“Yes, wife,” I rasped into her ear.
The wedding had been just the two of us, performed in the old tradition—a few spoken vows during a moon-winds night, our palms sliced and pressed together, blood mingling and dripping onto the earth beneath us.
It was the first night that Millie had felt her father in the realm of Alara. Two soul gems had been placed in the small shrine I’d had built on the grounds of the cottage, very near Ruaala’s tree and thezylarrI’d placed. Last moon winds, on the night we’d married, those two soul gems had lit up for the first time. Millie had been so happy, staring at them in quiet awe, as I’d felt the touch of a warm soul, skimming its fingers across my cheek.
“I can feel him, Kythel,” Millie had breathed, her eyes shining with sudden tears, our hands still clasped tight, the warmth of our blood between them. “Gods, I can feel him. He found his way here.”
It was the first time I’d seenhertruly at peace, like a heavy weight was lifted off her. She’d fulfilled her promise to her father and then some. That same night, she’d buried the letters her father had written to Ruaala at the base of the shrine, though she’d kept the one he’d written to her. A letter she’d let me read.
In it, her father had written that Millie had been the love of his life, that he’d never known the extent with which he could love another. Millie had saved him in his darkest moment. She’d given him purpose and hope again the moment he’d laid eyes on a small bundle at a crowded travel port. He could never imagine a better life than the one he’d shared with her.
Millie very rarely read the letter. When she did, every single time, she broke down in sobs that made my heart twist in my chest as I tried to soothe her. But she kept it close to her. All the time. It was one of her most treasured possessions, and I’d learned that my wife didn’t like many material things.
“Oh!” Millie said suddenly. “I had a thought for Sorn Village today. I was thinking that the market should actually be situated on the west side of the village. Those winds that funnel down from the pass? It would be like a wind tunnel if we kept the market on the east bank. The report came in from the surveyor this afternoon while you were in your meeting.”
I smiled, handing her the dirtied platter and taking the clean one from her hands to dry. “And you accuse us of working all the time.”
She laughed. “Please.I was the one who had toenticeyou to leave your office this evening just to make it here on time for our guests.”
“We were late,” I pointed out with a roguish grin.
“Who even are you?” she grumbled, scrubbing at the last platter before handing it to me. She wiped her sudsy arms on a clean cloth as I dried the dishware, placing it on the neat stack. The fire in the hearth popped and crackled, and she stepped into my embrace. “Kythel of House Kaalium, proud to belatefor his own dinner party?”
“My wife, Millicent of House Kaalium, was proving to be…distracting. Who can blame me?”
Millie looked up into my eyes, her arms resting on the tops of my shoulders.
“I saw Lesana in the market today,” she confessed softly, though she didn’t sound angry about it. Whereas me? I tensed. She smoothed her hands over the sudden knots and rippling tension beneath my skin, as if she’d expected it.
“Was Kelan with you?”
“Of course—like you’d let me go anywhere without him close by,” she pointed out.
“Did she see you?” I wondered.
Millie nodded. “She nodded at me. But then we passed right by one another without saying a single word.”
“She shouldn’t even look in your direction,” I growled softly, steadily growing at the thought. “I should have putthatin the agreement with Kaan.”
House Arada had come to heel.Dravaproduction was well under way, and we were working to meet the agreed supply for Zyre as a precaution.
“Calm down, my love,” she said softly, cupping my face in her hands. “She kept her distance.”
It didn’t make me feel any better. It didn’t make me feel any better knowing that the noble House responsible for attempting tokillmy wife were still walking around my province like nothing had happened.
But that was the price I’d paid. It was what Millie had sacrificed too, after all. Me? If I’d had the choice, I’d strip House Arada of the Three Guardians and let them rot in the streets of Erzos.
“I’m calm,” I rasped.
Her expression told me she didn’t quite believe me, and I forced myself to relax.
“I need to be more like you,” I said quietly. “You forgive. You don’t hold grudges. That’s something I’ve always struggled with.”
“Especially when it comes to forgiving yourself,” she pointed out, her tone turning serious.
I frowned. “Yes.”
“But you’re getting much, much better,” she added, pressing a kiss to the corner of my lips. “Probably because you have such a good influence in your wife.”
