Chapter 36
WE’RE ONE, YOU AND I
Gavrel
Candlelight flickered across the walls of my cabin.
The low flames guttered in a damp draft sneaking through the cracks, shadows swaying like restless phantoms. A soft breeze rocked the nearest bridges outside, and they creaked among a chorus of crickets and gilly toads.
The swamp never really slept; it simply changed its tune as the day turned into night.
I leaned back in my chair, mouth pinching as pain lanced through my ribs with every slight movement. It wasn’t just the bruises. Something deeper ached, a lingering throb where my rune was buried. Absently, I rubbed the spot, feeling the faint pulse of heat beneath my skin before shaking it off.
It was exhaustion, it had to be. The runebound bargain had been fulfilled. Seryn had brought me back from the nightmare that clung to me once we’d escaped the Murk.
“How are you holding up?” Kaden asked, handing me a cup of water. We’d gone over what happened in the Void and what still needed to be done, but even after hours, we’d barely scratched the surface.
He slumped into the chair across from me, eyes ringed with fatigue. He’d stayed with me when we first returned, healed me. My brother was so much more than he gave himself credit for, and I hoped he’d believe it sooner than later.
“I’ve had worse,” I muttered, though my words had a rougher edge than I intended.
He chuckled. “You always say that. Even if your arm was hanging half off.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. I grimaced, and his grin widened. “You’ll live another day, brother.”
“Indeed,” I replied dryly. My brother had offered to do another round of healing, but I’d declined the offer. Like he said, I’d live.
Kaden palmed the back of his neck and sighed. “I’m glad you made it back. Sweet Surrelia, I was ready to burn the palace down waiting for you and Ser to return.”
I dipped my chin. “Glad to be here, but the path ahead is long.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Let me have one moment without doom lurking over us, Gav. There are no wyverns to slay right now.”
For a few minutes, we listened in companionable silence. The hum of dusk taking over the day, the gentle splash of water lapping against sodden wood. The world was peaceful, deceptively so. I traced the grain of the table with my thumb, grounding myself in the mundane rhythm of the movement.
“You ever think about what comes after all this?” Kaden murmured.
“What do you mean?”
“When the war is won. The realms healed, or all of them defeated. What then?”
I exhaled slowly. “We rebuild. Then we rest. Or try to.”
He barked a laugh. “You, rest? I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Then you’ll never see it.”
His shoulders shook, but there was something tired in his eyes. The kind of weariness that no amount of laughter could wash away.
Studying him, I echoed his earlier question, “How are you holding up?”
“Oh, you know—defying death, mingling with Ancients, and minding traitors.” He scratched his stomach and then brushed a hand over his chest. “Just a typical day.”
“Caelora doesn’t seem to be causing trouble.” Footfalls echoed over nearby bridges, and I tilted my ear toward the creaking.
Kaden’s smile returned. “Seryn will be back soon.” He rubbed his lips together. “And no. Caelora isn’t a problem. At least not to the Korax. I think she made a terrible mistake chasing Ash, and it backfired spectacularly.”
One of my eyebrows lifted. “So you trust her?”
He smirked. “Not one bit. But it hasn’t been a hardship to watch her.” He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “She mostly ignores me.”
“I’m sure that’s a first.”
He dragged his tongue over his top teeth. “Anyway, I’d like to keep my chompers where they are, so I’ll do as promised until instructed otherwise. Fucking Marek,” he grumbled.
“I’m sure a team will be sent to the mountains soon to hunt for Ryboas. She’ll want to go.”
“Then I’ll go. I need something to do besides chasing a short, headstrong female around.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “With the roundest, most delicious ass I’ve ever seen.”
I rolled my eyes.
The door groaned, and Seryn returned. A faint smile softened her face as she took us in. “Who has the most delicious backside?”
Kaden’s hand went to his chest in mock offense. “How dare you? A gentleman never tells.”
She snorted and shoved his shoulder, nearly tipping him off the chair. “Gentleman, my ass.”
“You also have a fine ass, Ser. Don’t get your panties in a twist about it,” he teased.
My jaw tightened at the reminder that they’d been intimate.
“Relax, brother,” Kaden chided. “You don’t want to pop a vein.”
“Leave,” I said flatly.
Kaden snickered, but stood, stretching like a cat.
“Wait,” Seryn put a hand on his wrist. “Before you go—there’s something I need to tell you both.” She exhaled, the weight of her next words hanging between us. “I’ve decided to ascend.”
Kaden’s mouth dropped open. “Well, bloody fucking fuck, Ser. Should I bow down and kiss your Elder toes?”
Her lips curved, though she shifted uneasily before sitting on my knee, and my arm immediately wrapped around her waist. We moved without thought, needing to be near one another, two stars in a perfectly synchronized orbit.
Kaden brushed a wayward curl behind her ear. “I’m here for you. Just say when.”
She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”
When the door clicked behind him, the sounds of the swamp mingled with our silence.
“Are you sure, Little Star?” I asked, cupping her chin.
She nodded, eyes searching mine. “Yes, but are you all right with it?”
Ancients, she was incredible. She’d always been resilient, but I’d watched her become the fiercest woman I’d ever known. She’d never cease to amaze me.
“Whatever you decide, whoever you become, I’ll be by your side.”
The rune above my heart stung, sharp enough to steal a breath. I ignored it, pressing my thumb along her jaw instead.
With a sigh, she leaned into my touch, her soft breath brushing against my flesh. “We’re one, you and I. Every choice affects the other. And if we ever get that talisman out of you, our bond will be even stronger.”
I swept my thumb over her cheek and kissed her forehead. “You were born to lead, Seryn. You’ll be a damn worthy Elder. Just say the word, and I’ll be the most devoted consort the realms have ever seen.”
Contentedly, she curled into my embrace and toyed with her rune stone necklace. The candlelight danced over her curls, melding with the fiery twists. I sank my fingers into the soft strands.
She dropped her talisman, her expression determined.
I knew that look. She’d worn it so many times, perfected it by the time she was old enough to walk. That was so long ago now—back when our biggest worry was finding the next meal. Void, even a couple of months ago, felt like turns. And never once did I imagine she’d end up here, in my arms.
I loved this woman more than anything this realm—or any other—could offer.
For so long, I pushed that love down, buried it so deep I nearly drowned in it.
Until it clawed its way back up and became the air I breathed.
I would tear my own fucking heart out if it meant keeping hers beating. If it meant keeping her afloat.
She nestled against me, warm and content.
I rested my chin atop her curls and inhaled her sweet scent.
Relished the feel of her, the gentle rise and fall of her breath.
Through my tunic and bandages, her fingers traced over the thick starburst of scar tissue above my rune stone.
I stilled, willing away the unsettling prickle that stalked her touch beneath my skin.
Two days’ time was the next full moon. In two days, everything shifted once more.
Some things changed the moment you named them, willed them into existence. Others, the moment you pretended they wouldn’t.