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A tender heat blossomed along the side of my neck.

I lifted my hand. The skin felt flushed and raised into a delicate shape beneath my fingers. The flower mark. I’d never imagined how I might feel when the Endless Forests’ blessing actually took root on my own skin. I wanted a mirror. I wanted to see the flower blooming over my pulse point. It was there because we’d chosen this for ourselves, defying everything that said we shouldn’t fit. It was ours, and I already took pride in it.

Eryx traced the newly marked skin with his thumb, then bent and brushed his lips against the tender bloom.

“My wife,” he murmured against my neck.

Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them. I tucked my face against his, letting his hand rest at the back of my head. I cried, but not out of sadness. We’d been through so much since I’d left my village, and now, I knew we’d found our shared path.

Through the bond, I poured out the quiet, staggering depth of what he meant to me. “I’m so glad it’s you. That you’re my mate.”

He drew back enough to rest his forehead against mine. His fingers moved slowly through my tangled hair, and his thoughts flowed directly into mine. “So am I, Thalia. More than I know how to tell you.”

I caught his face and kissed him again. We could find the spoken words later. He was here, his mind anchored securely to my own. And for the first time, I knew exactly how to reach him when speaking wasn’t enough.

11

Communion

Eryx & Thalia

Thalia’s hand rested over mine when I woke. At some point during the night, she had drawn my arm around her waist and kept it there. I lay still in the quiet of the bedchamber, listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing.

I reached toward her through the bond. Her presence answered before she stirred, a vibrant hum resting at the edge of my mind.

“You’re going to wake me properly if you keep doing that,” she murmured, her voice thick with sleep. “I can feel you looking for me.”

“I was trying to be quiet.” I brushed my mouth against her tangled hair, breathing in the scent of her warm skin. “Apparently, that no longer helps.”

“You could stop trying to do anything for a little while.” She shifted closer, pressing her back against my chest. “I’m comfortable, Eryx, and there’s nothing here you need to fix.”

If only that were true. My hand tightened on her waist before I could stop it. The memory of her struggling against the floor hit me.

Thalia turned in my arms, reaching up to touch my face. Her thumb brushed gently over my cheekbone. “I’m fine, Eryx. Don’t dwell on things that haven’t happened.”

She knew me too well already. I rested my hand against her side, still needing to feel she was alive.

“I keep remembering how he asked for you,” I said, the memory sickening me. “He could barely stand, but he waited until I left the room before he struck.”

“I remember.” Her fingers stopped moving against my cheek. Through our bond, I felt the warmth of her presence grow agitated. “I thought he was just frightened of you. Even when he pulled me down, I thought the pain had confused him.”

I wanted to hear her say something else. Anything that didn’t pull me back to the doorway, watching her trapped beneath him with his wrist straining against her hands. But she was waiting, and we couldn’t leave this unanswered.

“I was thinking about it all night,” I told her, my voice hardening. “We knew he had poisoned himself deliberately to get past our guard. But he didn’t just come here to attack me. He knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted you dead.”

“But why, Eryx?” She pushed herself upright, drawing the furs around her shoulders. I sat up beside her, the cold air of the room biting at my bare chest. “Nobody in Korinos would kill a shrine maiden. It isn’t only that we heal people. We serve the Forests. To murder one of us is to strike at something sacred. It’s blasphemy.”

“He knew who you were. You told him your name, and he felt your magic.”

“Yes. He let me use it to help him.” Her fingers dug into the furs. “And he knew you were right outside. Why take the chance?”

I thought of the people who had called her name at the market. They had revered her before she ever stepped onto the auction stone. That was the entire reason the elders had demanded she come to Petrion.

“They sent you here so the people would trust me.” I met her gaze, a sick realization taking hold. “What would happen if you died beneath my roof?”

Thalia went still. “They would blame you.”

“They already believe the worst of me without evidence. They wouldn’t have to see a knife in my hand to condemn Asphodelia.”