Soren grinned. It transformed his face. Getting away from the Hollow Court had lifted a weight off him, making the smiles come easier and more often. “Not in the slightest. Come, this way.”
Less than a minute later, Soren stopped outside a tall ivory door in the black granite walls. “This is my room, if you’d like to come in and talk a bit longer?”
Of course I wanted that. I didn’t want to leave his side because the moment I did, I was terrified he’d forget about me. He’d remember that he was a prince who shouldn’t bother with mortals, as his father had made abundantly clear. Bottling up those worries, I just nodded.
Opening the door, Soren revealed a huge open space with a low bed the size of our entire bedroom back home. On the opposite side was a tall fireplace, already lit like someone had prepared the room for his arrival.
The ceiling rose high enough that Soren could’ve flown at least ten feet into the air. For all I knew, maybe he did sometimes. But it was the windows that took over the entire far side of the room that made me gasp. Pure black sky sparkled with bright stars. Pretty designs in the wood framed the tall windows, all the way down to the soft cushioned window seat below.
Wandering into the space, I stopped to take off Gwen’s boots, worried that I’d get his floor dirty. The thick, soft rug cushioned my bare feet as I moved toward the window, drawn to the view. Massive silhouettes of nearby mountains blacked out large chunks of the horizon.
“I hope...” Soren started to speak into the silence, then stopped.
Turning to face him, I watched him struggle for the right words.
“I know you wanted to go home, and I’m sure you still do, once the veil lifts again... But I hope you’ll eventually feel safe here.”
“I already do.” I stepped closer to him. Drawing a deep breath, gathering my nerve, I reached out to take his hand.
He curled his long, slender fingers through my own in response.
I blew out that same breath and dared to be vulnerable. “You know... now that my family is safe, I’m actually not in a hurry to go back.”
TINY RAYS OF sunlightdanced across our faces hours later. We’d talked all night.
We’d pulled the black-and-gold-embroidered pillows from his bed and placed them on the huge window seat, which was as wide as my twin bed back home.
Soren had started the night on the opposite side of the window, facing me, but somehow, now we sat side by side. One of his wings gently cradled my back, which he’d apologized profusely for multiple times, but I’d only laughed each time because why would he apologize when it was so incredibly comfortable?
We’d stared out at the night sky together, and at some point in the last hour, without even addressing it, Soren had taken my hand and never let go. His thumb now stroked the soft skin of my palm.
Though my eyelids drooped, I curled toward him unconsciously, settling deeper into the soft warm feathers of his wing. It twitched slightly in response.
“I’m sorry, is that uncomfortable? Are you sore?”
“Don’t you dare move,” he replied with a grin, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
