“Okay.” He rushes off.
I push through the crowd, making my way toward the mouth of the cave. The light grows brighter as I approach, afternoon sun streaming in.
I spot Terra up ahead. She stands near the entrance, her arms crossed, watching something in the distance.
I reach her side and follow her gaze out onto the stretch of grass that lies before the caves. A scouting party of hy-weres and dragons has gathered there, and they seem to be waiting for something.
Or someone.
“Is it the kings?” I ask Terra. “Are they here so soon? Kilara isn’t even back yet.”
Terra turns to me with a hint of amusement playing on her face.
“No, it’s not the kings,” she says. “Just one of them. Sebastian. He came alone.”
My stomach drops. Then rises. I feel suddenly weightless and heavy all at once.
“Sebastian,” I repeat, sounding like a simpleton. “Why? How…? I mean…what?”
She laughs. “A scouting party spotted him and sounded the alarm. I just got word that there’s nothing to worry about. That it’s him. I sent a group to fetch him.” Terra tilts her head, studying me. “He must’ve walked at least for half a day, since our court is vast.”
“Why would he…?” I trail off, unable to finish the question.
But I already know. Deep down, I know.
“Here they come,” Terra says, nodding toward the tree line.
I see them emerge from the forest. A group of hy-weres in their beast forms, their huge bodies moving with purpose. And in the center of them, seated astride one of the great creatures—
My heart stutters because it’s Sebastian.
Even from this distance, he looks magnificent. His dark hair catches the light, and he sits tall on the hy-were’s back, his bearing regal, moving as if one with the beast.
He looks like a male who has come a long way for something he wants.
“It looks like he came for you after all,” Terra says, bumping her shoulder against mine.
“We don’t know why he’s here,” I say, though my voice wavers.
“Don’t be naïve, Isla.” Terra makes a clicking sound with her tongue. “The male is here for you. The question is, are you going to hear him out?” She gestures toward the clearing where Sebastian is now dismounting from the hy-were’s back.
His boots hit the ground. He pauses for a moment, looking toward the entrances to the cave. Toward me.
My breath catches.
“Yes,” I say. “I’ll hear him out. He came all this way, so I feel like I must.”
“Are you going to take him back? Everything is different now that you carry his child.”
I put a hand on my belly without thinking. To the life growing inside me…so new.
“We don’t have to be together to raise a child,” I tell her. “I’m glad he’s here. I had hoped for more time to come to terms with having this baby, but it was not to be. One day has hardly been enough.” I shake my head. “But I’m glad he is here, so that I cantell him, if nothing else. I’ll hear him out, but I doubt he’ll change my mind about him and me.”
“Give him a chance,” Terra says.
I don’t respond. Sebastian’s eyes have found mine across the stretch of grass, and everything else seems to fade.
His eyes lock on me like I’m the only person in the entire realm.
