“I should have kept my leathers on,” I say. “Can you undo the laces at the back of the dress, please?”
Roane walks behind me and puts his warm hands on my back. “If I asked you to stay put, would you do it?”
“Not on your life.”
He starts undoing the laces. “I thought not. And this magic you have? What can it do?”
“You’ll see.”
“If you two are done talking,” Ardruna says, turning around and heading out, “let’s go get our friend back.”
To my surprise, Roane doesn’t rush ahead, as usual. Instead, he walks with me to the nest and waits for me to get dressed.Ardruna follows and I turn my back on them as I step out of the beautiful white dress and pull my leather pants back on.
“We should be on our way!” Ardruna hisses. “What’s with the dress?”
“I gave it to her,” Roane rumbles.
“Is this really the right time to play house?”
“Are you going to hold this against me, too?” he snarls.
“I don’t know, Ro. You’ve been acting weird, snapping at everyone, wanting her gone, and now I find you with her, playing dress up and gazing longingly at one another.”
“Jealous, Druna?”
“I’m not jealous, you stupid boy. I only wish to understand what’s going on in that thick head of yours.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to touch that mess,” he says.
“That I believe. But you can’t run hot and cold all the time. You have to make up your mind about how you feel.”
“About you?”
“About her!”
I’ve been fighting to put my vest on, lace it and secure the belt, but now I go still, in the process of stuffing Olm’s book in its usual place against my breasts.
“She’s our guest, as you have pointed out so many times,” Roane says. “Aren’t you pleased I helped her into a beautiful gown?”
“You’re incorrigible,” Ardruna retorts. “I know you desire her, but stop changing the topic! Can’t we have a serious conversation for once? You won’t even tell me how you and I met?—”
“You know how we met.”
“How I entered this world?—”
“How am I supposed to know that?” he snaps.
“—and Talton, too. Who is buried in that cemetery where I first saw you? Why is the world cracking in places?—?”
“Where?” Roane’s voice drops. “Did you find any new cracks?”
I turn around to look at them because the tension in his voice is sharp like a blade. His handsome face is taut with worry.
“Well, yeah,” Ardruna says. “The centaurs took the way through the mountain pass and it looks worse than ever.”
“Cracks?” I sit on the edge of the nest to pull my shoes on. “Like the ones here?”
“Some parts of the world are crumbling,” Ardruna says.
