“My Heart? You called me that before.”
He kisses my shoulder. “That’s because you’re my heart now. I’ll protect you as I would my own heart.”
I’m not sure what to do with a man who talks so openly about his feelings. “What’s Volcaris like?”
“What do you know about our continent?”
“Is it all ash and lava?”
He buries his nose in my neck, inhaling deeply again, like he can’t get enough of my scent, and it’s strangely hot to have him do such a thing. “It is mostly ash and lava, which makes ita difficult place to live, but there’s also life there. Many animals live in the ash and lava. Plants have learned to grow in such difficult conditions. There’s a lot of beauty. We live in stone structures, in areas where the lava doesn’t flow, and we rely a great deal on the sea for food and supplies. The thing is, we can’t get everything we need there, which is why we try to come to Volcaris, but the Dravari people do everything they can to prevent us from coming to their lands. We have to land at Gore Rock, as you know, before coming to Volcaris, and your people have positioned a wealth of dragon riders there to stop us from coming to your continent. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. The Dravari act like we’re the ones who want war, but we’ve never wanted war. Just to live.”
It’s weird hearing his side of things. Weird because itcouldbe true. There’s nothing in what he says that I can disprove. Still, it’s hard to imagine my people as the aggressors after all I’ve heard about the Hollowborn.
“Our people live in a harsh environment, which has made them tougher, but we’re not tough in all things. We prioritize our families, our spouses, our children, above all else. My own mother and two sisters are well-cared for and quite happy. It’s important to us that our men are not just warriors, but good people too. And if they aren’t… we handle it.”
There was something omniscient about the way he says, “we handle it.”
“What are your sisters and mother like?”
“My mother is a fierce warrior by her own right. When my father died, she took over as ruler of our people until I came of age. I would’ve allowed her to rule longer, but she felt I was ready. And I was. She taught me well. My older sister has a hard head and a hard heart, but it has served her well. She imprinted on a man who is soft in all the ways she’s hard, so they complement each other well. My younger sister is still unwed,but she’s waiting to imprint on someone. She’s gentle and soft for a Hollowborn, but that softness has resulted in a beautiful artist who is talented with a brush and has the voice of an angel. She gives comfort to all the soldiers on their hardest days.”
“Did it impact you to spend most of your life in a family of mostly women?”
He shifts behind me, moving me closer. “Women can be soldiers, but they often choose not to be. They tend to understand the complexities of emotions, values, and our roles in this world on a deeper level than men do. For example, when my father died, the men gave me liquor and patted me on the back, but my mother and sisters sat down with me, and we spoke about our many great memories with my father. They allowed me to cry. They allowed me to mourn the loss of everything I would never experience with him, while sharing their own sadness and fears. So, although I would never call women ‘soft,’ for lack of a better world, they taught me to be soft when I need to be.”
My chest feels warm, and my mind spins. There’s so much to unravel in words, from the realization that the Hollowborn seem to treat their women as equals, unlike the Dravari, to the fact that Sevrin does seem to be able to connect on a more vulnerable level than the three princes, likely because of the strong women in his family. The picture that I’m beginning to form of this man is a good one.
“What about you and your life?”
I stiffen, coming back to the present. “Mine isn’t as interesting…”
“It will be to me.”
I get distracted by his warm breath on my shoulder for a minute before I manage, “I grew up in a small town and learned to be a healer from my mother. I have a wonderful father who is a hardworking farmer, and my three idiot brothers help himrun the farm. I have my best friend, Arthur, someone I’ve grown up with, and now I’m doing everything I can to become a good dragon rider, because that’s what’s important to Ebron and I.”
“And you were happy growing up?”
“Very. I mean, sometimes I wished I had a sister to help even the numbers against my brothers, but my mother often acted as my friend and confidant.”
“You’re close to your family then?”
“Yes. I even had a fiancé that I didn’t want, and my family did their best to handle him, even though his father is a powerful man.”
He tenses behind me. “If he’s still a problem, I can deal with him.”
“That’s sweet,” I say, “but Lucien, Prince Lucien, handled him when he got a little too bold.”
“I’ll have to thank him for that.”
I’m not sure Lucien would like that.
“You want to hear something strange?” he asks.
“Okay,” I say, listening intently.
“I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”
“I admit I feel a bit of the same way, even though all of my instincts are screaming at me to not feel that way.”
