Page 23 of A World of Ruins

‘Nara?’ Gus says. ‘On the night of Noctura . . . Darius gave me this.’

I snap my head to the side and watch him dig through his pocket, retrieving an obsidian ring. My eyes narrow as he draws closer and stares at the ring in his palm.

‘When a dragon shifter marries, it is customary that the male makes his bride’s ring using one of his scales.’

My confusion only escalates as he looks up and sticks his hand out for me to take the ring.

‘I don’t know when he made the ring, but that night, he told me to get rid of it,’ he says, and I forget how to do a simpletask such as blink. ‘I assume whatever might have happened was enough for him to no longer want it.’

I look at the ring again, then at Gus, as he patiently waits for me to grab it.

Darius had this ring on the night of his birthday, the same day I helped him steal the Rivernorth pendant, and the same day he realised my feelings for Lorcan.

‘Yet you never did throw it away,’ I rasp, trying to soothe my throat as I palm my neck and end up finding the coin necklace Darius fashioned for me to wear in its place.

Gus looks at the coin and watches as I twist and turn it between my fingers. ‘You know,’ he chuckles, ‘he took that coin with him everywhere he went. And whenever I asked him why it was so important to him, he would say it was the only piece of gold worth obsessing over. Then, when he brought you to the den, I figured out what he might have meant by that.’

I tighten my grip on the coin until my hand aches, but I don’t care. I don’t care at all.

‘That is why I kept the ring, Nara,’ Gus says. ‘Because I knew he would regret it otherwise. And I am certain by now all he wishes to do is ask for you to marry him.’

My lips carve into a smile because he had, in fact, asked me to marry him, and if he had asked me a third time, I would have finally said yes. It was our game. A silly one that only ever mattered to us.

‘Thank you,’ I whisper, unconsciously reaching for the ring. Once it is in my grasp, warmth swirls all around me as if Darius were here with me. As my eyes well up with tears, my smile widens and I have trouble focusing on the ring.

‘I should also tell you that I know you plan on heading to Emberwell tonight.’

The grin on my face disappears all too fast as my head snaps up, and panic drowns my features. ‘Wh—’

‘Hira told me about your outing earlier today,’ he cuts me off with a level of calmness as though his reason will make this any better. ‘As soon as she told me you agreed to back down from rushing to get Darius, I knew it was a lie. You never agree to anything lightly.’

I place the ring inside the pocket of my trousers as I shake my head and prepare myself for an excuse. ‘Gus—’ My mouth is like a gaping fish, opening and closing as I try to think of what to say, until someone else’s voice I recognise interrupts us from behind, and Gus’s eyes flicker over my shoulder with a knowing smile.

‘Which is why we also figured you would try to do something like this sooner or later.’

I whirl to find Idris, Illias and Iker standing with their hands in their pockets and sheaths tied to their waists.

Shock doesn’t begin to cover what I feel right now. ‘How did you . . .’

‘I might have told Illias.’

Link.

I look to my right as Link comes to a running stop with Rydan, Tibith and Freya, trying to catch up to them.

‘I’m sorry.’ Link sighs. ‘I just couldn’t keep something like this from him.’

Right, I should have known. Those two are inseparable, and Illias is also known to not keep secrets for long.

‘Well, well, well.’ Rydan claps his hands once as he catches his breath. ‘Would you look at that, I am the only one who kept my word and—’

‘So did I.’ Freya’s eyes roll as Tibith ignores everyone by tipping his head to each side while staring at Fernah.

As Rydan points an accusatory finger at Freya, firing himself up for an argument, I look back at my brothers. I take two steps at a time, swinging my arms back and forth like I used to do whenever I was in trouble with Idris.

‘I’m guessing you’re here to stop me from going through with it,’ I say, and what would usually follow was him doing exactly that and then me disobeying him.

Yet he surprises me when he chuckles softly and says, ‘Not at all.’ My brows knit together. ‘I always give you a hard time when it comes to letting you do what you want, and I know that I struggle to accept the concept of you—’ He pauses with a grimace, twisting his lips as he looks off to the side.

---