Page 114 of Brighter Than Gold

Telling Reyah this nudged at a bruised part of my heart that had never really accepted Layne’s death. It was so sudden, so agonizingly preventable, and I had to witness each torrid moment of a lover succumbing to death. But ultimately, I was glad I could be with him in the end.

“I didn’t know it was such a tragic story Callan, I’m sorry.”

“It ended tragically perhaps, but it wasn’t always that way.” I forced a smile onto my face. “It was wonderful, and real, and I’m forever grateful that I got to share that part of my life with him.”

Reyah sighed deeply. “You’re incredible, Callan.”

“Why’s that, Princess?”

“Because you have this ceaseless propensity to love.”

“Gods, what happened to the miserable prick you left the palace with all those weeks ago?” I joked.

“Oh, he’s still there,” she said with a grin. “But I’ve uncovered a different part of him. A gallant gentleman. A Prince suited for a Princess.”

Reyah reached up and placed her lips against mine, so softly, so adoringly, that I felt my soul reach out and stroke against hers, like time and earth and mortal bodies were just silly constructs that we were trapped with, and that my soul had loved hers since the beginning of time.

When she pulled back, I felt her absence like I was missing a limb.

“How am I going to leave again?” I whispered, feeling the clock ticking down on us. I interlaced our fingers and absently, Reyah traced her thumb over the ring on my pointer finger. I held the hand up to her.

“This is your ring,” I told her.

“Mine?”

“The duplicate wedding band. I popped out the gems and filed down the etchings, but it’s the same ring.”

Something like a stifled cry left Reyah’s lips as she looked down at my hand, her thumb still stroking idlily along the gold band.

“Never take it off,” she said breathlessly, and I knew I never would.

Chapter27

Reyah

Callan and I spent the whole, stolen hour in my bed, we kept as close as we physically could to one another so that nothing at all could come between us. He told me more about Layne when I’d asked, and I shared my silly story about the boy I thought I’d fallen in love with when I first came to Arronbach. He told me about his sisters, and that his mother still lived on the outskirts of the capitol, and he visited her whenever he could.

I pressed him for more serious things, what he knew about the decisions the Kings were making about the army in the North, which he was evasive about, and when I asked him, he’d confirmed what Briar had told me; that people were finally claiming their Northern heritage proudly. He’d even been told of a public house who reserved their bar for Northerners to congregate once a week and share their stories.

While all of this warmed my heart to hear, the public still didn’t know that the palace suspected the North for the attack on the wedding, nor any of the details the Sisterhood had shared with Callan and I. I worried that once the public knew the truth, my poor kinsmen would be hated and ostracized.

When we had only minutes left, we hurried to make love a final time before I rushed him out of my quarters. The magnificent Briar had somehow distracted the guard posted to my door, and with a last lingering kiss, Callan was swallowed up by the dark hallway.

I woke the next morning pleasantly sore, and the lady’s maid tasked with making my hair presentable had a far more arduous job than she normally did. I’d badgered the girls enough into telling me everything they’d heard about Cressida. She’d had a perfect baby boy in the early hours that morning, both she and the baby were doing fabulously, and I was relieved beyond belief to hear it. I couldn’t wait to see the new little Prince, and get a small glimpse into what my future held.

In the late morning I told my lady’s maids I would like to go for a walk in the royal gardens, and sent Nyx an invitation to join me. The sky was slightly overcast that day, and the girls stubbornly insisted I wear a thin coat and gloves. I’d eventually given in. The gaggle of them followed me out of my quarters, and I decided to stop in on Kaspian on my way to meet Nyx.

“Hello, Bastien,” I said warmly when I saw the young footman outside of the King’s door.

“Pleasure to see you, Your Grace,” he replied with a polite bow.

“Is he already downstairs?”

“No ma’am, he is still in his quarters…”

“Will you tell him I’m here please, Bastien?”

“Ma’am, His Grace has asked not to be disturbed.”

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