Page 32

Koque blinked, and I could see that she had rapidly made a decision, her gold earrings gleaming as bright as her eyes. She gentled her smile when she nodded at us. “Of course. Rest here.”

The entrance to her small house curled around the wide trunk of the tree and there were a few chairs and a larger table in it. The windows looked out at the bridges and walkways the children used to travel between their homes.

Koque showed us the upper level where a pair of small bedrooms had beds and large chests that seemed to grow directly out of the tree. She pointed to one of the rooms, the bed large enough to just barely fit both of us.

“You can use my room,” she said. “No one should disturb you, and I’ll make sure to come for you when dinner is ready.”

Then she ushered Hallu out, and I heard their footsteps move away on the bridge. Tallu turned to me, frowning, but I just shook my head, closing my eyes and leaning my forehead against his shoulder as we stood in the middle of Koque’s bedroom. I couldn’t bear the look on his face, the question on it.

“What changed?” Tallu asked.

“I was wrong about the magic.” I swallowed, and Tallu brought his hand up, cradling the back of my head, wrapping his other arm around me so tightly I could feel the pressure against my rib cage. “You bring me out of it. You brought me out of it, but I know that if I keep using it, I will give in. I will sacrifice every part of myself that makes me myself. I will sacrifice my love for you in pursuit of power.”

Tallu’s fingers tightened in my hair, and I relished the spike of pain. It meant I was still alive. It meant he was still with me.

“Never,” he promised. “You do not have to use your magic, if you feel it costs too much. No matter what you promised the poisoned dragon. Saxu and I will find a way. You killed half Kacha’s forces, that means that we are now on even footing. We can win on even footing.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But how many will be lost?”

Tallu didn’t answer. Instead he pulled me closer before letting us sink down on Koque’s bed. My body trembled, and the mattress must have been stuffed with some soft leaves or moss because every movement made the air smell of fresh greenery. Tallu soothed me with a kiss to my temple. Then he began combing his fingers through my hair, gently untangling any knots he found.

When he was done, I was breathing in and out smoothly, my body feeling quiet for the first time in days.

Tallu nudged me until I turned my body and sat between the V of his legs, and then he began to braid my hair. I let out a weary sound and he leaned forward again, kissing the back of my neck, his lips firm.

He started with several smaller braids, knotting the ends and moving on before taking three larger pieces and plaiting them together. I let my head fall forward as he worked, my brain slowing into silence.

Around us, there was noise—the laughter of children in the distance, the scream of some forest animal, birds, even the creak of the tree as it moved in the wind—but Tallu said nothing. He didn’t have to say anything.

He had put all his faith in me and now asked that I do the same.

His fingers stilled as he pulled a leather hair tie from one of his pockets. He fastened that and then let his hand rest on my shoulder, his thumb rubbing the same spot he had kissed.

“Do you doubt me?” he asked.

“How could I?” The words came from deep inside me, a fundamental truth. “You are everything. I have rewritten the story of my life because of you. Because of my love for you.”

“But that is not the same as trust,” Tallu pointed out gently. “Do you trust that I can find a solution for this war?”

My chin touched my chest, and I forced breath into my lungs. “Yes.”

“Good.” Tallu waited, still rubbing his thumb against my throat. “I know you fear the consequences, but do you want to use magic in this final battle against Kacha?”

And I knew the insidious truth. I did. Because the other option was raising a blade against him, and if I did that, all I would be able to think of was how helpless he had made me. That for a time he had stolen animal speak from me. That he had soiled the bed Tallu and I slept in.

Magic would give me distance from him. Using magic, I might never even have to see him.

My heart was suddenly pounding again.

“Yes,” I answered Tallu. “I want him to see what foreign magic truly is. I want him to know that all of his fears have come to fruition.”

“And I want him to know that the man I chose as my partner is more powerful and more capable than him and that he never should have underestimated you.” Tallu leaned forward, whispering the next words into my ear. “You can do that with the blade or your magic because in both you are superior to him.”

I shivered, feeling how much he believed the words. Then I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I turned, my lips against his as I desperately kissed him, straddling his hips, grinding myself against him. I wanted him more than anything. I wanted his body on mine, pressing me down as though physically feeling his weight against me would prove his words true.

Tallu wrapped his hands around my neck, tilting my head and bringing my mouth to his. He kissed my lips, firm and confident, even as his hand moved from my neck down to my chest, his fingertips grazing across my stomach and setting off sparks. I wanted more. I wanted his skin against mine.

Tallu growled, his voice throaty when he said, “Mine.”