Dyna sighed and pressed on her aching eyes. Tea might help her nerves.
“I’ll be back soon,” she whispered to Cassiel, brushing her lips on his forehead.
Stepping out into the hall, Yelrakel silently bowed her head. She loyally kept guard by their door. Dyna wandered through the quiet estate until she reached the kitchens.
Raiden looked up from his seat at the cook’s table. “My lady, trouble sleeping?”
She nodded. “You as well?”
He offered her a slight shrug. “Many thoughts occupy my mind as of late.”
Dyna took the chair beside him, and he poured her a cup of tea. She took a sip, letting the warm hints of honey, mint, and lavender soothe her stomach. “What thoughts?”
Raiden looked down at the loose leaves in his cup. “I suppose I question what is to come next, now that my father has returned … and what is to come for you and I.”
Dyna met his eyes, and whatever he found in hers seemed to give him an answer.
He nodded. “I understand.”
Swallowing, she reached into her pocket and gently laid his mother’s ring on the table. “I’m sorry.”
Raiden sighed and shook his head. “Please don’t apologize. I should never have dared to reach for the impossible.” He laughed a little and looked out at the kitchen windows to the shadowed silhouette of the Anduir Mountains. “When you came here, I was taken with your kindness. Your resilience. You came from another land past the mountains, untainted by my memories of this place. When you cried in my stead by the fountain, you looked so lovely to me. Like the crimson fields in the spring beneath the sunset’s gleam.” His eyes grew wet, and so did hers as he met her gaze again. “I thought if I could somehow win your heart, I would know what love meant, but a part of me always knew yours was never meant for me. From the moment you first spoke of him, despite the pain he caused, and the anger he left you with, your light and your heart had only ever belonged to him.”
It wasn’t ever a question, was it?
Dyna lowered her head, not wishing to burden him with the sight of her tears. There was never a plan to go through with the marriage. Heracceptance had only been to save his life, but she felt awful for causing his first heartbreak.
Raiden brushed her cheek and caught one of her tears in his fingers. “I will keep this, though. To remember you by.”
“You will find your light one day, Raiden. When you least expect it.”
He nodded, though it was more out of politeness than in agreement.
“Who knows?” Smiling, she wiped her eyes. “Perhaps she is not a crimson bloom, but a desert flower from other distant fields.”
He blinked at her, bewildered. “Surely you jest.”
Dyna laughed a little, but it wavered at the reminder of the desert. They saved and lost things in those sands. “Raiden, speak to your father. Rawn isn’t one to impose, so he will give you the time you need, but don’t let too much time pass. Go on and air your grievances if you must. The only reason you can is because he is alive to hear them. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but you will regret it if you lose this chance.”
The weight of that regret was crippling.
Raiden lowered his gaze to the table.
Dyna meant to say more, but she cut off with a gasp and whipped around to the door, pressing a hand to her heart. The threadbare bond, it stirred.
“What is it?”
“He’s awake,” she said shakily. “He’s awake!”
Bolting through the kitchen, Dyna flew through the halls, nearly tripping over the carpet runner.
The bond hummed through her chest, and oh, it was so beautiful. Like the twinkle of stars at twilight. She sprinted up the stairs with her heart in her throat, but she found Zev in the hall, chatting with Yelrakel.
“Zev?” Dyna rushed to him. “Where is he?”
“Who? Cassiel? He’s still?—”
She ran past him and burst into their room.
