Page 16 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
“I am not sleeping in there with you.”
I pretended to stab myself in the heart with an invisible dagger. “Say it isn’t so?”
When she didn’t so much as crack a smile, I tried again. “I will not be in there with you.”
Issa inched toward me. “You won’t?”
“No,” I said, stepping inside. “I’ll sleep in a crew bunk. Or on deck.”
Putting her bag down, I waited for Issa to join me as I pulled a moonstone from my pocket. Placing the Gyorian-mined gem in a holder on the small desk in the corner of the cabin, I tried not to think about the fact that Issa had only grown more beautiful since I saw her last.
Though now dressed as a warrior, I’d also seen Lady Isolde holding court in her own hall. Neither version was more beautiful than the other. Just different. Strands of dark hair escaped from her braid and, despite it being pulled back, I could easily imagine it falling in waves around her shoulders.
Like that one night…
“Marek?”
Getting a hold of myself, I pointed out, “The bed is small, but comfortable. Use the space however you see fit, but you may not want to look too closely under the floorboards.”
Issa rolled her eyes. “You’ve not changed a bit.”
She was too close. Her expression, not as antagonistic. For a brief moment, I could pretend I had not broken her heart, as her commander suggested.
Was it true, Issa?
It was the last question I would ever ask, not knowing what to do with the answer. Not now that I was on a death mission.
“You have,” I said quietly.
Issa cocked her head to the side. “To most, I am the same Isolde that I’ve always been. If there is a difference, it is because of our circumstance.” She put up a hand. “Which we will not discuss again.”
We needed to begin anew.
Taking a step backward, I bowed to her.
“Lady Isolde, I am Marek of Thalassaria, Navarch of the Tidebreaker Fleet and captain of this fine ship which will allow us to retrieve the Wind Crystal to its rightful owner and bring you back home safely to Hawthorne Manor.”
The same Hawthorne Manor that weighed down Issa’s true wanderlust nature. But I did not mention that. Standing, I awaited her response. Our eyes met, mine pleading for Issa to allow me to make amends.
I’d lived more than a hundred and fifty years… escaped death… foolishly loved… had adventures that still made my heart sing when I thought of them… but nothing had ever tempted me more than my desire to reach forward and tuck an errant strand of Issa’s hair behind her ear. Use our closeness as an excuse to cup her face in my hands and kiss those full lips, so unusually full that anyone would be a fool not to notice them straightaway. Where she once looked at me with kindness, and longing, Issa’s eyes were full of sadness and regret.
What a fool I have been.
When Issa reached out her hand, in the human way, I took it immediately. Touching her, as innocuous as our handshake was, made standing almost uncomfortable.
“I would say, ‘I’m pleased to meet you,’ but I’ve heard much about Thalassarian corsairs to be properly wary,” she said, pulling her hand back.
I swallowed, hard. Those were the exact words she had said the first time we met. I’d carved them to memory, along with every other word Issa had spoken to me in our short time together.
Shaking off the heaviness that had burdened me from the moment I left, and every time I’d thought of Issa since, I brought the Marek everyone knew, and loved, to the forefront. Grinning, I offered the same response as back then.
“Navarch, if it pleases you. Or captain, if you prefer. Or I might suggest… Marek.”
Was that the hint of a smile?
“We are dropping titles already, sir?”
She remembered as well. Word for word.
