for them at the entrance to the veranda.
“I wasn’t done speaking with her,” Eira whispered. She’d been hoping to get more information on Ducot.
“I’m sorry, but I have to get out of here and the only way to do it was to make it sound like all the competitors for Solaris had to be there.” Panic was wrought on his face.
“What—”
“Cullen—” Yemir blocked their path “—I’m certain, whatever this is, that exceptions can be made.”
“I’m sorry, Father. But I’m afraid Levit needed us all there to go over some important matters about the upcoming training for competitors, when the city is deemed safe.”
“I can speak to Levit.” Yemir frowned.
“He was rather insistent earlier,” Eira said hastily.
“The training grounds won’t be opened for some time yet. This cannot be urgent,” Yemir grumbled.
Senator Henri crossed over before anything else could be said. “Yemir—sorry to interrupt—Jahran would like a word with us.”
“We were just leaving. Take care, Father, Henri.” Cullen seized the opportunity and stepped toward the knights with a nod. In less than five minutes, they had escaped the candlelit glow of the veranda and emerged into the relative darkness of the city. Cullen exhaled a monumental sigh as they started away from the manor. “Thanks for covering for me.”
“Sure.” Eira tucked some of her hair behind her ears. “Want to tell me what that was really about?”
He groaned. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Weren’t you one of the people earlier trying to tell me I needed to open up more or something?”
“Don’t use my words against me.” He gave her a mock scowl. The expression elicited a soft laugh from her. “My father can be…exhausting.”
“Most parents can be.” Eira’s gaze drifted up to the sky and her mind wandered briefly to the beaches of Oparium. Memories of strolling late at night with her father, watching him chronicle the stars—teaching her how to find her way should she ever be lost. Those memories were like shards of glass now. Incomplete, fragile, and too painful as she held onto them despite herself.
She’d never received word from her parents before she’d left. They showed up for Marcus’s Rite of Sunset and didn’t even so much as leave a note for her. Now, with Risen locked down and travel times between Meru and Solaris as long as they were, Eira suspected she wouldn’t hear from them until she returned from the tournament.
Ifshe returned from the tournament.
Perhaps she’d make a life for herself here after Ferro was brought to justice. Perhaps she’d go to the Twilight Kingdom and see Ducot and Arwin’s homeland. Perhaps when all this was over she’d get on a boat and keep sailing and never look back, chasing after theStormfrostfor the rest of her days.
“At least your parents love you,” she whispered to the same stars she’d once gazed at with her father.
“Yours do, too. You know they do.”
“I don’t.” Eira shook her head. “They didn’t even come to see if I was all right after Marcus’s death. Not one word.” Cullen was notably silent as he chewed over that information. The only sounds were the knight’s scabbards clanking softly as they escorted them. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not. I wish you could’ve spoken to them properly.”
“I wish a lot of things.”
His knuckles brushed against the back of her hand like they had underneath the table. Once and it seemed like an accident. Twice and she knew it was on purpose. The third time, his fingers slid around her palm and laced with hers. Eira was very aware of how close he was standing. Every brush of his shoulder, the warmth of his palm, it was all cataloged. She savored the comfortable silence steeped in a security she’d begun to associate only with Cullen.
They arrived back at the manor. The knights escorted them to the front gate, disappearing as the heavy iron was shut. Eira could see the guards still patrolling the outer wall that boxed in the manor and the rooftop.
“My father,” Cullen began softly, his pace slowing. Eira matched him until they hovered in the walkway that led to the great front doors of the manor. “He’s an ambitious man. He always has been, I think, but it manifested differently when I was younger.”
