Andar chuckled, soft and low so it shook his chest but didn’t make any actual sounds. “I’ve grown strangely accustomed to them.” He kissed the corner of my mouth. “And they did keep you alive while I was racing back here.” He shifted so our foreheads touched. “I’ve never been so afraid as I was during those moments.”
The music lilted into a ballad, and Amador’s strong tenor started singing.
A tale of woe and tragedy,
Of misery and tears,
Of monsters bold and terrors told,
And love that ends all fears.
I kissed Andar’s cheek and whispered in his ear, “That is terrible.”
He pulled me to my feet and shrugged, then offered me his elbow. “Maybe it gets better as they go.”
The queen was wild and filled with ice,
Her stare would chill your soul.
But he had ruled behind a throne
With power that he stole.
I laughed and slipped my arm through his, wrapping my fingers around his bicep. “Right. Better.”
He grimaced and kissed the top of my head. “Fine. It’s terrible.” He waved at the path in front of us. “Is there any chance you would come with me to Vitana to see if anything still lives on it?”
I stepped down the path, ignoring the fact that we no longer had any supplies, and our destination was deep in the heart of the Summer Realm. “I would love to.”
He reached a hand to my face and brushed his thumb over my cheek again. “Khiona. I will never get over your smile. It is more beautiful than any sunrise or any flower-filled garden.”
A warm blush brightened my cheeks, and I shrugged. “I can’t help it now. I unsealed my emotions, and everything you say makes me smile.”
The real heroes of our tale came now,
With song so bright and bold,
They braved the Winter Realm with pow’r,
Even through the cold.
We both laughed at the newest stanza and started walking down the south-bound path together. Amador, Aakil, and Bummel followed fifty feet behind us, and their horses followed them.
Andar patted my hand on his arm. “You truly don’t mind giving up your revenge?”
I took a deep breath while feelings I had never allowed and didn’t understand filled my heart. At the same time, rich rainforest smells dance across my mind.There must be hundreds of things you could make into teas here. “Not at all,” I said. “I have a lot of emotions I’d like to experience besides revenge.” I squeezed his arm. “Chasing revenge never felt this good.”
“And what about Kalshana? I don’t want you to feel like you’re abandoning it.”
A butterfly flew in front of us, a bright yellow thing as big as my hand with black spots and lines. It was beautiful and wild, and it lived its life just fine without me. “I think,” I said slowly, “Kalshana does not need me so much. It has survived without me for forty years, and Prince Bylur is wrangling the noble families to provide anything the kingdom might need.”
Andar’s brows knit together. “You’re sure? I don’t want you to give up something you love. We could return after we visit Vitana.”
The butterfly flapped its wings and flew behind a broad-leafed tree I had no name for. “I think I need to do something else,” I said slowly. “I never wanted to rule. I fell into it through a mixture of obligation and a desire to prove my worth. I’d… like to try something new, maybe on your island, maybe somewhere else, and I think Bylur will handle Kalshana just fine.” My cheeks warmed again. “That is, if you don’t mind me joining you—”
He reached around me to take my free hand and lift it to his lips. He settled a slow kiss onto the top of my biggest knuckle. I clenched his hand tighter. The way my heart turned into butterflies and tried to fly out of my chest every time he kissed me was thrilling andterrifying and so much more wonderful than hunting for humans or ruling a kingdom.
He dropped both my hands and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “It would be my honor.”
