And then she scrambled back into Dippy’s saddle. “If you want me,” she called. “You’ll have to catch me.”
Digging in her heels, she left her husband cursing and buckling his belt, and then Maven was in pursuit. Thunder rolled, a storm rising in the east, and Ahnna lifted her face as the first droplets of rain fell.
This was the life she’d dreamed of. The life she’d fought for.
A life worth living.
And a life worth sharing.
Ahnna watched with anticipation as the longboat drew closer to the entrance to Eranahl.
“Is this it, Auntie?” Oliver asked, his eyes wide with excitement. “Was this where the battle was?”
“Yes.” She took his little hand and used it to point to the cliffs. “Right up there was where I shot the line that Lara used to rappel onto King Silas’s ship, where she dueled and slew him before all of his soldiers. Then she swam through shark-infested waters to get back to Aren, who was on the other side of the gate.”
He looked down into the water right as a gray shape passed beneath the vessel, and he shifted closer, gripping Ahnna’s hand tight as the great portcullis lifted and they sailed into the cavern.
It glowed blue with the light of dozens of jars full of algae set into niches, every breath seeming to echo as it bounced off water and rock, Eranahl as magical as ever. Aren waited on the narrow dock, and her heart skipped, for they’d been too long apart.
“That is King Aren of Ithicana,” James murmured to him. “Remember your courtesies.”
“He’s so tall!” Oliver replied, the childish fixation on growing taller of critical importance to him of late. “Taller than you. Nearly as tall as Great-Uncle Ronan.”
“He is not taller than me,” James muttered, and Ahnna hid a smirk as the boat bumped out of the dock.
Aren reached down a hand to help her out, and she hugged her brother tightly. “It’s good to see you.”
“Likewise. No Virginia?”
“She’s keeping an ear on the spiders. She’s also not forgiven how your cat tried to eat her dog the last time we were here.”
“That ball of fluff isn’t a dog.”
“You’ll get no quarrel from me on that front.” She stepped sideways as James lifted Oliver out of the boat, her nephew squaring his shoulders and approaching. Looking up at Aren, he inclined his head slightly, then said, “Your Majesty, it is my greatest honor and privilege to be invited to visit Ithicana. Our kingdoms have a union forged with blood, and I am proud to continue that bond. May our friendship grow ever stronger under our reigns.”
Aren’s expression was serious as he inclined his head. “You honor Ithicana with your presence, Your Majesty. The bond between our peoples is one I hold sacred, and I am grateful to stand beside a ruler who values it as deeply as I do. May our shared legacy be one of strength, peace, and unwavering loyalty.” Then his expression turned sly. “Might I entice you with a game of rock throwing on the cliffs today? Whoever achieves the greatest splash is declared the winner.”
Oliver’s face brightened. “Oh yes. I’d enjoy that very much. Is ittrue that you were once catapulted out of one of Ithicana’s shipbreakers? Could we try that?”
Aren laughed. “Not unless you want your aunt to shove me off a cliff.”
He slung an arm around James’s shoulders, pounding him on the back in the way men always did. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to be free of the spiderweb, if only for a little while.” James rested a hand on Oliver’s back, gently pushing him up the stairs, then he reached back to take Ahnna’s hand. They climbed up and out into Eranahl, Oliver forgetting all his training as he shrieked with delight at the city hidden within the volcano, but Ahnna’s eyes were all for Lara and Delia, who were staring each other down with equally matched glares. Lara held a hairbrush in one hand, and the princess’s wild tangle of dark hair seemed her obvious target.
“They have a difference of opinion on the matter of personal appearance,” Aren said, nearly drowned out as Delia shouted, “I don’t care!” She then turned and stuck her tongue out at Oliver before bolting off into the city.
“Oliver, if it is peace you wish to have with Ithicana, you had best hope I live forever,” Aren said with a sigh.
Another young girl with tidy dark braids skidded to a stop before them. She dropped into a polite curtsy. “Well met, Your Grace,” she said, and then grabbed the brush out of Lara’s hand. “I’ll get her to do it, Auntie.” She bolted after Delia, a pair of Ithicanian soldiers trailing after the girls.
“Sarhina’s daughter, Oriana,” Aren said. “She and Delia are thick as thieves.”
“Is she here?” Ahnna asked.
“In the palace arguing with Keris about something,” Lara replied. “You three are the last to arrive.”
“May I go with them, Auntie?” Oliver asked, looking up at her. As always, she was struck with how his eyes, despite being identical in color to Lestara’s, held nothing of the dead queen in them. He wasquick as a whip, but as kind a child as one could ask for, and she loved him with all her heart. “If you like.”
