Thalia twisted again. “Does he not care that his wife is tramping across his realm?”
Cassius’s jaw flickered. “He is aware you are with me.”
“And how does he feel about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“He knows of our history?”
Cassius met her stare, brows furrowing. “Yes.”
“And he’s not jealous?”
Cassius pulled their horse to a stop. “Do you want him to be?”
Thalia felt her annoyance rising. “I want him to actually show up. I want to actually meet the man I’ve uprooted my whole life for.”
“You will.”
“When?” Thalia’s voice rose. “When will I meet him? It’s beginning to feel as though he doesn’t exist at all.”
Cassius stared at her a moment longer before he nudged Feryena on. “The prince has not forgotten you, and you will meet him. Sooner than you expect.”
Thalia had a sinking feeling Cassius was lying.
They set up camp in a small glen. Flowers swayed gently in the breeze as they configured their bedrolls. Keegan had gone to tend to the horses, and Thalia watched as Cassius started a fire, the sparks rising with the smoke.
The moon watched her through the leaves as she settled down.
“What are you thinking?” Cassius’s words pulled her from her stare.
She realized she was picking at her nails and stopped. She didn’t know if she could voice her concern, her dismay at the idea of not being with Cassius even after everything that had happened—
“Do you miss it?” Thalia blurted out.
Cassius met her gaze across the fire. “Miss what?”
“The sun?”
Cassius’s brows furrowed. “Sometimes.” Thalia waited, watching, as emotions flickered in his eyes, too fast for her to decipher. “Sometimes I miss the feel of the warmth on my face. When I could look skywards and know no matter how cold I was, I knew where to find the light.”
“Are you still cold now?”
“Yes.”
“You’re hot, though.” Cassius raised an amused brow, and Thalia’s cheeks heated. “I mean, your body temperature. I still feel your heat.”
Cassius shrugged, moving around the fire. He grabbed a water skin and took a swig before handing it to her. “My body heat may feel that way, but my insides don’t.”
Thalia made a face but drank as well. Cassius watched her swallow. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She was glad she didn’t know what that type of cold felt like, that she’d been saved from having to find out.
Cassius settled down on his bedroll next to hers. Thalia lay down, pulling her blanket up to her chin. They had a foot of distancebetween them, and Cassius grabbed his own blanket, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground.
“We’ll arrive in Perden tomorrow,” he said softly. Vaguely, Thalia heard Keegan returning, settling onto his own bedroll on the opposite side of the fire.
Thalia nodded, tucking her arm under her head.
Tension stretched between them, the fire suddenly feeling much too hot.
