Page 114 of Princess of Air

My lips twist to the side. “I was certain it was my heart primed to be broken.”

“No, I knew that couldn’t happen.”

“You might have shared that with me.”

“You only ever shared your physical exploits with me,” she whispers. “Which was the last thing I wanted to know.”

I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face. “I wish I could tell you more. There are some very fun details…”

“Goodnight, Ara.” She hugs me, and I laugh into her. “You’re impossible.”

“Your brother likes it.”

“Because he’s also impossible. You’re perfect together.”

We are, aren’t we? “Goodnight, Jo.”

She and her parents get into a carriage, and I look around for Tomas. He rounds the corner of the stable with Rylan as his family makes their way toward the gates, leaving him to catch up. Mother takes my arm to lead me back in. “Leave them be, darling. You need your rest.”

I nod and go along with her. Out here, it would be impossible to say goodnight to Tomas without winding myself up in desire anyway. I’ll see him tomorrow. But inside, I ascend a different tower than the one with my bed. The bridge takes me to the cave, and I float just outside it to watch the Coyles shrink into the distance. My mind wanders over the events of the past day and visions of the future. I’m not sure how long I’ve been up here, but it seems like I should have seen Tomas leave by now.

“I hope you’re happier than the last time you did this.”

Oh. That’s why. I turn to see my betrothed leaning casually against the railing. “A little.”

He smiles at my jest and moves to wrap me in an embrace. I breathe him in, feeling the weight of my responsibilities drift off. Until I remember why he was still here.

“How is Ry?”

“He’ll be fine. Disappointed, of course. He might hate me.”

I pull back to look at him. “He’s not so protective of me to be the ‘you better not hurt her’ brother.”

“I don’t doubt he’d kill me if I did, but that’s not his primary concern. I was meant to be his friend, and now, I belong to you over him.”

If it were Jo, I suppose I’d feel the same way. He lost a lot today. “Is he really going to go to Penum?”

Tomas’ chest rises and falls against me in a sigh. “He wants to.”

I shake my head. “Better to die than live with his younger sister as queen?”

“No, Rylan loves himself far too much to willingly walk into death.” He rubs my back in slow circles. “I should go.”

His kiss melts away any hint of uncertainty and reminds me of another victory I’ve had today. “Tomas Coyle, that is at least the third time today you’ve initiated contact with me.”

A laugh bubbles through his chest. “You’ll be sick of it soon enough. It will be the great challenge of my life to keep my hands off you in public.”

I drag my fingertips around his neck to his throat. “It shall be my goal to make that as difficult as possible.”

***

In some ways, we’ve been together a year, but with our change in circumstances, Tomas and I have a new relationship. We have enough to catch up on to fill the three-day journey to Brasport. He’s the one with meaningful connections to the people displaced by the time artificer, but I want to be there to explain to Tosha why we must take two babies from her.

Delaying the announcement about the result of the trials took some convincing, but it was well worth it. This time alone has been invaluable. It took days to clear up every hesitation between us, all the misread motivations. Being overly cautious has been a reoccurring problem for us. As we arrive in Brasport, I’m beyond relieved we can be open with each other from now on.

Lord and Lady Kinrade are gracious hosts again, and we shoulder the sympathies for Jamys’ death as gracefully as possible. Tomas’ rage over Jamys’ misrepresentation was only softened by the fact that Jamys already suffered a fate worse than he deserved. Though the claim that he was killed by magic seems nonsense. If Aevus had been there, why go after Jamys?

Thankfully, there hasn’t been much room for negative feelings with us having unrestricted access to each other.

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