‘I’ll cook for you. Once I learn how.’
‘I’ll teach you. We’ll learn new things together.’
‘And the sun will always shine.’ Life was back in her voice. Each word holding hope, peace.
‘Except when we need rain for the garden.’
Scarlen pressed into him, and he wished he could hold her forever. Keep her safe all her life. ‘It’s a nice dream.’
‘Then believe in it, Scars. Believe in it all.’
‘There’s a place for us. There has to be.’
He lifted one finger to her forehead. ‘In here is where we live.’
She turned and put his palm over her heart, tears welling. ‘And here.’
‘I wish you could be my girl, take you out, be a friend to your father, but it would never be, and you deserve to live with happiness, to have a circle around you that doesn’t hurt. No complications.’
Scarlen shuffled in his hold, their noses almost touching as reality set in for them both. ‘I am your girl. Right here. Right now. And when I get out of here, I’m going to do everything in my power to end the death penalty. I’m going to fight for you. For us.’
He quirked his lips, though his heart wasn’t in his smile. ‘In that case, I wish you the very best of luck.’
‘I’ll do it, Bear. I’ll free you somehow.’
Cupping her cheek, he kissed her lightly, the gentle touch sending all things desirable into them both. ‘Do you feel it, Scars?’ he whispered, his mouth still upon hers.
‘I don’t know what it is. I just know it’s strong and familiar, as though I’ve loved you for a thousand years or more. Even when you’re not with me, you don’t seem far away, and when I see you, it’s as if the time spent apart never existed at all.’ She nudged his nose with her own. ‘Is that what you feel too?’
‘It’s as though I’ve been surviving rapids for as long as I can remember, then you came along, and the water calmed, birdsong filled the air, and I could breathe with ease. I never knew I needed a safe space until I found you, or rather, you found me. It feels like you did. Like you knew more about us than I did. How it should be. Who we’re supposed to be.’
Scarlen held him as close as possible, wrapping love around them both. ‘Hold on to that. Hold on to us, and believe in forgiveness.’
‘Why forgiveness?’
‘If they all forgave each other, the war would end, peace wins, and no one would see us because who we are wouldn’t matter to them. We’ll live in our house in the meadow.’
‘The one by the waterfall,’ Bear added quietly.
‘And the village with a market.’
‘Let’s not forget our vegetable patch.’
She rested her head on his chest, and he curled her into him, their hearts beating as one, their hopes and dreams dancing upon the brightest star. ‘We’ll get there.’
Bear closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent of her. ‘Some day.’
21
In the small hours, Bear sized up his escape hole, certain his frame would fit. He scraped away a little more of the beaten stonework to be on the safe side, as he couldn’t afford to get stuck.
Each dig used to be filled with motivation and often excitement, but Oxley wasn’t around now, and every slide of the broken spoon added another layer to the thick lump in Bear’s throat.
For you, brother. I’ll get them out. This won’t be for nothing.
It was as though Oxley had come to sit at his side, as a gentle breeze blew back his hair with the purr of the bay transforming into Oxley’s familiar laugh. It was strange to sense the presence of someone, and Bear took a moment to sit with his friend just in case somehow Oxley had managed such magick.
‘Don’t stop on my account,’he could hear Oxley mock.‘Put some muscle into it.’
