Page 103 of The Duke and the Disciple

“We are possessed of nothing more invaluable than our instincts,” Rahn said, with a bracing look at the sky. She’d done a phenomenal job of clearing the clouds and haze. All their old friends danced and glittered against the darkness, lit only by the fading, distant auroras.

In its own way, it felt like coming home.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked, following his gaze. “Even here, watching from a window that could crumble and fall out of its frame at any moment. We get to be a part of something so much bigger than us, and I never want to lose this feeling. Ever.”

Rahn slid one foot across the frame until it was touching hers.

She glanced his way.

“Whatever else happens, Aesylt, no one can take that from you. From us.”

“Then why...” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Why does it feel like there’s some force working against us, even now? No, I don’t mean the Reliquary. It’s something else. I can almost grab it, but I can’tseeit.”

He didn’t have the answer, but he understood the foreboding, because it had been creeping over him for weeks. At first he’d attributed the sensation to guilt or shame over their nocturnal adventures, but it was at its strongest when he was with the Derehams or alone. “I promise you, there is no force capable of extinguishing the spark within you. You don’t needanyone’sapproval to take part in the unlimited curiosities of this world. You’re Aesylt Wynter, as imitable as the stars in our interminable sky, and that’s simply a fact as universal as the tides and the weather.”

She leaned in. “You’ve said this to me more than once. And each time, I think I know exactly what it means, until the next time and then I’m lost again.”

“It means,” Rahn said, reaching for one of her hands and taking it into his, “that there is only one you, and you are incomparable. Never forget it. And let no one into your life who would try to persuade you otherwise.”

“You see me. You always have,” she whispered, her eyes traveling downward. “Hvala.”

He brought her hand to his mouth with a gentle, enduring kiss, riding out the drumming patter of a heart that shouldn’t be racing. “Thankyou, Aesylt, for seeingme. Until you did, I hadn’t realized how lonely it could be to blend in with the world.”

Aesylt leaned down and kissed their joined hands. “I’m getting sleepy, so let’s finish our charting another night.”

Rahn nodded and gathered his things. “I’d feel better if you let me stay with you again tonight, under the circumstances.”

She leaped onto the floor, grinning back at him. “You can stay with me whenever you want.”

Chapter21

The Sordid Netherworld of Sex Clubs

Thank the Ancestors for Imryll, Aesylt thought as she and her sister-in-law stood, stone-faced, watching the Derehams and roughly forty of their carefully chosen subjects spin and twirl around the elaborately festooned parlor. Nyssa might be upset that her event had been downsized because of security concerns, but she was still the belle of the ball, fielding so many requests for dances, she had to turn half of them down.

“I’m rather jealous of Aleksy, sitting in the quiet nursery with his toys,” Aesylt muttered, sipping her mulled wine, one arm crossed over the thick fabric of her dress. She’d had a few offers herself, despite being garbed like a sack of tubers, but she wasn’t in the spirits for dancing.

“You’re telling me.” Imryll was drinking goat’s milk, something Felice had suggested would help with fetal growth. Aesylt understood the benefits of a nutrient-rich milk for newborns, but she had a feeling Felice’s suggestion was less rooted in science and more in old fishwife tales. “Nyssa is truly glowing tonight. It’s admirable how she gives each suitor her full attention. She would have made a far better princess than I was.”

Aesylt eyed the yards of gold garland strewn about the rafters, wound around pillars, and even lining the dark stone walls. Her dress was a close enough match that she’d been fantasizing about slinking against the wall and using it as camouflage until the night was over. “Surely Lord Dereham has already narrowed it down to one or two potentials.”

“He’s already decided on one, and a contract is in the works.” Imryll shook her head. Her red curls bounced with her humor. “He can’t be seen as weak by not throwing a fete for his own daughter, so this is the compromise.”

“Nyssa isn’t happy with me about this compromise.”

“Nyssa is fortunate to have never known the fear and trauma you have. Pray she never does.”

“Imryll, I know why...” Aesylt hesitated to speak of Imryll’s birth father, the sorcerer Mortain who had been the architect of the Nok Mora. There was still so much Aesylt didn’t know, and she had always been too nervous to ask. “I know Mortain is why Witchwood Cross was the example King Carrow made. I know he put my brother on the path of vengeance that led him to you. That sometimes fate is an individual, not a force of nature. Iknowall these things, but...” She paused to be sure her words hadn’t gone too far.

“You’re going to ask me if I think the Derehams colluded with the king to save themselves at our expense?” Imryll eyed her from the side. “No, I don’t think so. Mortain sees long and far, and he had no qualms making an entire village suffer endlessly to get what he wanted. Lord Dereham only bent his knee for Carrow after he saw what the king was capable of, to spare not only Wulfsgate but the rest of the Northerlands from the same fate. I can’t imagine how much it burned his heart to do so. There is no love for the crown in these lands.”

“Maybe things will be better now that Carrow is gone and his grandson is being raised and counseled by a woman.”

“You’ve not met Adamina.” They both laughed. “She was devastated when King Torian was murdered, but her blind obedience died with him. She’ll do her best by young King Farian, and we can only hope it’s enough.”

“Are you not afraid Mortain will come back?”

“He already has what he wants, Aesylt. His line continues, through me, through Aleksy. Whatever his true plan, it won’t be realized in our lifetime. Time for an immortal means nothing.” Imryll finished her milk with a sour look. “Ah, Rahnishere.He’s speaking with Lord Dereham. I assumed you two would come together.”

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