I drew her close, planting a heavy kiss on her mouth. She grinned against my lips, arms around my neck, fingers in my hair.
I didn’t understand how it was possible, but I was convinced I would never tire of her touch.
“Is this how it’s going to be with you two the rest of my life?” Sander frowned.
“It is not my fault,” I said. “It is a compulsion to touch her at this point.”
Aleksi clambered up on a broken pillar, looking back in the direction of the Black Palace. “If borders were still the same, I think I was found somewhere in that direction. Daj told me it was in a briar shrub.”
Skadi’s eyes widened. “You were found?”
Aleksi winked. “Abandoned during the wars that won Kase and Malin their crown. I have two fathers, Princess, so no natural littles for them. But the Norns knew what they were doing that day. They took me home to the North, gave me a crown, sort of like your story.”
Skadi’s eyes brightened and she stared in the same direction, perhaps finding another thread of connection to the folk who mattered most to me, to this place.
This was exactly what I wanted, for her to know she belonged with us.
The others took their own way into the familiar ruins; I led Skadi through an arched doorway that was still intact. “This is Felstad. The first palace, we call it.”
A small forest had taken root in the main courtyard of the ruins. Dark walls speared through ferns and trees in levels, like broken teeth of open jaws.
“Your folk lived here?”
“It was the Kryv’s haven even before my mother and father were reunited.” I helped her over a ledge into the main courtyard. “Daj was taken captive for his mesmer as a boy. They were apart for turns before Maj found him again. Now it’s damn near impossible to separate them.”
Skadi smiled. “I think it’s romantic, never tiring of your lover.”
I paused for half a breath, overtaken with the truth—Skadi was the first thought of my mornings and the last of my nights. For the first time, I could see the desire for one heart lasting long after the gods took me to the Otherworld.
I guided us up a set of spiral steps. The staircase opened to a floor overlooking the whole of the ruins. I leveraged onto the edge, letting my legs dangle over the side, Skadi did the same.
Through the cracked and empty corridors voices of the others filtered through the ruins. They would all converge here eventually.
“Felstad wasn’t always a joyful place,” I admitted. “During the war that earned my parents the throne, their enemies trapped littles here. Von was one of the captives. It was the first time sea fae and earth fae collided, actually.”
Tait stood close, inspecting one of the old archways. “Wait, what did you say? This was where he . . .”
I nodded, knowing what he was asking. “The reason the sea fae came to our shores was because Bloodsinger was captured as a tiny boy. He was tortured here.”
“Dammit.” Tait took in the walls with a new horrible reverence. “I didn’t know it was still standing. Has Erik ever returned here?”
“No.” I lowered my chin, ashamed for the pain that corrupted the walls of this place. “I think it’s why the Ever King avoids our kingdom more than others.”
“I didn’t know that story,” Skadi whispered.
I took hold of her hand. “It is more proof that enemies can become something more, Fire. Bloodsinger once despised us for the pains of hispast, but sea fae are found in every kingdom now. They do not hold the past against us, the way we do not hold it against them. I hope you know it is the same for elven folk.”
Skadi scooted a little closer, seeming to understand my underlying reasons for bringing her here.
“Speak for yourself, Prince.” Heartwalker drew another one of his smokes, but never lit the end. “I still hold everything against you lot.”
Skadi snickered. “Yes. Especially Mira.”
Tait blanched, and I nearly toppled off the damn ledge from laughing at his back when he stormed away.
“This was a place of pain, and love, and strength. I wanted you to see it because I want you to know, you are part of Klockglas and this clan. Your heart was betrayed, and I want to spill blood for it.” I gingerly took one of her hands between mine. “This place is where outcasts became family. If you feel like you have no place, you do with me. You will belong with me, Skadi.”
She took my face between her palms, eyes glassy. With her lips over mine, Skadi whispered, “You are the one I would have beside me on the battlefield, Nightmare.”
