One of the women, with bright copper hair braided down her back, bowed her head to me. “I’m Adrina.”
The girl beside her mirrored the gesture. “Flora.”
“I’m Brynn,” I said, bowing my head in return. They giggled as if I’d done something charming.
“You’re funny,” Adrina said.
I shrugged. I was still learning the rules.
We filled plates high with fragrant rice, lentils, and garlic flatbread. We sat outside beneath a tall black pine, Godric nearby polishing his sword on a patch of grass.
‘He trusts no one with your safety,’Val said.‘Kaelric’s orders.’
Probably smart, though these women seemed harmless.
Flora stared at Valkaryn. “Does she really kill with one cut?”
I shrugged. “If she wants to.”
“That is so cool,” Adrina breathed.
They peppered me with questions. I answered them as best I could, though some memories tugged too deeply to explain. When their curiosity turned to the trials, to the Dregs, I told them pieces that felt safe to share. Their eyes stayed wide, brimming with fascination instead of fear.
Eventually, the fatigue got the better of me, and I excused myself to go lie down. After a long nap, I made my way to the women’s bath tent. I washed the sweat from my body with a lukewarm bucket of water, scrubbing my skin until it tingled. Lavender soap scent clung to the air. After rinsing, I pulled onclean clothes and stepped outside to find Godric waiting like a stone statue near the entrance.
He didn’t speak. I didn’t either. We had developed this easy-going relationship that didn’t require constant conversation. We walked through dim paths back toward the tents, where the campfire smoke drifted skyward, curling into the evening moonlight.
Godric went into his tent, and when I entered mine, there was a letter on my pillow.
Even from across the space, I recognized Kaelric’s handwriting. Tight. Upright. Controlled.
I sank onto the bed and read.
Brynn,
If I’m being completely honest… I don’t know how to love. Each day that passes, I forget a little bit of what it was like to see my parents together. I know they loved each other. I’ve heard stories of their great love, but I grew up in a time of war and loss, when a lot of expectation was placed on my eleven-year-old grieving shoulders.
It’s not an excuse for how I treated you. I was so mad I didn’t know who to blame. Maybe you should have taken the magic? It’s not like you can do anything against Harrow with my mother anyway. What if it was all for nothing? And my people inside those walls suffer forever because I can’t save them.
Those thoughts keep me up at night. But so do thoughts of you. The look on your face when I told you I’d never forgive you. The way you screamed in my face last night that you risked everything for me. I messed up, and I’m miserable without you by my side. I could live a thousand years content if it meant I got to kiss you goodnight each and every one of them.
I had to blink rapidly to clear the tears that formed.
Forgive me, even though I said I’d never forgive you. It was a lie. It is myself who I will never forgive if you stay mad at me.
Your mate,
Kaelric
I blew out a breath and set the letter on my lap.
Damn. He could write.
‘It is no fig tree,’I told Val.
‘No. It is better,’she said.
She was right. Men rarely poured their hearts out like this. Especially powerful men. Especially alphas.
