Chapter 25 Returning Home
I returned to the Hutchens Burge Inn, my heavy footsteps betraying me as I was overtaken by sudden exhaustion.
I collapsed onto the wood floor before reaching my room.
“Celest is that you?” I hear Aylin call out, then the door opens, “Oh Goddess no!”
He yells and scoops me up, offering tender comfort despite a lingering fury at me for undertaking such a perilous journey alone.
My eyes fluttered open to a blur of vaulted arches and familiar timber beams. The cold wood beneath me was gone, replaced by the deep warmth of a woven cotton rug and the unmistakable scent of pine and sandalwood.
"You reckless, stubborn creature," a voice growled beside me. It was a low, rumbling that vibrated right through my ribs.
I turned my head to find Aylin kneeling over me, his blue eyes blazing with an intoxicating mix of ferocious protectiveness and sheer terror. Aylin’s hands were trembling slightly as they hovered over me, checking for injuries. There were none to be found.
"I had to go, Aylin," I whispered, my voice raspy and scraping against my dry throat.
"The serpent was blocking the eastern pass. If I didn't reason with it, our people wouldn't have had a harvest next season. The land would have continued to be fractured. The trade route needed to be opened for our people."
"And what good is a harvest, or trade without a Queen to share it?"
Aylin snapped back, though his anger melted instantly into a ragged sigh.
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against my exhausted temple.
"Do you have any idea what it felt like to track your scent to mountains, knowing you were negotiating with an ancient beast that could swallow you whole without a second thought? You went with only three guards. You stripped yourself of my help. I could have been there for you Celest.
I know you are the Queen of the Cosmos, but what would have happened if you didn’t come back, how many more people would have suffered in your absence."
Aylin’s sharp words softened as he began to carefully peel away my damp and dirtied traveling cloak.
Instead of scolding further, Aylin gathered me, exhausted into a tight, grounding embrace.
He wrapped his thick arms around me, channeling the steady, rhythmic pulse of his own life-force into my depleted body.
"But you are here," Aylin murmured, burying his nose into the crook of my neck, inhaling my lily scent. "You are safe. Rest now, my love. Let the pack carry the burden for a while. I've got you."
I let out a quiet, trembling breath of relief, resting my head against Aylin's warm chest. Listening to the steady, comforting beat of my mate's heart, I let the darkness of a deep, healing slumber take me.