Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41
Dayton
T he breeze dances through my hair, carrying the scent of salt and wet wood. I press my hands onto the ship’s rail, looking out at the vast horizon. The bruised purple clouds of dawn are being swept away by white wisps over an azure sky. Waves lap against the hull, nothing but untamed waters and blue skies ahead.
“It’s going to be a clear day, I think.” Delphia comes up behind me. Her tricorn feathered hat shields her face from the sun.
“You can tell these sorts of things?”
“Of course.” She leaps up on the railing of the ship, holding on to the ropes with reckless abandon. There’s no point in telling her to be careful. She’s too much like me.
So, I hop up beside her, holding myself steady with the rigging. A blast of salty water splashes up to pelt my skin. My ears twitch as I hear the crew murmuring our names, no doubt watching every move of the royal family.
“You’re really sure about going off on your own?” I ask.
“I’ll be fine,” Delphie says. “Besides, I won’t be alone. I’ll have Nori and your grumpy old man friend.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that. Ez is hardly an old man.” I grin. “But he is grumpy.”
“This is important. I can feel it in my bones. The Huntresses of Aura are out there. They’ll help Summer.”
I take her in, hair blowing, eyes flashing. “You’re brave, Del. Braver than all of us. I should pass my Blessing on to you, and you could save Summer.”
“W-what?” Her amber eyes widen. “No.”
“You would be a High Princess, Del. You’re already powerful with magic. Imagine if you had the Blessing.”
“Stop it, Daytonales,” she says, taking off her hat and smacking me in the chest.
“It was a compliment!”
“You have to always stop thinking that you aren’t good enough, that you aren’t worthy.”
“I’m not, Del.” I look away from her out to sea. “It was never supposed to be me. You know I’m cursed. I can’t even unlock half my magic.”
She tips her head. “Isn’t that why you brought that girl with you? Isn’t she your mate, the key to breaking the curse?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“I get it,” Delphie says, and she walks along the edge of the railing, her balance impeccable. “The curse mentioned love, and love is always complicated. But it doesn’t mean you should pass your Blessing along. I don’t want it.”
I follow her, using the ropes to hold myself steady. “You can’t mean that. The people adore you. You’ve been an incredible steward to Summer.”
“Exactly, I’ve done it. I’ve done it for twenty-five years.” Her face tilts to the sun. “This is what I want, Day. The open sea. Adventure. Searching for the lost legends of Summer. I don’t want to live in a stuffy castle with old men and big decisions.”
I can feel it in the tone of her voice, the wondering gaze. This is her truth. Her desire. But she’s put it aside all these years while I’ve hidden in the dark.
Delphia turns to me. “Besides, you say you were never meant to be High Prince, but I think you’re the best suited of us all.”
Truth rings in her words, but I can’t help but wave my hand to silence her. “No, Del. Damocles was a great leader. He was wise and powerful. Decimus never got the chance, but there was no one stronger than he was.”
She turns and puts a hand on my arm. “That’s true. Damocles was great, and Decimus was strong, and they burned so bright, it’s hard to see beyond it. Their light was the cold sun of morning and the chill of sunset. Dayton, you’ve always been the midday sun to me, warmth and power and everything they both were combined.”
I shake my head. “Maybe, but neither of them were idiots like me.”
“You can’t keep dwindling your own flame just because you’re afraid of what it might mean if you burn brighter than both of them.”
With Delphie’s words still heavy in my heart, I make my way below deck and tap on the door to Wrenley’s room.
“Come in.”
She’s lying on the simple wooden bed, face pale and a little green.
“Seasick?” I ask and move to sit on the end of her bed.
“Just a little queasy.” She runs a hand through her curls, trying to smooth them down.
“It can happen if you haven’t been on the water in a while.”
Her eyes close, and she says nothing.
“You’re upset with me.” I let out a breath.
“I don’t understand why you don’t believe me. How can we let him on our ship?”
“Listen, I know Ezryn frightened you in the monastery, and fear makes us see strange things. But I believe him. He’s my brother.”
“And I’m your mate! ” Tears prick the edges of her eyes.
“I know,” I say. “I know. What he did was to protect his —”
“Rosalina,” Wrenley says, then gestures to her bedside table. “She brought me green apples.”
“Supposed to help with seasickness.”
Rosalina. She’s with her mate now. Maybe it would have been better if she had gone to the Below. But I can’t help the satisfying feeling of her still being with me. Of her mates leaving her with me to protect. It warms something inside of me. Mine to protect. Even if she had come down the stairs yesterday morning, smelling like Keldarion and the Prince of Thorns, the scent of desire sitting on her skin like a brand. I can’t believe Kel had allowed that, but I shouldn’t be surprised, figuring the same sickly smell was wrapped around him.
Rosalina and Caspian.
How deep does he have his thorns in her? A memory flashes. “Wrenley, why did the Prince of the Thorns grab you at Castletree? He said he lived to touch you.”
“I-I’m not sure,” Wrenley says. “I’ve never seen him before, but I’ve heard stories. He probably figured out you were my mate and wanted to unnerve you.”
I run a hand through my hair. “You’re right. He acts that way with Rosalina, too.”
“Because she’s Keldarion’s mate, and he loves him.”
“Everyone knows that tale, I guess,” I say. “That’s why I assumed Caspian hung around Rosalina at first, just to bother Kel. But he’s been pretty persistent at saving her life. I’m worried it’s something more.”
Wrenley’s breath hitches. “Is Caspian in love with her?”
I know Rosalina spent some time with Wrenley at Castletree, but the level of worry for her from my mate surprises me. But that’s how Rosie is, enchanting anyone who spends time with her.
“Don’t worry, her mates won’t let anything happen to her, no matter how obsessed Caspian is.”
“Yes, all her lovely mates and you?” Wrenley stands and smacks the green apple off the bedside table. “She’s still here for you to protect. Everyone will always choose her.”
A million emotions war in her voice, and I don’t know what to say to quell a single one. “Rosalina is part of the plan to take back Summer.” I stand and open the door. “Maybe I should go.”
“What about me, Dayton?” She storms over and places a hand over my seashell necklace. “What about my part of the plan? I can help you break your curse.”
“I know, Wren, I just—”
“Just what? I’m tired of waiting.” She clutches her fingers in my shirt, pushes herself up on her toes, and covers my mouth with hers.
Bile rises in the back of my throat, but I force myself not to pull away. Mate. She’s my mate. She is kind and beautiful and can break my curse.
So, I kiss her back, putting a hand on her waist, the other cupping the back of her neck. I open my mouth slightly to inhale her scent, black cherries and bitter apple. Her fingernails claw into my chest, and I don’t know how much longer I have to keep my lips to hers before I feel something. I’ve kissed thousands of fae. Why can’t I force myself through this one?
Distant footsteps sound, then a voice. A voice I know. I move to pull away, but Wrenley clutches me even tighter.
“Wrenley, I found these ginger sweets. Thought they might help—”
I break away, gasping. Rosalina stands in the open doorway, hair loose, a pile of candies in her palm.
Wrenley drops back down to the flats of her feet, cheeks flushed, hair mussed.
Plop, plop, plop. The sweets fall from Rosalina’s fingers one by one.
“S-sorry,” Rosalina stammers. “I, uh, I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
“It’s all right.” Wrenley reaches forward and grabs the last ginger candy from Rosalina’s palm. “I’m sure this will help.”
Rosalina glances to me, depths of emotions swirling in her gaze. Hurt, betrayal, sadness.
But what right does she have to feel any of that? She’s been with her mate all night and all morning. Her mate who loves her. Not to mention what she let Cas do to her yesterday. She gets to keep Farron for the rest of her life, and he gets to keep her. They get to go live their perfect little lives together, being Princess and Prince of the fucking Vale.
What right does she have to any sort of sadness?
So, I answer the look with a grin and throw an arm around my mate. “Thanks, Rosalina, she’s feeling better already.”
Then I kick the door shut in her face.