Clarissa
“So, Leo and I were climbing the mountains by the fjord in Tenebra—cold as balls, might I add—and an enormous moose came up behind us, and his antlers caught around my charms pouch. It ripped off my jacket, and Leo chased after him, but he slipped on a patch of ice, and I had to use a levitation spell before he fell off the side of the mountain.” Rose grinned over at Leo, who was stoking the fire with a poker. “You should have seen him chasing this thing. I was laughing for weeks.”
A pillow from the armchair by the fire flew through the air and landed on Rose’s face. I snorted into my drink when Leo’s tail flicked back behind him.
“It reminds me of that time several years ago when Chaz pranked Leo when they were stationed in the west sector,” I started, laughter already creeping up my throat. “Leo was bathing in the Scarre River?—”
“Because I hadhorse dungall over me?—”
“And Chaz stole his clothes, but then a group of raiders attacked and chased Leo butt-naked all the way to Westhaven,” I said, snickering at the glower on my brother’s face.
“Yes, let’s just all team up against me tonight,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Oh, I wouldneverteam up against you, sweet boy.” Mother reached out a hand to him. He took it and smiled at her, until she said, “Well, there was this one time when he was a boy, he wanted so badly to be a Shifter like me. He thought he was finally growing a tail, but it was actually his?—”
“And that’s enough for tonight,” Leo interrupted as Rose and I doubled over with laughter.
Our mother’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Alright, alright. Well, I want to hear about thenon-embarrassing adventures. What was your favorite part?”
Rose and Leo took turns telling us about their escapades in the Veridian Empire over the last eight months, how they crossed through jungles of Emberfell to reach citizens who were under the sleeping curse, to daring the outskirts of the Shadowmere Wastelands in Tenebra, to sleeping in boats under the stars in the tropical inlets of Iluze.
I couldn’t help but smile at how animatedly they spoke, how seamlessly they wove their tales together. I remembered the closed-off, wary version of Rose we’d met last fall, who was so hesitant to open herself up to us. So convinced she wouldn’t be able to trust. And now here she was, pestering my brother and laughing with my mother like she’d been part of this family her entire life.
And Leo…I thought he was happy last year when they first met, butnow? He was a whole new man. Still pensive and broody at times, but eager to share these parts of his life with us. Before, he was always so focused. He had his mission with the Sentinels: to avenge our father and take down Gayl. Not much else mattered. I loved seeing him like this—untethered from thoughts of vengeance, free to do what made him happy. To find a purpose that fulfilled him instead of crushed him.
“What aboutyou, Rissa?” Leo asked. “Are you really going to marry this king?”
“Empressandqueen,” Rose added. “That’s two more titles than you, Leo.”
He gave her a bland look, then turned back to me. “How did that even happen, anyway?”
“It’s what’s best for everyone,” I started. The words were routine at this point. “We’ve been cut off from them for long enough. This will create peace between us. Solid ground to move forward on, instead of always wondering what our future may look like or if there will ever be another war. It’s not like it’ll change much for me,” I said with a shrug. “I’ll still be in Veridia City, ruling the empire, while he’s here in Mysthelm, with the added assurance of aid and protection if we ever need it.”
Leo crossed his arms. “And that couldn’t have been accomplished with a peace treaty?”
I glanced at Mother, who raised an eyebrow at me over the rim of her teacup.
“What else is going on?” Rose asked in a suspicious tone.
I sighed. “It’s a little more complicated than that.” Over the next ten minutes, I told them the truth behind mine and Galen’s engagement and the curse, how it manifested as the blight, and how this marriage was the only way it could be stopped for good.
When I finished, Rose let out a slow exhale. “Now who’s got the hero complex?”
“I know it’s crazy, but…I don’t really have a choice. And I want to help. I had my doubts about Galen at first, but he’s learning. Without this curse hanging over him, I think he could really thrive here. We can always sever the marriage later down the line if one of us falls in love and doesn’t want to keep it up anymore,” I joked.
Rose hummed. “Speaking of which, who was that other man?”
Clearing my throat, I asked, “What other man?”
“Don’t play dumb; it doesn’t suit you.”
I stood and took my empty glass to the liquor cart, pulling off the stopper on another bottle. “Oh, Lord Reaux? He’s just a friend of the king. One of his advisors.”
“Okay,” Rose said. I glanced over to see her sipping her drink, and I narrowed my eyes. “What?” she asked innocently. “If that’s all you say he is, I believe you.”
“Don’t. It’s a trap,” Leo whisper-yelled to me from the couch.
I put the bottle back on the cart a little too roughly, and aclangrang through the drawing room. “There’s nothing going on between Thorne and me.”
