“Waiting on you,” he replied, Thaddeus’ voice leaving his lips. He stepped forward and joined her, offering her his arm. She looped her own arm through, her smaller brown hand resting affectionately on his wrist.
It was their daily stroll, he knew. Soleil had been busy in the morning, but always made time to walk with Thaddeus in the garden, especially when the weather was this lovely—most days, it was.
They walked through castle hallways that were of the same gleaming silvery-gray stone, decorated with golden adornments in geometric patterns—all meant to depict the sun and its light, something she had told him long ago.
He was Florian again for just a moment, realizing Thaddeus was showing him the castle; the thought had startled him back into himself, recognizing that somehow Thaddeus was aware of what Florian was trying to do and what he needed to accomplish it. How aware was Thaddeus’s spirit of what Florian was doing? The thought washed away like silt in a river, though, and he was Thaddeus again as they walked.
“Where shall we walk today, love?” Soleil asked him, the sound of their feet clicking on the marble floors echoing through the wide, empty hallway. The servants and courtiers knew they enjoyed their privacy, so their wing of the castle was always minimally staffed.
“I thought the swimming pond might be nice,” Thaddeus replied. “It’s been getting warm, hasn’t it?”
“The pond sounds lovely,” she replied. They walked arm in arm through what felt like a maze of hallways until they arrived in the castle grounds, which were bustling with activity compared to the quiet hallways of their wing of the castle. Aplethora of summer fae milled about, some tending to plants or keeping the walkways clean, others carrying food or supplies to other parts of the castle. They had emerged at an elevated courtyard, and when he peered down the railing, Thaddeus could spot the larger city below that was also teeming with life. The warm, golden-hued roofs of the white stone buildings gleamed in the afternoon sun, making everything look drenched in light.
Most of the movement stilled as they passed: servants, courtiers, and nobles alike pausing to lower their heads to the queen and her consort. But Soleil smiled at each of them in turn, and they returned her smiles readily. She was so beloved, Thaddeus thought, not only by him, but by everyone. How could anyone not love her? Even after all this time, he still felt so lucky that of all the people in their two worlds she could have had, for some unfathomable reason, she chose him.
Still arm-in-arm, they made their way to a broad, curving stairway that led down to the lower courtyard, then onto a cobblestone path that led into the eastern garden. The air was warm and a little humid, right on the edge of being uncomfortable. Thaddeus had never quite been able to fully adopt the sparse clothing that so many summer fae wore to accommodate the hot weather, especially in the throes of summertime; but his light linen shirts and trousers did a decent enough job of keeping him cool despite the heat.
It was a long walk through the garden to get to the swimming pond, but Thaddeus enjoyed the walk and enjoyed the pond even more, so it was worth it. The pond was idyllic: its clear blue waters dotted with bright lily-pads that sprouted vivid pink and purple flowers, and large fish with billowing fins moved idly through the still water. It was large enough that a handful of people could swim without disturbing the fish too terribly;since this pond was for the Queen’s private use, though, it was uncommon for them to be bothered.
Somewhere in Thaddeus’ consciousness, Florian tried to commit the locations they passed to memory, barely holding on to the awareness that he needed to know these places—he needed to havebeenhere in order to teleport them into the Summer Court. His thoughts were muddled and indistinct, caught up in Thaddeus’ own memories, but he had enough sentience to at least hold on to that thought.
“Shall we swim?” Soleil asked him with a wry smile curling around her full lips. Thaddeus grinned, gesturing toward the pond.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he said. She finally unhooked her arm from his to pull off her light skirt as he began to unbutton his shirt and kick off his pants. Together they waded into the cold water, causing the fish to quickly swim away, dappled sunlight glinting off their red-orange scales.
“Oh, this is lovely,” Soleil sighed, sinking further into the cool water. “I had such a headache. If I have to listen to another proposal from Aderus about the grain shipments again, I might snap.”
“The horse shifter representative, right?” Thaddeus asked, and she nodded. He studiously did his best to remember all the different kingdoms and clans that neighbored the Summer Court, or even lived within its borders; but the Veil was teeming with diversity and keeping track of it all sometimes proved too much for him. Aderus was becoming a more familiar name, though, as the horse shifters resided in the valley just south of the Summer Kingdom and had only recently been posing more issues for Soleil. “What seems to be the problem now?”
“He says their last several deliveries of grain have been short,” she sighed. “But it comes up from the southern lowlands, stops in their city, then moves on to the Summer Court. Our deliverieshaven’t been short, so if someone is skimming something off the top, it’s not happening within our borders. So much as I sympathize, there’s only so much I can do when it’s not within the Summer Court’s jurisdiction.”
He nodded. “Understandable.”
She glanced back over at him with a softer look and splashed through the water to hold him by his shoulders. His arms wrapped around her waist, her skin warm against him compared to the cool water of the pond.
“But I didn’t come here to talk about more work,” she said, pressing a kiss to his neck. “I wanted to spend time with you.”
“You have me right here,” he chuckled, but her lips met his and silenced anything else that he meant to say. He felt her smile curl against his mouth, and contentment radiated through him. As they kissed, he dragged his hands from her hips up along the small of her back—the ring on his finger snagged against her skin, tugging past his first knuckle.
His hand flew away from her in a panic, clenching tight into a fist to keep the ring from pulling any further, and he broke their kiss as he gasped. She grabbed him, startled.
“What is it?” she asked, concerned, as Thaddeus sucked in a deep breath to slow his pounding heart.
“My ring,” he said, raising his left hand where it was still caught in the middle of his finger. Carefully, he pushed the ring back down. “Sorry. It just startled me.”
Concern darkened Soleil’s expression as she watched. “I’m sorry,” she finally said, looking away with a miserable expression. “I wish I could have come up with something better, something safer...”
“Don’t apologize,” he said quickly, grabbing her wrists where they had fallen back into the water. “Please, don’t. It’s already incredible. You’ve done what no one else has ever accomplished. It was just the water loosening it, that’s all.”
She nodded, but still remained silent, leaning into him as he held her. His heart was still beating rapidly. He didn’t know what would happen to him if the ring came off his finger while he was here in the Veil—whether it might shunt him right back to Earth where he stood or kill him outright. He certainly didn’t want to find out. Maybe there was a safer way for him to be here, somehow, but he doubted it. Soleil was a genius who had devised and crafted the ring, making the impossible into a reality, and all for him. If there were a better option, he was sure that she would have figured it out by now. No, he just had to be more careful.
Thaddeus stood holding her in his arms, looking out at the garden for a long time, and Florian’s awareness came back to the surface. He looked through Thaddeus’ eyes and committed as much of the garden to memory as he could, trying to embody the experience and truly be there in the memory with Thadeus. He was here in the pond, and he would be able to teleport here when he came out of the memory, he told himself. Hewould.He had to.
A soft voice was coming from behind him. At first, he thought it was Soleil murmuring something against his water-slicked skin, but it didn’t sound like her voice.
“Florian,” the voice said. “Not much longer. Don’t lose yourself.”
It was as if Thaddeus somehow heard her too, as Florian felt more and more aware of himself—as if he had been inside the other man’s body and was now slowly rising up out of it. He didn’t remember closing his eyes; but when he opened them again, he was standing in front of Elodie in her liminal space once more, holding the thread that was Thaddeus’ tether to him against his chest.
