Still too cold. Rest.
Her eyes half-lidded, she leaned into him.Only if you stay.
The fluxlight caught in his hair as he pressed his temple to hers. “Always.”
Lu’ma picked up a few empty trays and bowed, 'Your Radiance. Please call if this Nameless is needed.'
The curtain whispered shut behind her, and the last echo of her footsteps faded. In Zarrek and Lu’ma’s absence, the quiet swelled around them like warm water, thick and heavy with everything unsaid. Kailorien watched her, his gaze roving over every subtle tremor in her fingers, the stubborn set of her mouth, the pale cast lingering in her skin.
You’re depleted,the words curved into Auryn’s mind, warm as the breath that stirred the hair near her temple.
And you’re looming over me like a sentinel,she sent back, trying for sharpness but unable to hide the small curl of comfort that wrapped around the thought of him standing guard.
He crouched, his hand lifting to cup her jaw.If I am your sentinel, starlight, it is because the thought of you being caught up in this war is too heavy even for my shoulders.
Auryn held his gaze, unyielding.I am your Sokâr, and I will not be tucked away in the Lattice while my city falls apart.
Something in him shifted—a tightening of his shoulders, the glint in his eyes sharpening into resolve.
"Auryn, you knew the Riven. What was your conflict with him?"
She blinked, surprised. "The Riven? You mean…Rö? I believe that is what the golden feathered Glider called him."
A flare of disbelief pulsed through the Bond from Kailorien, and Auryn tilted her head.
"What is it?"
"Starlight, he is the Riven. You cannot call him by his name."
"Why not? The other Glider did."
He rubbed at his temple then ran a hand through his hair. "She was not just a Glider. That was a Skywhisperer."
Auryn straightened. "I have read of them. They are very rare."
He nodded. "I cannot imagine how the Nestings allowed her to leave their territory. The Shamans could not have allowed it."
"Perhaps that is why she has the Riven here with her. And now, with the Han destroyed—"
She gasped, her entire body tightening as though lightning had struck her.
"Stars!" Auryn threw her legs off the side of the bed and surged to her feet. Her hands reached up to grasp the golden braid at her shoulder, fingers brushing the violet ribbon there.
"Stars above, Kail…I've just remembered…the Riven…it cannot be, but…is it the same Riven that the Blades worshipped?" She grippedthe braid so tightly that her knuckles went white. "Thessia…she…promised to tell me the story, but… "
Her throat tightened, then sealed shut. She couldn't speak another word. Not through the pain of loss, which hovered far too near. Kailorien looked at her, his eyes empathetic butunknowing. Even after all the stories she'd told him of the Lioness, he hadn't recovered the memories of Thessia that the Rite of Scars had taken.
Auryn…
No. Do not say a thing.
She wrapped her arms around him, pressing his ear to her chest.
One day, you will remember. Until then, this is enough. You are enough.
They did not move for some time, allowing Auryn's grief and mourning in the Bond to settle evenly between them. When she pulled back, she took a seat again, deflated. So what if itwasthe same Riven? He was hostile and unpredictable. Not someone they could rely on as a potential ally.
We are fighting alone against a gale,she sighed in the Bond.
