Page 62 of The Scarlet Star

Ryn found herself flat on her back, water leaking into her clothes. A king was over top of her, holding onto her. She lifted her head just high enough that her ears were out of the stream in case Xerxes spoke. His jaw was dropped; his body frozen in place.

A slow smile broke over Ryn’s lips as she took in that expression.

When he saw it, the edges of his mouth curled up, too. “Stop that,” he warned.

“Not to berudeagain, but how long has it been since you had fun? Do you even know how, or are you completely incapable?” Ryn asked, and his smile wavered. She made a scoffing sound. “What do you think, King? Isfunone of your many wants?”

He dropped her the rest of the way into the stream and flicked a dollop of water into her face. “Not all of us are allowed to have fun,Maiden.”

“Ah. Is that why no one here has ever seen you laugh?”

His smile vanished at that. “Careful.”

Ryn thought about Heva’s training in the wheat fields. Sure, the King was built like a Folke, but she quietly raised a leg andhooked it around his anyway. Then she yanked his supporting arm free and rolled.

Ryn came over him, her hair flipping to the side, her hands braced against the floor by his head. Xerxes lay flat in the water, his dark hair floating in the stream that covered his ears. Ryn cast him a shallow smile. He wouldn’t be able to hear what she said now.

And so, she whispered, “I like you.”

Divinities.

Shelikedhim.

Ryn chewed on her lip as it dawned on her. Maybe she hated herself for it.

She’d thought they were opposites in the beginning, but she was wrong. Xerxes was the same as her. He was a boy who’d lost everyone and had grown up with no one to tell him what to do. He was the boy on the island in the story. She was the girl on the island. The only difference was that Ryn had a cousin who’d stepped up to raise her. Who had been there for Xerxes?

Why? Why did she feel all that about the King, of all people? Why had she even said that to him, even if he couldn’t hear it?

She realized her smile had left moments ago. She didn’t know how long she’d been staring at him, or how long he’d been staring back.

“King…” she began, suddenly worried he’d read her lips or that he could somehow hear below the water. She adjusted to climb off him—to stand. But she stilled when Xerxes rose onto his elbows, his face drawing close.

He pressed his lips against hers.

Ryn’s heart leapt in her chest. Drips ran down her cheeks, her mouth wet with stream water. Xerxes raised a damp hand and slid it into her hair. He kissed her lightly, and he sat up, bringing her with him and kissing her deeper, sending trails of water running down into their collars. Ryn’s pulse thundered as the airin the room warmed, as the walls teetered, as everything around her spiralled away.

Xerxes slowed his movements. He pulled back an inch, and he hovered there, just a breath away, his chest rising and falling. His fingers were still tangled into her hair.

“Ryn,” he whispered, and she could hardly fathom him speaking her name after what had just happened. “Don’t ever say that again.”

Don’t ever say…That.

Ryn couldn’t move.

Xerxes stood, pulling her up with him. She remained in a trance as he took her hand and led her out of the Abandoned Temple and down the halls, leaving a trail of water across the floors.

He brought her right to the door of her room, and he left.

She didn’t remember anything that took place after that. Going inside. Getting ready for bed. Falling asleep. It was all a blur.

16

XERXES

There was something wrong with that woman.

Xerxes could hardly focus at the council meeting the next morning. He twirled his lead pen over and over, staring at the candlesticks in the centre of the table, hardly remembering they were lit with magic and that the sages who wielded that magic sat around the table with him.

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