Will squeezed the dips of her waist before he pressed another kiss to her mouth. “Will you come with me?” he murmured against her lips.
“Where?”
“I have something to show you.”
“Where?”
Will groaned as he pulled away from her, but his gaze was entirely too fond for her to believe his exasperation. “You’re really horrible at surprises, do you know that?”
“Years of being a spy, I suppose,” Aya answered with a sly grin. It was telling that it was a piece of her past she could speak of so lightly now. There were moments when it still stung—moments where she wondered if who she had been was who she should be now—but she was trying to let those thoughts pass through without her holding on to them too tightly.
Will pressed his forehead against hers, keeping her anchored in the present moment. “Do you trust me?”
Aya pretended to think about it for a second, but she broke into a grin at the roll of Will’s eyes. She tugged his head down as she pushed onto her toes, capturing his lips in a long, messy kiss. “More than anyone,” she said as she pulled away, sincerity softening her tone.
“Good.” He took her hand, giving a sharp whistle forthe wolves to follow, and tugged her out of the barn. “Then let’s go.”
They walked for a long while, not back toward the town, but deep into the peaks of the Malas, the path curling around Dunmeaden, which she could see from a distance. Tyr and Akeeta trotted ahead, their ears perked as they took in the fresh air and birdsong.
“Nearly there,” Will assured her.
“You’re still not going to tell me what this is about, are you?”
“I’d rather show you,” he said as he tugged her around a corner. The path had led them into a large clearing, the circle of pines creating a quiet, secluded feel to the space. At the center, nestled amongst the trees, was a small stone cottage.
Aya stumbled to a halt, her breath sweeping from her as she stared at the structure. Tyr and Akeeta paid it no mind, choosing instead to wrestle in the tall grass that swayed in the cool summer breeze.
“What is this?” Aya asked. But her heart was pounding, her pulse jumping where Will pressed against it on the inside of her wrist with his thumb, as if her body alreadyknew.
He smiled down at her, but there was something nervous flickering in his eyes.
“Remember when you asked me what I had to give away in my will?” he said as he took a step toward the cottage. He kept hold of her hand as he turned back to face her. “Well. You’re looking at it.”
Aya’s gaze darted between him and the cottage. “You own a cottage?”
Will’s cheeks flushed. He looked…bashful.
“Well I was sort of hoping it would be more…weown a cottage?” He ducked his head slightly. “I came across it years ago when I was training in the mountains with Akeeta. The woman who owned it passed just before the Dawning, and I…”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I may have allowed myself a rash purchase. I guess I hoped one day, I’d need a home outside of the Quarter.”
He peered over his shoulder at the cottage, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “Of course, then everything completely went to shit, and I nearly forgot about it until just before the final battle.”
Will’s teeth tugged on his bottom lip as he met Aya’s gaze once more. “It needed some work, so Aidon and I were fixing it up.”
Aya’s brows rose. “Isthatwhere you were going when you said you were playing cards?”
Will rubbed the back of his neck, the flecks of green sparkling in the gray of his irises. “We don’t have to stay here,” he assured her. “If it’s not what you want…your feelings on the Ventaleh may have changed after what we’ve experienced.”
Aya’s eyes burned as she recalled their conversation in Trahir. He’d wanted to know what she missed most about home. She’d told him the wind.
“So,” Will asked as he took a step toward her, his free hand coming to cup her cheek, “what do you think?”
Aya’s lips parted, but she was at a loss for words. And yet…hehadtold her about this, hadn’t he? When they’d stood by the lake in the Midlands and shed everything that stood between them, he had told her.
If I have my way, you are going to live far beyond this war. You are going to die old and happy in a cottage in the mountains of Tala, away from all of this.
A small incredulous laugh bubbled up from her chest.
