It was a trait she was becoming more deft at, but Nathaniel hoped she never lost her kindness to the pitfalls of politics. “If he wanted to rule, would you cede him the crown?”
“If I thought he would be better for Ashion than me, I wouldn’t hesitate to step aside. I…” She trailed off, pressing her lips together. When she spoke again, her voice came out a little rough, as if she were trying to hold back tears. “I wanted a life with you that wasn’t this, but I have you, and I will not regret that. I just hope that if I must take the throne, you will stand with me.”
Nathaniel pushed his chair back away from the table and knelt before her, taking both her hands in his again. He looked up at Caris, knowing that the love he felt for her was something that could never be carved out of him the way his heart had been.
“I will walk your road with you until the end. Even if there are days I’m not with you, know that it is not because I refused to be but because I couldn’t be. My darling Caris, I promised to love you until my heart breaks, and this life with you is the only one I have ever wanted.”
Caris blinked, tears falling from her eyes that she didn’t bother to wipe away. “I’ll fix your heart first.”
He laughed, rising up to kiss her. “You already have. I would be so much less a man without you.”
Someone cleared their throat, and Nathaniel broke the kiss, straightening up. Maurus stood in the entryway to the dining room, a politely indifferent expression on his face. “The motor carriages await.”
Caris discreetly wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand. “We’re ready.”
Nathaniel drew her to her feet and offered his arm, which she gracefully accepted. Maurus led the way out of the estate, and Nathaniel kept Caris tucked close to him, knowing better than to take her love for granted.
Nine
BLAINE
After the weeks spent in Cosian, Blaine was happy to be in the air. Honovi seemed just as pleased to be back on theCelestial Sprite, feet planted against the sway of the decking as the airship flew through some choppy air. The airspace around the Eastern Spine always had pockets of turbulence, but Honovi was adept at piloting them through it. Blaine checked the engine readouts one last time before joining Honovi. He rested the metal fingertips of his mechanical prosthetic against the edge of the control panel, eyeing the green glow across the board.
“We should arrive in about an hour,” Honovi said as he adjusted a lever, voice coming out a little muffled through the air mask secured to his face. They were at a high enough altitude that everyone had been ordered to don one.
“No signs of Daijalan airships?” Blaine asked.
Caoimhe, from her spot at the radio, snorted. “Our hull colors are clearly marked as an E’ridian airship. If they tried to shoot us down, it would certainly be cause for E’ridia to join the war. I’m doubtful Eimarille wants that.”
The airship captain, unlike thecinn-chinnidh, understood the threat Daijal presented. She, like most of E’ridia’s air force aeronauts, knew they’d be called to the skies eventually. Their defense of Cosian could be seen as an act of self-defense, which was what Blaine knew Honovi would argue if they were brought before theComhairle nan Cinnidhean.
“It would certainly tip things in Ashion’s favor,” Blaine said.
He wanted Ashion to survive, wanted Caris to take the starfire throne, but neither did he wish to see E’ridia dragged into a war that would surely leave broken clans behind. Blaine knew, with a foreboding sense of certainty, that his homeland might not have a choice in setting their much-vaunted neutrality aside to join the fight. He already had, to an extent, and Honovi refused to let him go it alone.
Honovi pushed away from the control panel, eyes hidden behind brass goggles. “Let’s see how Caris and the others are faring. Caoimhe, I’ll leave you the controls.”
She saluted him and took his spot while Blaine followed Honovi onto the decking. Howling wind whipped around them, stealing through the collar of Blaine’s flight jacket to chill his skin for a few seconds before he tugged the zipper up higher. The fur lining kept him warm as he reached for a safety line hooked to the wall just outside the door, clipping it to his belt.
The sound of the engines was louder outside, the shadow cast from the air balloon falling more to the port side as they flew south, with the sun burning its way to the western horizon. The brass goggles Blaine wore didn’t block out the sun, but they did keep the wind from stinging his eyes. He and Honovi maneuvered toward the crew cabin and the entrance there that led below decks.
TheCelestial Spritewasn’t built with comfort in mind, being a war airship and all, but there were a few extra cabins for when passengers came on board. Blaine and Honovi’s was in the officer’s quarters, despite them being civilians, while the Ashionens had been assigned a tiny cabin and were ordered to remain there for the duration of the flight for their safety. They’d reach their destination before sunset, but no one was taking clear skies for granted in a country at war.
Honovi unclipped his safety line and attached it to the hooks on the side of the crew cabin before entering it. Blaine followed after his husband, the crew cabin slightly warmer than the cold temperatures outside. The cold tended to chill his mechanical prosthesis, making the limb ache at the end of the stump. His flight jackets now had extra insulation on that arm, but the cold would never keep him from performing his duties.
They made their way belowdecks, coming upon the door to the cabin Caris and the other two were at. The Royal Guard had their own bunk across the way, their door open to keep an eye on the hallway. Maurus gave them a polite nod before returning his attention back to the card game his fellow soldiers were playing to pass the time. Blaine knocked on Caris’ door, calling out in Ashionen, “It’s us.”
The lock clicked, and the narrow door swung open. Caris offered him a tired smile. “Not much room, but we’ll squish on the bunk and leave you the floor.”
Nathaniel and Lore were seated on the bunk bolted to the wall. Like Caris, Lore was dressed in trousers and boots, the fur-lined coat she wore falling to her knees. Her face was bare of the veil she typically wore when traveling, but Blaine had no doubt it was secreted away on her person.
“Just an update to say we’ll be landing in an hour or so. You won’t have to be down here for too much longer,” Honovi said.
“It’s fine. I’m just planning what I want to say to Alasandair.”
Blaine couldn’t stop the way he instinctively looked at Nathaniel. “You shouldn’t?—”
“Nathaniel already knows. It won’t be a secret if what I have planned comes to fruition,” Caris said calmly.
