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Caelyn swallowed hard before answering. “Aetheris is large, El.”

Too large.

Veylspire sat at the heart of the continent, separated from Lumenshire by leagues of dangerous roads, mountain crossings, and unstable territories still fractured by the aftermath of the Ash Wars. Travel between them would not be easy. Or frequent.

Then there was the threat of the Starless, but fortunately there had not been many sightings of them as of late.

Elowynn wrapped her gloved hands tighter around the edge of the sea wall. “Sister Agatha says the Celestial Archives beneath Veylspire contain observatory records older than the Great Vigil.”

It was a meager attempt at her trying to change the subject, but he had gone along with it, understanding it was what she needed. “That sounds like exactly the sort of thing capable of making you forget meals for multiple suns.”

“It absolutely is,” she agreed in a whisper.

Caelyn smiled to himself. “Let’s hope someone reminds you frequently. You won’t have me or Sister Agatha or even Sister Maelin looking out for your eating habits.”

Brilliant sapphire eyes lifted, focusing on his face. She smiled at him, fondness evident in every line of her expression.

Gods, his feelings for her terrified him sometimes. Only recently did he understand that what he felt for her was love. It had never felt selfish until this moment.

Now part of him wanted impossible things.

Stay.

Choose me.

Don’t go.

The thoughts sickened him. These were things he would not ask of her, because Veylspire was her future. And Caelyn would rather break in solitude than become the reason she abandoned her dreams.

Movement below the cliffs caught his attention. The departure wagons had already begun gathering near the lower gate.

Time was running out.

Elowynn followed his gaze downward before she went still beside him. “I am not ready,” she whispered.

The words nearly shattered him. He had been close to blurting out that’s fine! Stay! I will take care of you. You don’t need to go.

Instead, Caelyn turned toward her and faced her fully. Snowflakes drifted in lazy spirals between them while the glow of the nearby lantern smoothed the edges of her face. For a moment she looked younger than her eighteen turnings and not like she was preparing to leave for the greatest observatory city in Aetheris.

Caelyn took a deep inhale, then placed his hands on the sides of her shoulders, holding her securely.

“You are,” he said, confidence pouring into those two words.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“Yes,” he said sternly.

Her crystalline eyes lifted toward his then, bright with unshed tears. “What if I fail, Caelyn?”

“You won’t,” he reassured her.

“You cannot know that.”

Caelyn stepped even closer before lowering his face, leveling his gaze with hers.

“Yes,” he breathed. “I can. You are incredibly brilliant, Elowynn.”

She stared at him with an expression so open and vulnerable it made his chest constrict.