“You felt abandoned,” Alaryk said. “You felt he chose a stranger over you, your family. That’s understandable.”
“But it’s what he always wanted,” I said. “And as the years passed, it got easier. My mother still had a place for him at our evening meals. But I stopped looking for him walking on the streets, coming home. I started to get angry. Bitter. Then I realized it didn’t matter. He’d made a choice. And I could also choose to not let it eat me up either. So I forgave him instead. When we saw him again, he acted like everything was normal. Working for theDothikkarwas all he could talk about. With no mention of his absence. I don’t even think he knows how much he’d hurt us, but what can you do?”
Alaryk’s brows drew down. His hand had slowly stroked up and down my back, pushing my tunic up so he could touch my bare skin. It felt wonderful, the rasp of his rough hands, calloused from dragonback.
“Anyway, it’s because of Kiron that I’m here,” I said, remembering my original point, a wry smile quirking my lips when I circled back around. “He was meant to be in rider training with Ryak and Nevin. And…” I trailed off. “My mother threw a fit when she found out. No Dakkari has ever survived, except for the princess. We thought it would mean his death.”
I dragged in a deep breath. Not entirely untrue.
“Kiron found out about the position in the hatchery. He said that he would stay in Dothik if I took his place here.”
Understanding dawned in Alaryk’s eyes.
“And I was angry at first, because I felt I didn’t have a choice. I’d worked so hard in Dothik. Mymrikro…thepyrokimaster…I was to be his replacement when he resigned his post. A highly respected position, one I’d worked so hard for, and it was to be mine. I would like to think that that remains when I return, but there was another strong contender for the position. And well, a season is a long time to be away.”
“Do you resent him for it?” Alaryk asked. “Kiron?”
Hearing him say my brother’s name was jarring. A bridge connecting my two lives—Dakkar and Karak.
“Yes,” I whispered, pressing my face against his warm neck, the confession falling like a stone from my lips. “And I feel terrible saying that out loud.”
Alaryk’s hand slid into my hair.
“But if it hadn’t happened…I would have never met you,” I pointed out, an obvious truth. I leaned back to look in his eyes. “Or Samryn. Or experienced working in an Elthikan hatchery. Or found a dear friend in Syris. Brune. Ethrisha. Tarkosh. The truth is that…I resented my brother until I saw the Elthika land outside the East Gate in Dothik.”
Alaryk exhaled a sharp breath, one of understanding, mingled with amusement. “Were you frightened?”
“Of you,” I admitted.
His smirk told me he liked that, and my gaze drifted to his lips. I pressed my finger against them, feeling their surprising softness. His smile slowly died, and I felt a familiar energy rise between us. One of awareness.
“I was terrified of you,” I said quietly. “But not of the Elthika. I looked at them, at Samryn, and I thought…this was what was meant to happen. The path I was meant to take. Kiron was meant tobe a guardsman, if only so I would behere. That single decision led me across the sea. Right here. With you.”
Something shifted between us. An acknowledgment, perhaps, of what we were to one another. Of what it was we actually felt for one another.
I hadn’t expected someone like Alaryk to ever appear in my life.
Yet here I was, in his lap, my hands running down the wide berth of his chest, my fingernail clicking over his nipple piercing, making his abdomen tighten against me.
His eyes came to my pendant. He reached for it, running his thumb across the gem. “Who gave this to you? A lover?”
I heard a roughness in his voice I hadn’t anticipated. I chuckled low. “Would you be jealous if that were the case?”
“Yes,” he replied simply.
I tried to bite back my soft smile. “You’re one to talk about lovers. Speaking of, I saw one of yours today, watching the confrontation with Potra.”
Alaryk’s brows furrowed. “Oneof my lovers?”
“One of your harem,” I teased with a pointed, dry look.
He bit out a frustrated sigh. “You know I’ve been with no one since…”
“The feast night?” I asked.
He rubbed his thumb over the fire gem. “Watching me? Even then?”
I wouldn’t let him distract me. “That was the last time you were with her?”
