Page 93 of Somber Prince

Ciana was truly dead now.

It felt like I was losing her all over again.

Maybe it shouldn’t hurt as much as it did. Ciana had been gone for thirteen years now. But I’d just gotten a new hope. And it was being ripped out, creating a fresh wound.

He kept stroking my back, and I pressed my face to the cool gemstones over his chest. A tear rolled down my cheek. I hated crying. But if I couldn’t help it, I’d rather do it right here, in his arms.

He kissed my hair.

“It will pass, sweetheart,” he murmured soothingly. “Pain always has an end. Otherwise, none of us would ever survive it.”

A shadow fae would know all about pain. He couldn’t be distracted from it by pleasure or muffle it by alcohol. If our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t know how to comfort him without a connection through his tendrils. He derived no pleasure from hugging. Stroking his back would not soothe him.

I leaned back, searching his eyes. “How do you deal with the pain of loss, Rha? What do you do to make it better?”

“I wait,” he said simply. “Waiting is the only thing we can do. Let time do the healing. ‘After the storms of day, the calm of night will come.’ Such are the words of the First Priestess of Joy. She was the one who gave us joy when my kind were nothing but shadows. She helped us become people. The Temple of Joy was built in her honor.”

His words flowed like water over rocks, soothing and comforting. I remembered he’d done it before. He’d talked me through the worst of pain during the leilatha fitting.

“It will pass,” he’d said then, leading me through the torrent of emotions from agony to ecstasy.

“It will pass,” I exhaled, sliding my hand up his chest to his shoulders.

The familiar caress of his hair met me as I hugged his neck. I threaded my fingers through the silky tresses, finding the braids in them. My tears slowed down and stopped as I breathed deeply, focusing on every breath.

“Thank you, Rha,” I whispered, raising my face to his.

“For what?”

“For…”

How could I put into words the feelings that I was ashamed to acknowledge, even to myself?

I was in Alveari Kingdom because of Rha. He gave the order to bring me here with the intention of using me. And he had been using me. Only at this point, it felt like he had given me so much back too.

His presence grounded me. With him, I felt calmer, stronger, more aware of my emotions and, because of that, more in control of them. I was far away from home, but I didn’t feel lost. I accepted myself for what I was, partially because of how he made me feel—appreciated for simply being me.

“Thank you for being there for me when I so badly needed someone to care,” I said.

He kissed my temple, gently brushed his cheek against mine, then found my lips with his. Rha rarely kissed me first. He preferred for me to initiate it. But now, he was the one kissing me.

Gently at first, his kiss grew deeper. With a groan against my mouth, he took my head between his hands. His hold grew stronger, and his kiss turned more desperate. He staggered forward, forcing me to step back.

I grabbed his arms to steady myself.

All six of his tendrils were connected to me. Normally, he’d sense the slightest change in my mood and pull back. But there was no hesitation on his part this time, despite my surprise at the unexpected hunger of his kiss.

Finally, I jerked my head back and out of his hands.

“Rha…” I panted for air to catch the breath his kiss had stolen. “Are you alright?”

He reached for me again, but then yanked his hands back. His eyes opened wide with alarm.

“Dawn. You need to leave.” His tendrils fell away from me all at once. “Go. Now.”

Heavy breathing rushed through his throat. His eyes darkened, the black pupils flooding the gold of the irises.

“Rha? What’s happening to you?”

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