Page 70 of No Greater Sorrow

“What? Do you doubt my abilities?” she asked.

“Of course not. But the bargain said thenextperson to fall in love with you. That was me.”

“You already loved me. There. That’s the loophole. We can tell the Second to take his curse off. It doesn’t count toward the bargain.”

“I fell in love with you again. The person you became. The person you are now.”

“Dammit, Nic, I’mtryinghere.”

“So am I.”

He leaned on the Avisai so he could cross his arms. The great dragon huffed but did not move away. Its tail swept across the grass, and a swarm of tiny black insects shot into the air.

“Aleja,” Nicolas finally said, meeting her eyes. “Whatever happens next, I’m glad I got the chance to know you again. That I got to fall in love with you twice. If I die soon, it will have been worth it just for the chance to see you again.”

“Stop it. We’re not doing any fuckinggoodbyes, do you understand? You promised to fix it, and you will. You’ve kept every promise to me so far, so I don’t see why you should start breaking them now. Come on. The Second is waiting.”

“I’m sorry about Violet. You couldn’t have known,” Nicolas said, offering Aleja a hand as she crawled her way up the Avisai’s saddle.

“I don’t want to talk about her now. You need to nominate someone to take her place as the Dark Saint of Pride as soon as possible.”

“It might fall to you, Aleja. Promise me you’ll become the Knowing One. You’re both kind and cynical, insightful, creative—you’d do well in the role.”

“What the hell did I just tell you?” she snapped, swiveling in her seat to face Nicolas as he climbed in behind her. “We’re not saying our goodbyes, not now. You can’t just make a bargain with me and bring me here and make me fall in love with you just todie, so you’re not going to. As your High General, I command it, do you understand?”

“Understood,” Nicolas said. His hand brushed her cheek, then the swell of her lower lip, and fell away.

“I’m sorry.” Aleja’s face softened. “I love you. As if it wasn’t already obvious.”

“I like hearing it all the same. Tell me again?”

“I love you.”

“And I love you, Aleja. I have loved you since the moment I first saw you wading in the river of our nameless kingdom by the sea. My love for you will last until the stars burn out and the universe turns black. Then, we will wait in silence for all of creation to be born again. And when it is, I will find you, and I will love you then too.”

She leaned back, careful not to put too much pressure on his chest, then tilted her head to kiss the side of his jaw. The faint hint of stubble spoke of the chaos of the past few days. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

A rush of air from the Avisai’s wings drowned out anything else Aleja could have said, but it didn’t matter. She’d expressed all that she wanted to.

Garm’s body grew smaller and smaller as they rose in the clouds. Then, he and the Avisai raced toward the Second’s cave, where destiny awaited them.

* * *

The swordat her hip hung awkwardly. She hated the way it swung against her thigh, making her feel lopsided, but at least it was better than nothing. The sickle had never seemed like it washers, but she’d become accustomed to it all the same.

Still, she had Garm, who shed his Doberman body as they entered the chamber and towered over her—a creature of pure darkness, aside from the occasional glint of his eyes. And she still had a fig and a little box containing the bones of her former self, whatever that was worth.

KNOWING ONE, the Second said, halfway between a greeting and a purr. Aleja did not like how satisfied the Second sounded to have Nicolas standing here in Violet’s place.WHERE IS OUR FUTURE LADY OF PRIDE? I THOUGHT YOU’D BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE YOU COULD TRUST.

Aleja wanted to snap back that it wasn’t anyone’s fault but Violet’s, but Garm nudged her shoulder. She did the same to Nicolas when he opened his mouth to reply.Don’t give him any more reason to be angry with you, she pleaded silently, hoping he would understand through the bond that ran between them.

The Second remained silent for a beat, as if he expected them to plead for mercy. Aleja realized that they were far beyond that. At that moment, she could sympathize with every decision Nicolas made that went against the Second’s rules. With every time Nicolas found a loophole to get his way.

The Second promoted knowledge and free will, but when his rule was threatened, he had no problem punishing those who sought just that. Her mind drifted back to one of her first conversations with Nicolas when he’d explained the first war that split the Astraelis and the Otherlanders into two factions.

“But what about when the powers are just? When they’re good?”

“We’ve yet to see that last for long.”

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