Page 9 of Heart of the Shadow King

“It will take time to relearn everything.” I stretch out my hand, trail a finger gently along the curve of her jaw. “And to learn new things as well.”

She smiles at that, catches hold of my hand, and presses it against her cheek. That gesture is almost enough to make me toss that platter aside and do everything in my power to reawaken a different hunger inside her. But that would be selfish. She is exhausted. And she’s already given me so much of herself. From now on her needs must be foremost in my heart.

So, I hold my lust in check, and she kisses my palm before returning to her meal. Once she’s managed a few more bites, she asks quietly, “What became of thewoggha?Was . . . was the damage very bad?”

I grimace and look away. She doesn’t need to know everything I saw and heard and dealt with today. So much death and destruction. So much fear. And worse than any of these, the hopelessness which permeates the heart of the Under Realm. Mythanar has always been a bastion of strength against foes or threats. Where can the people turn if monsters so easily invade their greatest city? “It would have been much worse,” I say, my voice low. “Many more would have been lost were it not for you.”

Faraine shudders and sets what’s left of her meal aside. I reach out and take her hand. “Faraine? My love, what’s wrong?”

She shakes her head. I want to press her, to urge her to tell me, but not if she’s unwilling. I bite my tongue, waiting as she touches her crystal pendant on its chain, drawing my attention as she turns it round in her fingers. There’s a stain deep in its center. My brow puckers. “Was that there before?” I ask.

“What?” She looks up, surprised.

“That.” I point. “That darkness.”

“My crystal? No.” She frowns, looking down at the stone, her mouth pinched in a pensive line. “It seems to have gone cloudy. I don’t understand why.”

Instead of answering, I sit up and reach for my discarded trousers, tossed carelessly to one side in the heat of passion. Fishing into the pocket, my fingers close around the sharp edges of a crystal. I hold it out for Faraine’s inspection. She blinks, surprised, and plucks it up in her delicate hand. “Where did you get this?” she asks at length, lifting her gaze to mine.

I don’t like to mention Maylin. I cannot say why, but some instinct tells me it would be best to keep Faraine and the witch who is my mother as far from each other as possible. “It came from the pool,” I reply, the truth if not the whole truth. “The sacred pool in which your life was restored. I believe it is a sign from the gods.”

“What do you mean?”

I lean forward, run my fingers through my hair, pushing it back from my face. The last thing I want is to burden Faraine. Not when she is still so weak. Not when she’s already given so much. But I can’t keep this from her. “It is likely that once the price of your life is paid, the darkness in the crystal will clear.”

Her eyes widen. “What price, Vor?”

“The life price.”

She stares at me, horror slowly filling up her gaze. Then, in an accusing voice: “Yourlife?”

I rub a hand down the back of my neck. “Well, yes. I assume so.” Her gaze is so hot, so furious, I scarcely dare meet it. “I offered my life in exchange for yours. Truth be told, I did not expect to return from those waters alive.”

The rest of her meal forgotten, Faraine stands up, spilling her plate. She stares down at me for a moment, Maylin’s crystal clenched tight in one fist. Then abruptly she turns and strides for the window. “Faraine?” I call after her. She doesn’t answer. She stands there, silhouetted by the gentledimnessglow, a shadow without feature. Suddenly her shoulders shake. A shuddering intake of breath breaks in a sob.

I’m on my feet in an instant, crossing the room to her. I wrap my arms around her, pull her back against me, and nuzzle her lovely golden hair. “Faraine, my love, it was worth it. It was worth any risk to bring you back. The mere chance that I might save you would drive me to far greater lengths than this!”

She shakes her head and tries to speak several times before managing, “How long do we have? Do you know?”

“I know nothing. This is all new territory for me.”

Turning in my arms, she looks up at me. Tears shine in her strange eyes, gleam on her cheeks. “Perhaps it will be me,” she whispers. “Perhaps the gods have only granted me a little stolen time.”

“No!” Wrath boils up inside me, a volcanic pressure ready to burst. “That cannot be. I made the bargain for yourlife.Not for a few days, but for a lifetime to be lived. I will settle for nothing less.”

She tips her head back, her lips parted. “Vor,” she says softly, “who are we to demand anything of the gods?”

She is right. I have no words, no contradiction I might make. But in my heart, I resist. I defy the gods themselves to take her from me.

Rather than speak, I bow my head, catch her mouth with mine. Let the inferno of my ardor overwhelm all words, all fears, all protests. And as she gives in to me, as her body once more ignites with passion, we forget all else and let this world and every other fade away.

5

FARAINE

When I wake to the brightening lights oflusterling,Vor is gone.

We did eventually make it to the bed last night. And sleep as well. But never once did we stop holding one another. When not actively making love, we would simply rest with our arms around each other, talking of little, touching, kissing. Being. As though we could somehow make the night last forever. As though we could fit an entire lifetime of love into those few, too-short hours.

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