“Fine.” He rolled over me. “Make it up to menow.”
I surged up to kiss him, and one thing led to another. It was a long time before we managed to get out of bed.
When we finally left our suite, we both maintained a careful distance, fighting that magnetic force that kept pushing us together. We breezed into the kitchen, grabbing breakfast. I sat at my usual stool while Griff got himself a cup of coffee before leaning against the wall at my side.
Granya didn’t say anything, but she gave us a knowing look. Cadhla openly grinned as she handed me a pastry. How could they tell?
I looked over at Griff. Oh. That was how. He was staring directly at me over his coffee, as if he could see through my clothes.
“Stop that,”I threw at him.“They’re all going to know.”
“They all know already, Princess. They’re observant. Staff has to be.”
I glanced around at the staff studiously not looking at us or schooling their expressions into blankness.
He was right. They did all know.
Shit.
When I finally dragged myself to the training yard, I was significantly later than my usual time. I assumed someone had told Kaia what had happened—an assumption I quickly corrected as I heard her sharp voice behind me.
“Look who finally graced us with her presence.” Kaia’s arms were crossed as she leaned against the wall. Yep, she was pissed. Her eyes raked over my face and narrowed slightly. “Too busy with nighttime activities to show up on time? I hope you finally put that boy out of his misery.”
I blinked. How the hell did Kaia know that?
I gingerly walked over to her. “I take it no one informed you of…” I trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence. “My adventures?”
She raised her brows at that. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
I rolled my eyes at her as I looked around. Everyone was busy,but having this conversation out in the open probably wasn’t the best idea. And I was queen of probably-not-the-best-idea these days.
Kaia read all of that in my look and jerked her head toward her office. I quickly followed, and once there, I gave her the quick version of everything that had happened since Blathaine, and for once, she was stunned.
“You went… back? To the battle of Valdris? And survived?” Her mind was clearly whirling, attempting to process everything I was telling her.
“I did. Thanks to my parents, Violet, and…” I trailed off. “You.”
She went completely still. “What do you mean, me?”
“There was a sword coming straight at me. I was too slow, too distracted to stop it.” The words tumbled out. “But you were there. You saved me.”
She stared at me for a long moment, her face cycling through confusion, disbelief, and finally understanding. “I remember,” Kaia breathed. “The girl with Violet. I stopped the sword. Then something distracted me, and when I looked back, she was gone.”
I stood frozen for a few seconds, the silence stretching between us heavy with fifty years of grief and guilt and unanswered questions. Then I launched myself at Kaia. She caught me, her arms strong and sure around me as I wept. Everything was still so raw, so unprocessed. Between my stasis, accepting the bond with Griff, and immediately delving through Violet’s memories, I had locked everything about traveling through time in a box. With that single hug, that box burst open and all the emotions I’d shoved aside came thundering out. I clung to her like a lifeline, and she held me like I was all the friends she had lost that day.
I cried for my parents—not just the distant figures from my imagination but for the real, flesh and blood people I had met. For Violet, whose sacrifice I was only just beginning to understand. I cried for myself, for all that had been ripped from me and for all that was ahead of me. And I cried for Kaia, for everything she had lost. Forwhile the pain was fresh for me, she had been living with it since that fateful day fifty years ago.
We broke apart and I wiped my eyes. She turned from me and I thought she was doing the same, but when she faced me again, there was something settled in her expression. “Seeing you grown…” She paused, searching for words. “Seeing who you’ve become, it makes every moment of that day worth it. Your parents would be so proud.”
I walked backout to the training field, breathing deeply, the weight that had been resting in my chest ever since my journey through time a bit lighter. After running through a series of bouts with different soldiers, I moved off the mat and began stretching. I could see Griff training some new recruits out of the corner of my eye. I paused, shamelessly watching him. His every movement was fluid, composed. It was like watching a work of art in fighting form.
I tore my eyes from him to continue my stretching.
“Will you stop that?”Even mentally, his voice was gruff.
I paused in my stretching, confused.“Stop what?”
“Wiggling your ass in the air. It’s distracting me.”
