Page 62 of Shrine of Fire

As soon as we sat, it changed the perspective of the lakes slightly. Water merged with sky, the land and air becoming one. Two pieces of the world, blending together.

“I come up to clear my head.” Cuan took my hand in his, and I took in another clear lungful of air.

I wished Derrick could have seen the Silver Lakes. He would have loved it, would have painted many pictures of the lakes. “I bet it’s beautiful all year round.”

“It is. Harsh and beautiful. Like Fairuin.”

We sat and watched the sky shift, and the lakes shift color with the sky. A little while later, the light changed as the sun started to set, and the lake took on a rainbow effect.

“The shaman of old said this was a place to cross over to the spirit world,” Cuan said softly. “If you stared at the line between the land and the sky you would feel the pull to the Otherworld.”

“It feels powerful.” My shoulders relaxed, my body for once feeling in harmony with the world around me. Like I was one part of the greater whole.

“It’s hard to think of leaving.” Cuan glanced down at our hands together. “I thought it would be no hard decision, despite what the soothsayer said.”

“A soothsayer?” I cocked my head. His voice was rough with emotion, like he struggled with a great decision.

His conflicted tone sounded like my inner thoughts on building a pack now or waiting awhile longer.

“At my birth, a soothsayer predicted I would travel farther than my forefathers before me.” Cuan sighed. “I laughed it off my entire life, roaming the lands like a wild thing. Telling the chiefs, I knew this land better than my own heart.”

“And then you were chosen for Royal Pack duty,” I said.

“Yes.” He looked out at the lakes, his face in beautiful profile. “Chosen to leave my homeland.”

My heart ached for him; he sounded so forlorn. “I’m not going to make you leave, Cuan.”

He laughed ruefully. “I’d made up my mind to drive you away—that you would be selfish and spoiled and you’d hate my uncouthness—so that when you decided not to make me part of the Royal Pack, I couldn’t be blamed.”

The interactions between Cuan and his father made sense now. He was supposed to be wooing me and instead had been trying to repulse me.

Maybe if he didn’t smell so good, it would have worked. Maybe if he wasn’t so obviously worried about the welfare of the people around him, the ruse would have tricked me.

“And then I saw you.” He took my hand and turned to me. “Spoke with you. Saw how you treated those around you. Respectful of my father and my people. Interested in our ways, even up to being excited about learning more of the Sacred Arts.”

He locked eyes with me. They were so, so blue. Blue enough to drown in, to tip into, head over heels, like the Silver Lakes. “Nova, I’m falling in love with you.”

I couldn’t help but gasp. “But you…”

“I’ve been a boorish ass.” He kissed the back of my hand, giving me a boyish grin. “Let me make it up to you.”

“You can’t know for sure that’s how you feel.” I bit my lip. I couldn’t tear him away from the land he so obviously loved.

“Can’t I?” He raised an eyebrow. “When I talk to you, when I’m around you…it feels the same as being out here. The wind blowing in my face, the land rolling out before me, my mind and body expanding into more than I could have hoped to be.”

I blinked, my heart in my throat. He put words to things I couldn’t. The feeling of being in love was like being in this beautiful desolate highland.

“Don’t look so worried,” he chuckled and kissed the back of my hand again. “Trust me enough to make my own decisions.”

I sighed. “I feel like I’m leading everyone on.”

Cuan squeezed me against him. “You don’t have to take me with you, Nova. But you asked why I acted the way I did. Showing you this place was the best way to show you.”

“I do want you.” I looked at him. I’d finally realized it was better to be honest, about all of my feelings. Kalahar had shown me that. “You smell so good.” I touched his hair, tentatively. “You’re…handsome, and I like how…” I gestured at his shoulders. “…broad you are.”

Words failed me, even as the thought of his body warmed me. I blushed, then tried again. “It would have been easier for me to be offended at your behavior, if you weren’t gentle and considerate of your family.”

“I am pretty amazing.” He grinned. “So, you’ll give me a chance?”

---