Page 152 of Kissed By the Gods
“You are a very special person, Leina Haverlyn,” I barely utter that forbidden name, so that it’s only a breath in the air. But I want her to come back to herself and it feels right touse it. “Because you claim refuse to be broken. Because of your unwavering resolve to overcome obstacles that were meant to hold you down, and the quiet defiance that drives you to create a better path. You are special to me, Leina Haverlyn, because of the place you hold in my heart.”
I lower her arm back down to the bed and replace my two fingers at her pulse.
There’s movement in the corridor before the doorknob turns, and those were not Elowen’s footsteps. I come to standing, brandishing my sword before the door swings open.
The Elder walks in, his cane clicking against the stone, and I resist the urge to curse. I wanted more time with Leina. I want to be alone when she comes back. To have time before anyone else questions her. I lower my sword and bow deeply—deeper than is expected, even, though I keep that one hand on Leina’s wrist.
Thump, thump, thumpgoes her slow—terribly slow—heartbeat.
“Elder,” I say, infusing respect into each syllable. I don’t want any trouble from him.
He smirks at me, like he knows the precarious position I’m in. He hasn’t spoken of a punishment for my impudence when I interrupted their training session the other day. He also hasn’t broached a punishment for Roran’s injury, though I’m sure that’s coming.
“Skywarden Ryot,” he acknowledges me, and I rise.
Leaning heavily on his cane, he enters the room and snaps the door closed.
“We will want privacy for this,” he explains the closed door.
I quirk an eyebrow at him. “Privacy for what, Elder?”
He waves his cane at me to back up. With boots that feel they’re weighted, I do, vacating my spot by Leina’s bed. The Elder sinks into my chair with a heavy sigh.
“For when she wakes up.”
We don’t even know if she will fucking come back. She could be stumbling around in the Veil, fucking lost. But then, Leina’s head moves from side-to-side on the pillow. That little movement is a balm on my chafed nerves. I cast an aggrieved look at the Elder, more annoyed by his presence than ever.
“You have auspicious timing, Elder.”
He smiles wider at that—an expression so strange, so unfamiliar on his usually detached face.
Leina’s eyes are twitching underneath her eyelids and her hand spasms. Her back arches as she gasps in a deep breath and I stride over to the other side of the bed regardless of the Elder’s presence. All at once, her skin flushes with a pink color and warmth. Her eyes snap open and she jolts up, reaching out for me and gripping my forearms as she does.
“Kher’zenn,” she says on a ragged exhale. The blood in my veins turns to ice. Sweet Serephelle, was she in another battle with the Kher’zenn?
“The Kher’zenn are coming,” she says.
I whoosh out a breath, relieved. “Yes,” I agree. “As soon as the weather warms, they’ll come.”
But she’s shaking her head, her eyes darting around, frantic, until they land on the Elder. Then they bounce back to me.
“No,” she says, her dry voice cracking. I get her a glass of laomai, but she doesn’t take it from my hands. She keeps speaking, like we don’t even have time for her to take a sip. “They’re coming to Aesgroth. They’re planning to attack Aish first because it’s warmer there. And Aish is weaker, they think. Then they’ll use the strength they gain there to come for Faraengard and Selencia.”
The Elder has his head cocked slightly to the side. He doesn’t question her.
“They can’t reach Aish,” I say, bringing the laomai cup up to her lips. She drains the cup as I’m speaking. “They’ve never beenable to reach Aish. It’s too far to the south of Morendahl for the draegoths to fly without a break. There’s nowhere for them to stop and rest.”
Aish has never been as vulnerable to the Kher’zenn, because of geography.
She grips my wrists, hard. Her nails break the skin, her eyes are grave. Focused. “They’ll be able to reach Aish.”
From outside, there’s a commotion, but I don’t tear my eyes from Leina’s.
“We have to at least warn them,” she says. “For their sake and for ours.”
The Elder rises from his seat near the bed.
He turns to face us fully, spreading his arms wide, the heavy folds of his robes billowing outward. He blocks out the light pouring through the window behind him, casting the room in shadows. It’s such a strange movement, I’m momentarily distracted from Leina.
