Page 115 of An Honored Vow

I twirled back to him, crashing into his chest. Riven caught me with a kiss and hoisted me over his shoulder. I stifled my laughs with my sleeve as Riven carried me through the Singing Wood. The scent of birchwood and dew enveloped me as I let my head rest on Riven’s shoulder.

The person I trusted more than any other.

He laid me on the bed and fetched an amber nightgown from his closet. I lifted my brow. “How many of these did you buy?” Between this house and both our burls in Myrelinth, I seemed to have nightgowns in every color the Elverin could dye.

Riven’s voice was rough and hoarse. “Ten.”

I bit my lip, counting the colors in my head.

“Dozen,” he added.

I chucked a pillow at him. “Why would I ever need so many?”

Riven pulled on a soft pair of sleeping trousers and crawled into bed beside me, his chest still bare. He eyed our ripped tunics covering the entrance of his home. “I have a habit of rendering them useless.” I elbowed him in the side before turning to lay on his chest. His skin was as warm as a hearth on a cool night, safe and welcome.

Riven nipped my ear before curling a loose strand around his finger. “In truth, when Nikolai asked for a color selection, I told himall of them.”

“Why?”

Riven shrugged. “You had worn black for so long. I didn’t know what colors you liked. I didn’t even know ifyouknew which colors you liked. I wanted you to have the chance to choose.”

My heart exploded in my chest. I had no doubt that Riven cared for me in the big ways, the ways I needed, but the small ones still took me by surprise. He seemed to know how to love me in ways I hadn’t even imagined for myself.

“Green,” I whispered against his chest before tapping his nose.

His jade eyes widened knowing exactly what hue of green I meant. Riven cleared his throat. “You do look fantastic in green.”

I chuckled. Then that patient silence settled between us, almost enough to lure me to sleep. But there was still one thing I needed to do before sunrise. Something I would only trust Riven with.

I sat up and crossed my leg over Riven’s. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” he answered without hesitation. His black mane covered the pillow completely like a bird about to take flight, ready to fly toward whatever task I gave him.

I swallowed and grabbed the small pouch at my chest. “I want you to wear this for me tomorrow,” I said, slipping the gold chain from my neck.

Riven shook his head. “No.” He sat up, kneeling beside me on the bed. “I will not let you go into battle believing you will die. We promised each other.”

I silenced him with a gentle kiss. Tears pricked my eyes as I pulled away, placing thediizrain his hand. “I promised you I will fight with everything I have, and Iwill.” My voice shook with adamant resolve. “But you and I both saw how Damien reacted in Volcar.Ifhe bests me, he will take great pleasure in destroying this, and I won’t leave that to chance. Brenna died tangled in one of his sick games. Her death will not fall victim to one too.”

I wiped the rivers at my cheeks as Riven sat frozen. I grabbed for both his hands, forgetting one was gone. “Damien targeted us both in Volcar and he will do the same in Koratha. But this time—”

“I will not be on the front lines,” Riven finished for me, his hardness cracking.

I nodded. “Brenna deserves to be free. She deserves to be reconnected with our kin, even if it’s only in death. And right now, you are the better fit to give her that. To protect her and her freedom.”

Riven’s fingers closed around thediizra. “But I didn’t know her. Myrrah, Gerarda—”

“Will be targeted too.” I reached up and cupped Riven’s cheek in my hand. His body shook under my touch as his fears raged inside him. “I can think of no one better to protect the legacy of my first love than the one who loves me now. The one I love. The one Ichose.”

Riven’s lip quivered but no words came. My breath hitched thinking he would still say no, but he nodded his head. I sighed in relief and looped the delicate chain through my fingers and over Riven’shead. Brenna’sdiizrasat over his heart, the same place that would hold my ashes if Damien got his way. I pushed that thought from my mind and pressed my forehead against Riven’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me back into bed, this time the exhaustion of the choices we had to make pushing us to the brink of sleep. I lay my head on Riven, letting the beat of his heart and rhythm of his breath beckon our dreams toward us.

My hand reached for the pouch on his chest. It was just as warm as it had been laying across my skin. Riven closed his hand over mine and we fell asleep clutching thediizraas we clutched each other, with all our promises between us.

CHAPTERFORTY-FIVE

“KEERA, WE NEED TO GO.” Dynara’s voice sounded far away like she was speaking to me from across a long room and refused to shout. Riven’s arm tightened along my chest, still asleep, as Dynara poured a skin of water over both of us. Riven roared awake, the bedsheets flying to the floor.

Dynara tried to hold in a laugh as she realized we weren’t dressed, but Gerarda only crossed her arms through the other side of the portal that had opened in the middle of the room. “Classic but effective.”

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