Page 159 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

Crow shifted in her sleep. Vaara lowered his voice even more. “Doesn’t it bother you?”

“Of course it does,”Aruna snapped quietly.

There was a long silence. The stone at the center of the room dimmed and then went dark. Its magic was depleted. The room grew colder.

“How many people have you known who don’t really love their spouses?”Aruna asked. “They marry because they think that’s what they’re supposed to do—find a stern woman and raise strong children and then move to a village in the woods when they get old. Is that what you want? To do what’s convenient and expected? Or do you want to find someone who makes life worth living, like I have?”

Crow shifted again and opened her eyes. She glanced over at Aruna as he spoke, and Vaara was immensely relieved that he was not using his translator.

“You’re being dramatic,”Vaara muttered.

“I’ve seen the way she looks at you. And the way you look at her. You’re a fool if you give up someone you care this deeply for just because she isn’t Varai.”

“Mind your own business.”

“I was until you brought it up.”

“What’s going on?” Crow asked.

“Nothing.” He leaned away from her, suddenly fearing that she would lift a hand to his face and see what he’d really been thinking.

Aruna gave him one last disapproving look, but said nothing more.

* * *

They leftthe fishing shack to start the journey back to Valtos.

Crow was suspiciously quiet as they walked. All of them were tired, but Vaara suspected there was more to her silence than just that. She was avoiding looking at him.

Vaara was wrapped up in his own thoughts. He thought about what Aruna had said, and about where he would go now. He began to realize that there was only one real option. As the hours passed, he became more and more sure of his decision.

The days passed in a blur. All too quickly, they were back in Valtos navigating down bustling paths lit by torches and lanterns.

The first time he’d seen Valtos, it had been overwhelming. Too loud, too bright, too full of strange things and people. It had made him want to find someplace quiet to hide away from it all. But now, he wondered what it would be like to stay there and explore the city block by block. There was a life to it that was unlike anything he’d seen before. And the more time he spent among Ardanians, the more he realized how much they had to offer.

“Are you coming back to Akaia’s Haven with us?” Novikke asked, looking at Crow and Vaara. They’d come to an intersection of streets in the center of the city at the meeting of the middle and lower rings, near the tavern.

Crow cleared her throat. “Not me,” she said.

They all looked at Vaara next. Crow finally made eye contact with him, pursing her lips. She hesitated, then pulled him aside.

“Vaara… I’ve been thinking…” she began uncertainly.

She glanced up at him. His throat felt oddly dry.

“I’ve been thinking that… I’m not ready to part ways yet.” She looked down at the ground. But then her eyes flicked back toward his, desperate to see his reaction, as if she was trying to read his mind through sight alone. Vaara felt his jaw tightening.

“I’m going back to Patros’s house,” she said. “He had no family and kept no will, and no one but me will come asking to inherit it. So I’m taking it as my own. I know you had planned to return to Kuda Varai as soon as we were finished with all this. But I want you to know that you can also stay here in Valtos with me, if you like. For a while. Or however long.” She paused, watching him carefully. “In fact, I would like it very much if you did,” she admitted.

Her voice was plaintive and quiet. She already knew what he was going to say.

“I… can’t,” he said, the words cutting the wound open again, more painful than ever.

Her brows pinched ever so slightly.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s all right,” she said. “I understand. You should be getting home.”

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