Something to look forward to,I thought, smiling as I placed a few finishing touches on the messy sketch. Just something to get my hand warm, capturing a moment I would never experience again: my first sunrise in Kaldur’s wing. The first morning of my new reality, of my new life.
Just thinking about last night made me sigh in contentment. For the first time, I thought that might have been the true Kaldur…and he was everything I’d imagined he’d be. Kind and thoughtful. Gentle but teasing. We’d stayed in front of the fire until the embers had burned out, talking of his garden and all the different plants he’d needed to acquire for it. He’d given me a rundown of all the noble Houses within Vyaan, regaling amusing stories of theirloresmoke–filled lavish parties. I’d been content to listen, fascinated with every aspect of his life because it was so different from mine. I’d almost been embarrassed, telling him of my own experiences working in noble Houses before I’d come to work in his keep. My stories had seemed so dull, though his gaze had never left mine throughout.
My life was not glamorous or exciting in the way his was. I was all right with that…but for the first time, I wondered if it bothered Kaldur. How different we were. He’d hinted at it when he’d told me he needed to be careful of the optics of our situation. I understood that now, but I couldn’t deny that it still filled me with disappointment.
Still…it had been nice.Morethan nice, spending time together without being rushed or on guard. It had been a perfect night.
The familiar jolt of wings made me look up toward the sky with bated breath, away from my drawing.
My heart began to speed in anticipation when I saw Kaldur,flying back toward the keep from the southeast, from the territory that stretched beyond the gardens. I wondered where he’d been so early in the morning, but when he saw me sitting out on the balcony, I watched him pause in midair…before approaching my room.
When he was close enough that I could see his eyes, he studied me, coming to a stop a few arm’s lengths away from the balcony railing, hovering. The gusts from his wings stirred the pages of my notebook.
“Good morning,” I greeted, feeling my belly flutter at the mere sight of him.
“Good morning,dallia,” he murmured, his voice warm and husky. “Why are you awake so early?”
“I always wake at dawn. Mornings are my favorite time of day,” I informed him with a smile.
“Why am I not surprised?” he wondered.
My gaze strayed to the massive stretch of his wings, powerful enough to make it look like he was floating. They fascinated me. I wanted to draw them, the line every vein I could see. “Why areyouawake so early?”
“There were reports oflyvinsencroaching on one of the outer Eastern villages,” he told me. “I went to go see for myself.”
Lyvins, I’d heard, were vicious creatures and extremely territorial. “Don’t they tend to stay deep within the forests?”
“Typically,” he replied. “I think the South Road construction has been pushing them toward us. But it’s no matter—I’ll handle it.”
“The problem solver,” I said gently.
His grin came softly. “Exactly. Show me what you’re working on.”
I blinked, but I remembered what he’d said in the garden yesterday. He didn’t likenotknowing something, and when he didn’t, it made him want to know all the more.
I looked down at my quick drawing, but then I stood. My heart sped when I held it out for him, biting my lip as he plucked my prized notebook from my hands. For a moment, I was worried it might drop, tumbling dozens and dozens of paces below to crash in the brush.
“It’s a quick sketch,” I told him hurriedly. “It’s not anything special. Just something I like to do in the mornings.”
His smile was lightning fast, but then he looked down to inspect my work. There was something quite achingly vulnerable that wiggled in my chest as his eyes roved over the page. I’d never been shy to share my work with Luc, and the children I’d grown up with at Wrezaan’s had always begged for me to read my stories. That was how Kavelyn’s adventures had begun in the first place.
But with Kaldur…it felt different. I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“Even your ‘quick sketch’ is better than what I could do in a lifetime,” he complimented. He met my eyes, and his praise felt like a warm, glowing ball lodged in my chest. “You did this just now?”
“Yes,” I said shyly, tucking back a curl of my hair.
Before I could protest, I saw him flip back through the notebook. I bit my lip, a jolt burning in my belly.
“You shouldn’t…”
My voice trailed off, and my face nearly exploded with heat when I saw him land ononeof the sketches of him. The one I’d started only a few days prior, the morning before everything had changed. It was a much more detailed sketch, and I could see the obvious flash of surprise on his face when he encountered it.
It was just his portrait, the hint of his wings in the background. But it was his eyes, his features, his scar running down his cheek and the smaller crescent-shaped one I’d added in later on his chin. His full lips which I now knew were soft and warm…
When his gaze came up to mine, he said nothing. Only rosehigher above the balcony railing before he gently landed beside me. When he straightened, I craned my neck back to look at him, holding the blanket around my shoulders tighter, as if it were a shield.
“Is this how you see me?” he asked curiously.
