Cora’s brow knit into a furrow. Did he really think she’d asked to be alone last night because she hadn’t been ready for their relationship to progress romantically?
Her heart raced as she spoke the next words. “That’s not it, Teryn. I didn’t ask for space out of some need to pull away emotionally. I…I just didn’t know how to talk to you about what I was going through. But…” She swallowed hard. “I’m ready to talk now.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything.”
Her stomach sank, though she wasn’t sure if it was due to disappointment or relief.
“I trust you,” he said. “You know that, right? You’re free to keep your secrets. I’ll never pry them from you or begrudge you your time alone. Besides, you have important work to do in the tower. It would be selfish for me to keep you from it.”
Her lips flickered between a smile and a frown. While she’d hoped he wouldn’t be too concerned over what had happened last night, she hadn’t expected him to be so accepting. So dismissive. Was he posturing to hide any hurt he may feel? Or was he simply being supportive?
As if he could read the conflict in her expression, his tone turned warm. “My feelings haven’t changed. We have all the time in the world to fall in love. There’s no need to rush.”
Before she could say anything else, he took a step back and gave her another formal bow. When he rose, his eyes danced with mirth, lips quirked in a sideways grin. Then, with nothing more than the word “Highness,” he left.
Cora stood frozen for a few beats more, unsure how to feel about their exchange. Her emotions were still too tangled, too loud. Most of all, her skin felt cold, chilled beneath the broken expectations that she’d at least receive a kiss on the hand, if not a parting embrace. The absence of his touch was as painful as a slap, as was his failure to request her company for some later date. Instead, he’d just…walked away.
He’d given her what she needed though, hadn’t he? The space to finish her work in the tower. Permission to keep her secrets to herself. She’d let that be enough.
In the meantime, she could do what needed to be done.
Clean the tower.
Learn how to break her curse.
She marched from the keep to the tower stairwell and up the stairs. Both guards acknowledged her with a bow of their heads. The room was as she’d left it, the windows having been closed for the night, the hearth filled with nothing but soot.
Summoning the fiery resolve she’d felt earlier, she set everything back in place—donning her apron, opening windows, adding fresh salt to the threshold and sill, tossing her blend of herbs upon the cedar logs in the hearth. Once she was ready to begin her work for the day, she strode to the bookshelf, selected a book, and analyzed its energy. Deeming it safe enough to touch, she brought it to the hearth. But instead of tossing it in the growing flames, she set it on her lap, retrieved her knife from her apron pocket, and flipped open the cover.
This time, without guilt or shame or worry that she was doing the wrong thing, she read.
And read.
And read.
Teryn floated in nothingness,his surroundings shapeless and awash in pale light. He vaguely noted thatthismust be how it felt to rest his ethera. It was the same sensation he’d had before he’d awoken inside the crystal for the first time. His mind lingered somewhere between rest and consciousness. Thoughts began to sharpen at the edges, forming his last waking memory.
Cora.
Beautiful, fearless, formidable Cora standing in the hall.
Cora, frozen in place as her eyes fell on his body.
Cora, trying to confess a hurt she’d endured.
Cora, crestfallen as Morkai’s retreating footsteps dragged Teryn away from her, forcing him to follow the crystal’s path.
He woke with a jolt and found himself in an unfamiliar place. Instead of the muted gray stone of Ridine’s walls and regal tapestries, he found himself surrounded by pale marble carved in intricate patterns. Rugs covered the floor of the small room, and an array of bright pillows stood in lieu of tables and chairs. To the left was a low bed draped in gauzy curtains that hung from the ceiling, sheets the color of ruby and saffron haphazardly tucked in place.
“This was my bedroom when I was alive.” Emylia’s voice startled him, and he found her suddenly at his side. She was dressed in a sleeveless linen gown the same shade of saffron as the bedsheets. Her curly black hair was pulled into a bun at the top of her head. “I spend most of my time here. Is that all right? Or would you prefer I shape the crystal to mimic your bedroom at Ridine again?”
“It’s fine,” Teryn said, his mind still sharpening from the haze of rest. “But where are we really? Where is Morkai right now? How much time has passed since…” Fear clenched his chest as he realized he couldn’t remember anything after he saw Cora. His ethera must have forced him to rest, just as Emylia had said it would.
“Connect with your vitale first.”
He bit back a curse, but she was right.
With a deep breath, he focused on the feel of air moving through his lungs, the pulse of his blood, the beat of his heart. Calm settled over him.
