I feel like my heart is a rubbled ruin too.
But then I hear a voice.
“Rissa?”
My gaze jerks up. I can barely see him through the tears in my eyes, but Osrik’s bulky body is unmistakable. He has his helmet off and his arms are bare and littered with slices. His black armor is dented and singed, and there are splatters of blood on his face.
But he’s alive.
My entire body jolts, and I’m running before I even realize it. I slip and slide in the slick snow, barreling past the broken stone, but then I reach him andjump.
Osrik catches me beneath my arms. He lets me hang there in front of him awkwardly while he looks me over, his expression intense, brown eyes wild with worry.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I say with exasperation. “I was trying to leap into your arms!”
“Youarein my arms,” he says, giving me a little shake.
“Stop holding me out like this! This is the way you hold a stray cat you’re worried is going to claw you!”
“I’m filthy,” he warns.
“Idon’tcare.”
The next instant, I’m finally crushed against his chest, and he holds me the way I want, with his big hands firmly at my ass and his beard against my cheek.
“Are you okay?” I ask shakily, leaning back to get another look at his face that’s streaked with blood. “Is any of this yours?”
“I’m good, Rissa. I have you.”
A sob escapes me and I bury myself against him again, trying to stop my full-body shakes. “I was so scared,” I admit, my breath hot, my tears scalding.
He squeezes me against him, one hand rubbing up and down my back in comforting strokes. “I’m okay.You’reokay,” he rumbles out. “We won.”
I nod and turn to kiss him, my lips wet with my tears. Then I pull away and press my hands on his cheeks, my eyes darting between each of his. “You gave Manu the better house.”
He frowns. “What?”
“Manu. He had the better house. So I went there so I could watch. He had atower, Osrik,” I lecture.
He pauses, his jaw muscles jumping. For some reason, that sight makes my stomach warm. “You were in the same room as the fucker who almost got you killed?”
“I didn’t get a tower. I needed to see.”
He opens his mouth like he wants to start lecturing me back, but then he lets out a thick sigh. “You know what? Fuck it. I’m just glad I have you in my arms.”
Osrik kisses me again, his tongue insistent, teeth biting at my bottom lip and filling me with warmth that finally makes my shakes subside. “You exasperating fucking woman of mine,” he mumbles against me. “Always trying to see if I’m okay.”
I tug at his beard. “Well, stop putting yourself in danger and I won’t have to.”
His hand squeezes my ass, making my stomach spin. “That’s the end goal, Yellow Bell.”
After a moment, he sets me back down on my feet, keeping me tucked to his side. Everyone else is gathering in this courtyard area too, and I look around, trying to see who else is alive.
“Your commander? The captains?” I ask, because I know how much he cares about them.
He nods. “They’re good too.”
