She held his gaze, lost for a moment in the silver. They shone like pools of starlight, as if the God of Urn had gathered his two brightest stars and placed them there.
“I … I don’t hate you,” Dyna whispered, at last saying what she wanted to say last night. “I’ll never hate you, Cassiel.”
He only observed her silently. She didn’t hate the bond either, but it frightened her. It tied them in a way she didn’t understand, and it was growing—binding them further.
“Whatever comes about because of the bond, we’ll figure it out together,” she said. “All I ask is that you no longer lie to me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
She glowered. “If you do…”
“It will result in another knife in my body,” he concluded.
“Good. We understand each other.” Dyna glanced at the forest as Princess Keena appeared in a cloud of gold dust and flew toward Rawn Norrlen as he brushed Fair’s coat. “I have to go. I need to return Aston’s jacket.”
“I will come with you.” Cassiel crossed his arms at her frown. “If you thought I or any of the others would have allowed you to go without company, you are gravely mistaken. Regardless if you can somewhat defend yourself, the fae are not to be trusted.”
Somewhat?
She scoffed. “You truly don’t trust anyone, do you? Not Rawn or Zev, not Lucenna—”
“Especially not her. There is only one person you can trust in this world, and that is yourself.”
Her heart sank at the implication in his words. “Well, I trust her. You could at least trust me.”
Cassiel’s eyes narrowed. “I hope you are not insinuating what I think you are, Dyna. You cannot tell her about …”
He trailed off, but the notion was clear.
Dyna clenched her fists. The map was hers, and she could share it with whoever she pleased. “She needs our help.”
“The whole world needs help. You cannot save everyone.”
She glanced at Zev, where he sat on a short hill in the distance. The wind rippled through his clothing as he stared blankly at nothing. The detachment on his face, the emptiness, made her stomach twist. She had yet to speak to him about what happened in the fjord.
“I can damn well try.” Dyna snapped her gaze back to Cassiel. “I know what she wants, and it’s there.”
“I do not care. You will not tell her.”
They glared at each other in a silent standoff. In the bright, early morning sun, his features were colder, harsher, and yet beautiful.
Right as she thought they were beginning to understand each other, the delicate bridge they’d built unraveled and carried them apart. Cassiel was only a jump away. So close she could almost reach him.
If only he would take her hand.
* * *
The fae market buzzed with a medley of voices. Many wandered about, but the paths were not as full as it was last night. Due to what happened at court, Zev and Lucenna needed to stay behind, so Dyna found herself accompanied by the fairy princess, Cassiel, and Rawn.
“I don’t believe I have met Aston,” Kenna said thoughtfully. “I know quite a few courtiers, but hundreds of fae came to the wedding. What does he look like?”
“He has long green hair, and he’s a few inches shorter than Cassiel. He had a blue fox with him.”
“Did he wear livery? Symbols of any kind?”
Dyna shook her head. Aston didn’t display any crests that she could remember. He only wore the jacket of silver leaves now tucked in her satchel. When she had washed it in the stream that morning, the wine stains had slid off like butter. She hardly needed to scrub.
“Hmm, perhaps he is a forest nymph,” Rawn suggested.
