“You may yet bear my son.”
Her heart thundered. Her hand flew instinctively to her belly, shuddering. He had given her that chance—one last act of defiance against the darkness stalking them.
A dangerous smile cut across his lips.
“Xavien wouldn’t like that, would he?”
She blinked through tears. “Like what?”
“If there were two little Eillish princes with raven hair and your fire—plaguing him all his days.”
His grin deepened, fierce and fleeting.
“I’m a twin, Ami. There could be two of them.”
Her laugh broke into a sob as she swatted weakly at his chest. He caught her wrist, pressing it hard to his heart, holding her there.
“Dask,” he rasped. “And I wouldn’t even live to see it.”
Somehow, despite the tears still clinging to her lashes, a broken laugh slipped free. He pulled her closer, lowering his head to her ear, voice husky and warm.
“Amerei…”
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, lingering.
“You’re still out here…”
His eyes met hers.
“…when you should be in my bed.”
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Death Cannot Keep Me
They spoke of forever, daring the war to take it from them.
Her nightgown slipped loose at the shoulder as she sat on the edge of his bed, the thin strap sliding down her arm. She caught it quickly, clutching his coat tighter around her frame as if stone walls might appear if she only held fast enough.
Across the room, Viktor stripped out of his tunic, the dark fabric tugged over his head, boots hitting the floor with a dull thud. When he looked back, her stillness stilled him in turn. He crossed to her, pressed a kiss to her temple, and sank beside her.
“What is it, love?”
Her gaze darted, shame pressing against her ribs.
“I shouldn’t say it.”
“Say it anyway.”
His voice was low, coaxing.
Her eyes dropped.
“I miss it. Castle Rhidian. The walls, the quiet, even the smell of the stone in the mornings. Stars, Tory—how can I be homesick for that place when I’m here with you?”
The coat slipped further, and he caught it back around her shoulders, holding it as though his arms might be the fortress she longed for. His thumb brushed along her jaw, tilting her face up to him.
“There’s no shame in it, Ami. You were raised in that castle—it’s in your bones to miss it.”
