He lifted his brows. “Trying to diminish my gratitude?”
I snorted, sitting down opposite him on an overturned crate. “Gratitude? Is that what this is?”
He hesitated. And for once, Callan’s humor fell away. “Yes,” he said quietly. “Thank you.”
I blinked, a little stunned by his earnest candor.
He rubbed his palms over his face. “Gods. I can never go home.”
My chest ached. “We’ll stop her. You’ll get your throne back. Your court?—”
He shook his head. “You don’t understand. I surrendered it. Gave it up. I walked—no, ran—away from my throne to save myself, knowing full well what it meant. I fled like a coward.”
“That isn’t what you did.”
“That’s exactly what I did.” He looked up, the look in his eyes bleak and full of self-condemnation. “Just like I tried to do seven years ago.”
I swallowed. “Callan?—”
“My people will never forgive me,” he said hoarsely. “My own guards watched me let her try on my crown. Watched her take over my court even before we’d spoken ourvows. Watched me do nothing. And then today, I relinquished Autumn to her in a heartbeat.”
He looked at me then. Really looked at me. And he didn’t look arrogant or amused or smug. He looked young. Afraid. Mortal.
“You’ve been given a second chance,” I said softly. “What you do with it is what matters. The choices you make now will determine whether you were running from something… or toward something else.”
He drew a breath that sounded like it hurt to take.
“What could I possibly be runningtoward?” he asked quietly.
“That,” I said, “is up to you.”
He sank back against the wall, eyes drifting shut like the weight of it all was finally hitting him. His breathing evened out slowly. His shoulders dropped.
I watched him for a long moment. This boy I’d nearly married. This king who’d already become something entirely different than the one before him. Then I lay down on a patch of old blankets and stared at the cracked ceiling.
I thought of Heliconia. Of Lesha. Of the thrones. Of the valley burning. And most of all…
I thought of Rydian.
The way his shadow-wrapped arms had closed around me when he’d pulled me to safety in that throne room. The way his kiss had felt like the first breath after drowning. The smile he’d worn like a secret promise he was saving for later.
Something had changed in him.
Something had changed in me.
I didn’t know what it meant—not yet. But Iwas more than ready to find out.
I woke to a slant of afternoon light making dust motes dance in front of the broken window pane. Callan snored softly from where he’d sprawled on the cot. I sat up, wincing at the soreness in my hip from the hard wood floor.
Moving quietly, I slipped outside.
The sun had arced to the west, already beginning to dip toward the horizon. I was surprised to find I’d slept the day away. And Rydian had let me.
I wandered into the brush, looking for some sign of him. Maybe he’d fallen asleep too?—
“Sleep well?”
His deep timbre startled me, and I whirled to see him standing before me. His hair had swept down over his forehead, his gaze dark and piercing as it held mine. Standing here among the soft Autumn woods, he looked like a dream come to life. Or maybe, for some, a nightmare.
