Though I am anxious to return to my people, there are no better hands that I would entrust them with in the meantime.
Yours,
Sybilla
P.S. I have negotiated with King Prick to allow you and Fen to Egress in for weekly dinners so that I can advise you. More importantly—to speak amongst friends. I will send word when the Egress is built.
I smiled at her mixture of kind and vulgar words. There was a wine stain on the page—I am sure that if I were stuck in the Wastelands, my letters and lips would be stained with wine too.
Fen’s scent of smoke and cedar enveloped me as his arms slipped around my stomach. I hadn’t heard him rise from bed, but all my anxieties were melted away by his touch.
“I’d pay good coin to have seen that negotiation.” Fen read over my shoulder before pulling my hair aside and pressing a kiss to the soft skin of my neck. Hewasa distraction—but one I delighted in.
“Do you think he’ll harm her?” I asked.
“He’s a man of his word. Plus, he made a blood oath. You can’t lose sleep worrying, my beauty. She will be alright.”
Beside her letter lay a few pieces of parchment that the Queen had left behind, covered in her hurried penmanship. Sybilla’s instructions for us. I re-read them as I gathered ink to write her back.
Care for the families impacted or unhoused by the battle—they will need shelter, food and supplies.
The Central Corridor is to provide refuge to magic-wielders as they reenter Henosis. If you agree, turn the Central Tower into a sanctuary for them.
Cassidee Arkwright is to be appointed Constable to the Army of Luz, should she accept.
Wyeth Winnow is to be appointed Head Healer, should she accept.
The Order against magic in the Central Corridor is no more. The conception ban for immortals dies with it.
The Egresses are to be re-opened in Luz, allowing easier trade and travel between Corridors. We shall build one in Sahlmsara.
Do notlet my cousins within a foot of this palace. Trust me.
Fenris, do not burn the palace down while I am away.
I will see you soon.
Unless an Egress was built sooner, we would see her in a few weeks’ time when meetings among the rulers of Henosis began along with the trials to allow reentry into the Corridor. The realm’s trust would need to be rebuilt brick by brick, one meeting at a time. Righting the wrongs of a falsified history of injustice would not be easy.
Fen slipped a hand down my stomach and to my core, teasing over the light silk of my nightdress. My toes curled at the feeling, somehow already wanting him again even after he’d wrung release out of me three times last night.
When Fen was not away, working on plans for the Central Tower’s sanctuary, he was here with me in Luz. Doing devilishly grand things to my body.
I looked into his eyes in the vanity mirror. “Do you think this will fade?” I tried to hide the fear in my voice.
He tilted his head before resting his chin on my shoulder. His hands stilled, and I almost whimpered in protest. “Will what fade?”
My sigh was met with a knowing smirk.
He knew exactly what I meant.
“I keep waiting for your interest to wane,” I admitted.
He looked alarmed. “I can assure you that will never happen.”
He bit at my earlobe playfully.
“It might feel different over time, a deeper connection, less physicaldesperation.” He waggled a brow to which I rolled my eyes at. “But the way I care for you is not something that will ever wane or wither. That I am sure of.”
