Another arrow hit dead centre. “Did your father ever ask her to stop? It not being the Thorne way and all?”
“No,” Sebastian said. “Never.”
Warmth spread through Kara at that. “What was she like? Your mother?”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “A better shot than Rowan, if you can believe it.” He smiled fondly. “She loved the gardens. Laughed a lot. Used to chase us everywhere.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She was.” He turned back to his forms. “But I don’t remember as much about her as I should.”
Kara followed suit, picking up her training sword once more.
Sebastian kept his promise – he didn’t leave her side. Not once. When people asked about their scars, they both gave the same response – that the black marks on their arms must have come from destroying the Dracanth. No one pushed further. Kara had been right – no one else remembered anything but both of them surviving. Them destroying Silas together.
Not even two weeks had passed since Kara had used the time magic when Tobias suggested a new rotation of night patrols on Thorne’s borders. Sebastian’s name was on the list. Kara tightened her grip on hishand but didn’t protest. Sebastian took one look at it and crumpled the paper in his fist.
“I’m not leaving Kara,” he said flatly. “She can’t sleep if I’m not there. She’s not ready yet.”
Her cheeks flushed and she stared down at the floor. She didn’t want to keep Sebastian from his duties. But shedefinitelywasn’t ready. She wasn’t sure she ever would be. To her surprise his father didn’t argue. Whatever he saw in his son’s face made him relent.
Tobias gave a curt nod and said, “Very well. It can wait. We’ll discuss it more after the wedding.”
Later, in the quiet of their chambers, she murmured against his chest, half-apologetic, “I don’t mean to cling.”
He kissed her forehead. “Cling all you want. It means I get to stay where I belong.”
She sensed it through the bond. He wasn’t ready either.
Sienna arrived a few days later, much to Kara’s joy. She pulled Sienna into a bone-crushing hug, crimson sparking without her meaning to.
“Ow,” Sienna teased, wincing theatrically.
“Sorry,” Kara said, breathless. “I’m just so happy to see you.”
When Kara asked her to stand as witness at the wedding, Sienna was surprised, to say the least.
“Me?” Sienna blanched. “Are you sure? You could have anyone in Vallenna–”
“I don’t want just anyone,” Kara said. “I want you.”
“You were with us at the Arcalon,” Sebastian said. “And one of the only friendly faces at Kara’s trial. We don’t forget that.”
“You don’t owe me this,” she said, shaking her head. “A friendly face wasn’t nearly enough.” The words tumbled out. “I should’ve done more the morning you escaped–”
“What do you mean?” Kara asked.
Sienna paled. She obviously hadn’t meant to say that.
“Sienna?” Kara prompted when she didn’t answer.
“I, uh, I fearcasted on a guard in the City, scared him away. Kept him from reaching the stables when you and Sebastian...” she trailed off, knotting her hands in front of her.
Kara stared at her. Sienna had broken the law to help them. With no proof that they’d been telling the truth. She’d known themdays. The Arcalon, that was all. And she risked her life for them.
“You could have been executed for that,” Kara said, shocked. “If anyone had seen you–”
“They didn’t,” Sienna said quickly. “I stayed out of sight. But I couldn’t do nothing. Not when I saw Sebastian make for the dungeons.”
