Chapter 67
I charge down the hall, using the back of my arm to swipe the sweat from my eyes, plowing around a corner to see Pyrok jogging toward me—shirtless, looking like he just rolled off his pallet at the sound of the lookout’s horns hailing my arrival.
“You look sober.”
Ish.
“The cycle is young,” he says, falling into step beside me. “Welcome home.”
“Take it Veya isn’t back yet?”
I’d hoped that, when I landed, she’d run out to greet me like she usually does. Feels weird without her dashing out with a thousand questions on her tongue, ready to sling them at me.
Feels …
Hollow.
“No. Last lark I received, she was almost at the wall but anticipated a few stops were going to slow her down. I’m guessing she’s almost at Arithia by now. Maybe even on her way back.”
I grunt, wanting to know nothing about these stops he speaks of .
“Why do you smell like sulfur?”
“Took Grihm to Gondragh,” I mutter as we charge around another corner.
“What?”
“Dropped his sorry ass off at the hatching hut so he can try and steal an egg from the Great Silver Sabersythe.”
A beat of pause as the two sentries standing guard over my office stamp their spears upon the ground at the sight of me, opening the doors.
“He’s going to die,” Pyrok mutters. “And he didn’t even wave goodbye. What the fuck is that?”
I don’t bother responding.
I’ve had a long time to work through these same emotions, and I’m now sitting somewhere close enough to acceptance that I no longer want to punch my fist through a wall or kick myself for letting him convince me to leave him there. Telling me he was going to do this by himself or not at all.
I get it. Going to raid a nest or charm an already grown beast is a deeply personal journey for those doing it for the right reasons …
Still chafes.
I charge into my office, the large space empty but for a stone desk and twin leather seats—appearing exactly as I’d left it all.
Moving toward the wall of curtains at the back, I rip them wide, scouring the view of the Loff beyond and filling the room with a blaze of light. Illuminating the char marks all over the walls.
The only embellishment this room deserves.
I think back to the shelves that used to line these walls, packed full of memorabilia from Pah’s reign. Think back to how good it felt watching it all burn after I stormed the Stronghold still splashed in his blood with his head hanging from my fist.
He put too much effort into this space and not enough into being a decent pah to Veya.
To me.
Now this room resembles a vacant chest cavity, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Anything more would be doing his memory a service he doesn’t deserve.
“I saw Grihm carrying runed boots into his sleepsuite,” Pyrok muses as he lumps into the leather seat opposite my own. “Makes a fuckload more sense now.”
Yes, it does.
I drop my saddlebags on the ground, scrubbing my hands over my face before I turn toward the desk.
“So what now?”
“If he makes it back to the hut, he’ll send a lark for one of us to collect him,” I say, lumping heavily into my seat.
Catching a waft of my shirt, I frown, pulling up the collar, drawing a sniff of sweat, sulfur, and ash.
Definitely need a bath. And a meal. And some fucking sleep—preferably on something other than sand or dirt with only the shield of Rygun’s wing to keep me from being mauled to death by predators. To be fair, I think he would’ve happily stayed north forever, basking in the heat and the vast smorgasbord of creatures that tried to skulk past him and snatch me while I slept.
I’m certain he’s grown.
“Collect him and his freshly hatched dragon ,” Pyrok says.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I reach into my pocket, fishing around for all the parchment larks that’ve been flocking me over the past thirty slumbers I’ve been away. “It’s one thing to steal an egg. Hatching it is a different story.”
I dump around fifty crushed larks on the table, pinching the bridge of my nose as I glare at them.
“Behind on your paperwork, I see.”
“What do I pay you for again?”
“Certainly not that ,” he chuffs.
I lift a brow, waiting. Genuinely curious. All I ever see him do is drink mead.
“To sit around and look pretty,” he finally says, flashing me a smile. “Roan’s the helpful sibling, remember? He got the brain, I got the hair. And the cordial nature. And I’m pretty fucking good with my tong—”
“Got it.”
His smile widens, and he crosses his ankle over his knee, playing with his bottom lip piercing. Making no move to help me sort through the notes.
I sigh, reaching across the table for the pile of pre-runed parchment squares and my black quill, flattening one of the larks and skimming the note, wincing when I see the date.
Poor Krove’s been waiting over twenty cycles to have his huttlecrab quota signed off for final approval.
I ink my quill and begin scratching out an apology. “Speaking of which, is Roan back yet?”
“Nope.”
I shake my head.
Might send someone to check on him. Make sure he’s alright.
“So … are you gonna ask about her?”
My blood chills, that stupid organ in my chest impaling itself on a rib.
“No,” I grind out, dipping my quill in the ink again and continuing to scribe my message.
“She’s still here.”
I pause, eyes closing as I release another sigh. Slowly, I set my quill on the desk, lean back in my chair, cross my fucking arms, and give Pyrok my full, undivided attention. Lifting a brow, I wait for him to continue.
“I’ve seen her at the markets.”
I quirk a brow. “Oh?”
He nods. “Buying shit.”
I stare at him, waiting for him to continue. Which he doesn’t.
“Well, what kind of shit ?”
He rolls his eyes, like it’s an outrageous question—except it’s not. Not to the organ in my chest that’s far too soft for its own good.
Pyrok begins ticking things off his fingers. “Leather, soap, poultice, towels. She did go to The Curly Quill and waited outside while a kid went in to pick up a bag of something for her, but I can’t tell you what because I can’t see through leather. And I think she bought a sack of feathers from the local goggin bird breeder, but it could’ve been grain.” He shrugs. “I tried to keep my distance.”
I frown, my gaze dropping to the pile of crushed larks while I pick through his words. It sounds to me like she’s settling in, not preparing to leave. Which makes no sense. Unless she’s been … remembering things. Perhaps forming a new attachment to the place.
My chest aches at the thought, and it’s an effort not to groan as I scrub my face again—in desperate need of a bath and maybe a wall to bash my head against.
“Are you attending The Great Flurrt celebrations?” Pyrok asks, and I lean forward, getting to work unfolding the rest of the scrunched larks.
“I’ll be lifting the platforms, of course.”
“I mean the actual festival.”
I quirk a brow, sliding him half the pile. “Have I ever?”
He still makes no move to help, instead narrowing his eyes on me. “You really think now’s the right time to turn all stubborn prick?”
Perfect time, actually.
“The last Great Flurrt we spent together was the last time I saw her alive.” I flatten another lark and slap it on the pile. “We spent the slumber together, and the following dae I flew off to help rebuild a village. The next time I saw Elluin, her limp body was being carted into the sky by her mourning dragon,” I growl, slamming another lark on the fucking pile. “So no, the idea of inviting her to The Great Flurrt celebration doesn’t thrill me, nor will I apologize for my reluctance.”
“Maybe this time will be different?”
I chuckle—low and without humor. “Maybe she’ll fillet my heart in a different direction? Undoubtedly. She’s quite fond of filleting. Quite good at it, too.”
Pyrok sighs, bashing his fist against the arm of his chair. “Look, all I know is I heard her ask a merchant if they’d seen the King around. Do with that as you will,” he mutters, then shoves to a stand and stalks toward the door.
I frown. “Where are you going?”
“To get drunk in Grihm’s suite while I raid his dagger collection,” he drawls, moving through the doorway. “Since he’s probably dead already, the asshole.”
The sound of his boot steps tapers off, and I tip my head, staring at the ceiling.
Fucking … fuck.
Abandoning the larks, I push up and drift toward my balcony doors, pull them wide, then step out into the sun’s harsh glare, overlooking Dhomm and the Loff.
The western point.
I walk all the way to the vine-clothed balustrade, resting my elbows against it, my heart blocking my airway when I see a shape in the distance—right where the water laps at the bouldered shore. Frowning, I stalk into my office and snatch my seeing scope off the desk, then move back onto the balcony and stretch the tool, putting it to my eye and pointing it in the direction of the shape.
My ribs crack at the sight.
Raeve’s stepping from stone to stone—feet bare, hair mostly piled atop her head, her cheeks and shoulders a little sun-kissed. She’s dressed in the short black sleep shift she was wearing when I took her to visit Slátra, one of the thin shoulder straps falling down her arm.
She doesn’t bother to lift it back into place, like she hasn’t even noticed, instead bending down and plucking a shell from between the stones. She inspects it from all angles before placing it in a basket hanging off her arm.
I swallow as she straightens, casting her crisp, glacier eyes toward—
My heart stills.
Toward Rygun’s hutch …
Well, fuck. Guess we’re on her mind.
“Ready for another round, Moonbeam?”
She tucks a loose piece of hair behind her ear, a yearning in her eyes that messes with my heartstrings.
I slam the looking glass against my palm, closing it, considering the implications of ripping my own heart out and smashing it against the stone. Giving her a head start.
Though maybe Pyrok’s right. Maybe this time will be different.
Maybe it’ll be worse.
Either way, there’s no one else I’d willingly serve my heart on a platter to—over and over and over again—like a hopeless, lovesick stray begging for a treat.