She worries her lower lip for a minute as she considers her options. Then she shrugs and finds a sash from her pile of white fabric to tie the trousers in place. When she’s done, they’re baggy, but they seem snug enough not to fall off.
Next, she slips the leather vest over her arms and frowns at the clasps. They cross and buckle in a strange pattern. She could ask Cerian to help, but that sounds just as awkward as asking him to unbutton her gown was.
After a bit of fussing with it, the vest seems fastened well enough. It will have to do. She rolls all the cuffs up before fetching her boots and cloak from the wardrobe.
Cerian probably wants to change out of his wedding finery, too.
Arisanna clasps her cloak at her throat and carries her boots with her to the door. “I’m ready,” she says as she lets herself into the other room again.
Cerian sits at the hearth, hurling fireballs the way he did earlier. That must be what he does to calm himself when he’s distressed. He glances up at her, but her cloak covers most of his clothing.
“Do you want to change, too?” she asks as she hugs her boots to her chest.
Without a word, he hops to his feet and disappears while she laces up her boots. He’s quicker than she was, and he soon reappears with his own cloak in place.
“Ready?” he asks.
“We should bring blankets. It can get cold on the observation deck. There should be some in the chest at the foot of the bed.”
He nods and returns to his inner chamber before emerging with an armful of blankets. “Is this enough?”
They could probably construct a cozy pallet for two with that many blankets, but Arisanna pushes the thought from her mind.
“That should be plenty. Let’s go.” Grabbing a kerosene lamp to light the stairs to the astronomy tower, she gingerly pushes open the door and glances up and down the corridor, but it’s empty. “Come on.”
Stars Above
Episode 14
CerianfollowssilentlyasArisanna leads him through a series of back passageways and stairwells to avoid being seen.
At the base of what appears to be a stone tower with stairs circling upward for several stories, she pulls him through a doorway and shuts and bars the door. “There. Now no one will disturb us. Hopefully, everyone is still at the banquet, anyway.”
At least they won’t have to explain their presence to anyone. Or her appearance. He caught sight of his clothes hanging on her slender frame when her cloak parted as she turned, and he barely held back a smile at how big they were on her.
When she asked to borrow his things, images of her using and touching everything he owns sent a wave of panic rushing through him, but he swallowed it.
She’s his binding partner now. His wife, as the humans say. He’s going to have to deal with...sharing.
Though getting her clothes of her own will be high on his list of priorities once they reach Celesta.
Thoughts of her in her elven huntress dress flash before his eyes, and he almost trips on the stairs.
“Are you all right?” she asks over her shoulder.
“I’m fine. How far is it?”
“Not too much farther.”
They continue circling ever higher, and Cerian feels her heart speeding up at the exertion. This level of activity shouldn’t have much of an effect on him, so it must be her.
“Do you need to rest?” he asks.
Her words come out on heavy breaths, but she shakes her head. “We’re almost there.”
Soon, they pass through a wooden platform into a small room housing what must be a telescope. He’s heard of such things, even that they had one at the castle, but he’s never seen one himself.
“Here we are.” She sets the lamp on a table at the side of the room and smiles at him before reaching for the blankets. “Let me take those.”
