“Sleep in my bed every night, Elowyn,” he whispers against her lips. “You won’t need yours anymore.”
“In Lostariel, we don’t have separate chambers,” she says as he trails kisses along her jaw.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you want me in your bed, since that’s where we’re going, love. As soon as you feel up to it.”
She lies back as he nuzzles her ear. “I’ve only been to Celesta a handful of times.” Her breath hitches at his touch.
He pulls away and frowns. “Because of me?”
“Don’t stop. Please. I don’t want to wait to live, Rominy. I’m tired of waiting. I’ve been waiting all my life.”
He looks down at her lying there beside him. How small her world was while she waited for him. For them. And he had no idea she even existed. So many sacrifices for him before they even met. Before he knew her name.
For a moment, he considers throwing caution to the wind and giving her exactly what she wants.
What they both want.
“Elowyn, love,” he whispers instead. “This isn’t how you want our first time to go, with both of us full of guilt for putting your life in more danger.”
Not to mention the fact that he’s still sore. But he keeps that to himself.
She rubs her eyes and whimpers in the most heart-wrenching way, and he just watches her, unsure what to say or do to help.
Then she climbs off the bed and pulls off the simple shift she slept in last night as she gazes out at the sea.
What is she doing?
Before he can decide if he should say anything or not, she wades into the waves and dives under the water.
Is this like when she tried to obliterate the hearth with her fire magic? Maybe she needs some time alone with her magic. That seems to soothe her when she’s frustrated.
He could never keep up with her in the ocean if he tried to join her. He’ll just have to wait for her to return and be here for her when she needs him.
Elowynpushesthecurrentsto carry her away. Away from the island. From her fears. From everything holding her back.
Away from Rominy? The thought makes her heart ache. What must he be thinking now? She wasn’t trying to escape him. Just...everything else. And now he consumes her thoughts. They’re not supposed to be apart. She doesn’t want to be apart. She longs for him.
But she needs to just exist for a few minutes. As much as she hates just existing. But Grandmera always told her when her body felt so full of frustration that she thought she might explode to go somewhere alone and exist within her magic. Let all the frustration seep out of her and feel the currents flowing around her in her helplessness. Or let the fire burn away her anger. How many times did Grandmera follow her out to the Waters of Pendarra as she lay back in the river and let her magic keep her afloat while the currents did whatever she asked them to do around her? It comforted her to know Grandmera was there, watching over her.
The way Rominy watches over her now.
The thought squeezes her heart like a vise. She should go back. Assure him it’s not him. He’s right when she’s wrong. Strong when she’s weak.
Brave when she’s afraid.
Hemay believe she’s fearless, but this weight ratcheting down on her terrifies her—not that she won’t wake again but that she’ll wither away with the waiting.
She was supposed to be done waiting.
Eventually, the currents carrying her through the waves siphon much of her frustration away, leaving only an aching need for Rominy in her chest.
The way he chases dragons with her at times. The way he helps her just exist at others.
She needs him now.
With a thought, she redirects her currents, pushing her magic harder and faster to carry her back to him. To his strong arms and his soothing voice.
When she nears the shore, a familiar melody tickles her ears. Is Rominy playing his piano again? Soon, his voice joins the music as her feet hit the sand, and she hovers in the water, listening to the words rising in his beautiful voice.
