I glance up at the sky, where the stars pulse with comforting light. “I can,” I tell her.
“Then good luck finding the Star Disc,” she says, and the torches around us flare up, brightening the clearing. “And try not to kill each other before you leave. You both have… a great deal of energy left to release.”
She disappears in a burst of flames, leaving behind silence, flickering torchlight, and the weight of everything left unsaid.
Riven exhales, his tension fading. “I’m surprised you didn’t go with her,” he finally says.
I study him—silver eyes and midnight hair that glints in the firelight, a face as cold as carved marble.
“Believe me, I was tempted,” I admit. “But I think I trust her less than I trust you.”
His smirk is slow and smug.
“A high compliment from my dearest wife,” he says, and I immediately regret my words. “Now, shall we return to our honeymoon on the haunted ship?”
“I’d rather honeymoon in the depths of the Cosmic Tides and see if I can drown myself before you can pull me out,” I tell him, but he just gives me an infuriatingly triumphant smile, and I spin on my heel, gathering wind at my fingertips as I lead us back to the shore.
