Page 71 of Ties of Starlight

She wrapped her arms around herself as she reached him, looking up when she came to a stop. “What? Did you not think I’d do it?”

Nyrunn wrapped his arms around her and she gasped as he lifted her up, spinning her around before setting her back down, water splashing and rippling through the slow-moving stream. “There you are, surprising me again.”

She laughed as he released her and waded deeper into the water before ducking under, swimming a stride before coming back up again. He called out, “Have you ever gone swimming just for fun ever since that life?”

Idonea followed him until she could walk no more, the water up to her neck. “Obviously not. The only time I go in water other than to bathe is the Constellation Pool.”

“Until now.”

“Until now.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She took a deep breath and ducked her head underwater, swimming out to meet him. When she came back up for air, he had her in his arms again, pulling her up and crushing her to him as their hair stuck to their skin, water running off their cheeks and back to the stream around them.

Her teeth were chattering as she held onto him. “You know, I’m starting to think this is more traumatizing because of how frigid this water is. Did you have to pick the coldest stream in Adastra to do this in?”

He laughed and didn’t release her, and instead just held her against his chest. “Is the Constellation Pool not this cold?”

She shook her head. “It’s cool, not cold. It’s… I don’t even really know how to describe it. It’s pure magic and starlight and memories.”

“Your memories?” His hand shifted up and down her back.

“Yes. At least, that’s what it’s always been like for me. I don’t know if that’s what it’s like for…” Idonea let his name slip off her tongue as Nyrunn started to tense beneath her, not willing to ruin the moment. “For everyone.”

Nyrunn relaxed, leaning his head against hers. “Well, I guess I’ll find out soon what it’s like for me.”

She didn’t push him away. Mostly because he was warm and the water was cold. She breathed in the scent of him, the soap used on his clothes and the clear water around them, and shut her eyes.

Her necklace sat heavy on her collarbone, the metal even colder than the water, and she was struck with a horrible thought. Horrible because it should never have even entered her head.

In her next life, even if she got it all right, Nyrunn wouldn’t be there, not for long if he managed to live to her next incarnation. That wasn’t the thought, just the fact. No, what was horrible was this: she was going to miss Nyrunn more than she’d ever missed anyone in all her past lives.

Chapter 25

Of the four major events Nyrunn had to partake in, the Rescue was the one he’d been looking forward to the least.

The Rescue, taking place after the Heava Dance, was a recreation of when Gytha was kidnapped by Night Elves and Agnarr had to scale up a cliff, famously known now as Agnarr’s Peak, to rescue her.

It meant Idonea would be out of his sight for the better part of the day while she was escorted the back way up there by their stand-in Night Elves before he could climb the peak and reenact the Rescue.

Thankfully the shortcut they’d taken two days before had gotten them back on schedule. Like the Heava Dance, when they arrived at the base of Agnarr’s Peak, there was a crowd already gathered to watch made of elves from nearby towns.

Nyrunn had the guards subtly go through said crowd and ensure none of them were Moon Elves in disguise. The last thing he needed was to be shot at while scaling a cliff.

Idonea would be furious if he died after she went to the effort of being stabbed to keep him alive.

Plus, if a Moon Elf was able to shoot at him, it definitely meant one would be able to reach Idonea, and he was not going to fail to keep his promise to protect her.

The last week and a half, now that he knew the truth, he could finally see her more clearly, and she was finally letting him. There had never been anything wrong with her, as Olaug had put it, only she’d never been fully her before.

Little by little, he was making progress, but there was something more that weighed on him. She’d made no mention of trying to break the curse, and he didn’t want to ruin this hard-won peace by bringing it up again. Every day he checked in with the Constella who had yet to hear back from the message he’d sent via bird to his acolytes.

Idonea’s curse might not be caused by the comet, but she was tied to the comet.

Their only chance to break it might be when the comet was visible in the sky. Of course, he would never give up hope, even after that, but if there was an answer to be found in her past lives, better now than later. But he only had so much time.

If he didn’t hear something he could use soon, he would have to broach the subject again and push her to share more about her first life.

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