Page 23 of Empire of Death
Yes. He said he’s fine.
Did he say where he was?
No. Do you want me to ask?
No. Just wanted to know he was okay.Probably checked in to another inn. Sat at the bar downstairs and had another pintbefore he went to bed. Or he returned to The Mermaid’s Tale and found that blonde who’d caught his attention.
Are you alright,Sunieth?
Yeah…just been a long day.My brother didn’t want to talk to me, and I wasn’t sure when that would change. And Wrath wouldn’t talk to me either, so I felt utterly alone.Goodnight.
Goodnight, Lily.
I stared at the planks of wood on the floor for a while before I forced myself into the bathroom. I turned on the water and took a quick shower, scrubbing my body because I was used to being clean every day rather than living out of a pack. The longer I stood under the water, the lonelier I felt, missing the piece of me that made me whole.
With a towel wrapped around my body, I returned to my bedroom and hoped I would see him there, sitting in the armchair in the corner or already in bed waiting for me. But I stopped on the threshold and saw that it was empty.
It was more than disappointment, but absolute rejection. When I tried to pull him closer, I only pushed him further away. It was unfair that he could come to me whenever he felt like it, but when I needed him most, I couldn’t reach out. I sat on the edge of the bed, my slick hair stuck to the back of my neck, and I stared at the low-burning fire as I felt my eyes smart. I wasn’t sure if it was the weight of my grief for my father’s demise, the heft of responsibility of a kingdom on my shoulders, the way I’d driven my brother away, or the fact that I’d pushed Wrath too far …and feared he would never come back. “I need you…” I took a breath and closed my eyes, refusing to let myself cry because queens didn’t cry. They didn’t have pity parties for themselvesand complain about the shitty hand they’d been dealt. They held their head high and found a solution to every problem.
“Xivin.”
The second I heard his deep voice, I released the breath I’d just inhaled. My eyes were still closed when I felt his enormous hand cup my cheek, his callused thumb swiping over the skin to catch a tear.
My eyes opened to see him kneeling before me, dressed for battle with the hilt of his sword visible over his shoulder, his eyes possessing an ocean of concern. There wasn’t a hint of the anger he’d worn during our last conversation. He easily put it aside when I needed his love rather than his rage.
His thumb continued to stroke my cheek as he looked at me, drenched me in the tides of his affection, slowly cleaning my tears with his waves that lapped at my shore. “Why does your heart mourn?”
“My brother and I had an argument,” I whispered. “Were you there?”
He shook his head slightly. “I had many matters that required my attention. I haven’t looked upon your face since…” He hesitated before he continued. “Since we last spoke.”
Since he’d returned me to my bedroll without a word and disappeared. “Did you hear me call for you?”
“No. I’d just arrived to check on you when you stepped out of the bathroom.”
“I thought I was getting better at feeling you.” I thought I knew when he was there and when he wasn’t. Guess not.
His fingers slid into my hair, and he cradled the back of my head as he looked upon my features like he’d never really seen me before. There was no sign of resentment. No indication that our relationship had changed.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come back.”
“Why would you ever think that,Xivin?”
“Because…” I swallowed, the thought of a final conversation overwhelming. “You say this is going to end, and you won’t even try to find a way for us to be together?—”
“Xivin.” His tone deepened, on the cusp of anger. “I told you I will always come back.”
“But—but how will I know when it’s the last time?”
“Because I will always come back until you tell me not to.” His hand left my cheek, gripped my hand, and placed it over his black chest plate where his heartbeat would thump…if he were alive. “Always.”
“Promise me,” I said as I felt my eyes moisten once more, afraid to lose the greatest thing that had ever happened to me. He was the guardian that no one could see, the protector that raised my blade for me, the only comfort I had right now. I turned to my father for everything, and now I was painfully aware of the absence of his guidance. Wrath had become everything to me, my father, my lover, my army—literally everything.
He looked me in the eye as he continued to grip my hand. “I promise.”
After we made love, we lay together, my thigh hooked over his hip, my hand resting against his warm chest. It felt like hot stone from an afternoon of scorching summer sunshine. I stared at my fingertips against his skin before I lifted my eyes to him. “Why did you get so angry?”
His eyes immediately hardened at the question, as if that was all it took to provoke him. “Xivin, I never want to speak of it again.”
