Page 101 of The Eternal Mirror
I stare and stare, and I’m sure among the myriad constellations, I can see the spinning rings of the Eternal Mirror.
And I know we have to go back.
He must sense the change in me. His hands slide to my waist, and he steps away, and I’m once again standing alone.
I lean across and kiss him on the lips. “Thank you for today.”
He smiles. “My pleasure.”
“I wish we could stay.”
“We can’t. I have an army to sort out. Thanks for that.”
“Why did you agree?” I ask.
“Because you asked me to,” he says. “And because Khendril once said... ‘One day, someone you care about will ask you to lead. When they do—don’t run.’” He meets my eyes. “So I didn’t.”
I sigh. Khaosti is going to be an amazing man one day.
Time to go. I wade back to the beach, and we gather our things, including most of the cash.
I glance around—the beach is almost empty. It’s just us. But then down near the rocks, I spot an older guy with a grey beard anda sun-faded baseball cap, walking slowly with a plastic bag in one hand and a stick in the other. He’s whistling off-key, and picking up bottles and cans, looking for anything that might be of value. A shaggy dog trots beside him, tongue out, tail wagging like life’s pretty damn great.
He doesn’t look desperate. Just...weathered. Like the world’s been a little rough, but he’s still in it.
Khaosti raises an eyebrow.
I shrug, reach into the beach bag, pull out what’s left of the cash, and jog toward the man. The dog spots me first and trots over, tail wagging harder. I crouch to scratch his ears, then hand the man the money.
He blinks. “Uh...”
“No strings,” I say. “Buy something stupid. Or a steak for him.” I nod at the dog.
The man chuckles, slow and easy. “You two just fall off a cruise ship?”
“Something like that.”
I walk back to Khaosti. He’s watching me again, that unreadable look on his face.
“What?” I say.
“I just sometimes forget what a nice person you are.”
I pull a face. “Not so nice. It’s not as though we needed it.” Then I turn away before he can get all mushy, and I whisper the words to open a mirror.
And we go back.
Chapter 36
What’s Left After Burning
The warmth vanishes.
The mirror opens into my clearing in the trees. Below, the rebel camp is quiet. I think dawn is close, the horizon tinted with pink. The night has passed while we’ve been away in the sun.
Maybe we can slip in without anyone seeing, or maybe we should get changed here, just in case. But at that moment, a figure detaches himself from the trees. Zayne. He walks toward us, his eyes widening as he takes in my bikini and sarong. He shakes his head. “You weren’t in your tent. I came to find you.”
“Why...?”
