“And in the end,” she murmured, “you still chose me. Why?”
Brow furrowing, I rasped quietly, “You know why,thissie. You have always known why.”
“Because you care for me?”
“‘Care?’” I repeated. “‘Care’ does not even begin to describe what I feel for you, Nelle.”
She hesitated, drawing in a small breath. “Because you love me then?” she amended, her expression vulnerable andopen.
“Lysi,” I affirmed. “I do. I love you. And even those words feel as though they are not enough. Simple words cannot describe this feeling,thissie. They never will.”
“I know,” she whispered and my breath hitched.
Suddenly, she walked the short distance to the weapons rack and plucked off the same bow and the same sheath of arrows she’d used for our previous bargains.
When she returned to me, I asked, “Do…do you feel that you can love me again? Can we heal from this?”
“Maybe that’s where the bargain comes in,” she said after a moment. My lungs squeezed, my eyes darting to the bow and arrow. “What do you want if I miss, demon king?”
I was filled with longing and memory at the familiar title, but also with dread knowing her skill with the bow.
“You will connect with your target,thissie,” I said. “You always do.”
“What do you want if I miss, Seerin?” she repeated, setting the sheath of arrows at her feet.
“If you miss,” I started, “I want you to promise that you will never love me again. I want you to swear that you can never see a future for us, that you will never be myMorakkariin this life.”
All the possibilities were almost too painful to say, but only served to highlight that I knew she would not miss.
“I could miss on purpose if I wanted those things,” she pointed out softly.
Fear squeezed my heart. I realized that too, but at the very least, I would have my answer. I was so wrapped up in my fear that I only watched as she nocked her arrow, steadying the bow not at themitri’starget, but at the far post that had served as our original target, in the darkened corner of the training grounds.
I was so wrapped up in that fear that I didn’t realize she didn’t specify whatshewanted if she hit her target. Until it was too late.
Her arrow whizzed from the bow, perfectly formed Dakkar steel cutting through cold air. I watched it travel, briefly, and in another moment, its short journey was over. It embedded itself into the far post, right in the middle, a perfect shot.
My relief was short-lived.
At the very least, she didn’t miss on purpose, but her success meant she could ask for anything she wanted…even my promise to stay away from her, to forbid me from pursuing her further, to make me swear that the only thing we would ever share in this life was our child. Not a future, not our love, ever again.
A part of me expected it after what I had done, after the hurt and grief I’d put her through.
The words stuck in my throat, but I forced myself to ask them.
“What is it that you want from me, Nelle?” I asked quietly.
I didn’t think I moved a single inch. My body felt frozen, suspended in time at that very moment because I knew that whatever she said, it would change us. It would change everything. But time was merciless and it moved us forward, regardless of if we were ready.
Her bow hung from her grip. Her eyes consumed me but I had nothing left to give. She had everything.
“I want a kiss, Seerin.”
The words floated between us, calm and simple and beautiful. They poured into me and wrung the breath from my lungs. They sped my heartbeat and sparked disbelief and blinding hope in my chest. They made my fingers curl into my palms and then I was stepping forward, closing the distance between us.
“Is that all you want?” I rasped, sliding both of my hands into her soft, dark hair.
“For now,” she whispered. Then, though it started small, a shy smile spread across her features and I saw her eyes shimmer in the darkness with tears. That smile was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. “We can talk about what else I want afterwards.”
