Chapter 52
Kiera
The next five days passed too quickly.
Aiden was busy with healing. Ruru and Daire went back to the ships to make repairs and restock supplies. Yarina and Sigrid spent every waking moment with Maz and their long-lost Yargoth friends and relatives and the Dags from other clans.
I told Maz the story of Calimber’s collapse after he begged a few more times. He wept again for Nikella, but was awestruck when I told him of the storm.
I also spent a great deal of time with Helene and Isabel, caring for the freed prisoners. It brought me joy and pain to listen to their stories and stoke their hope of reunion with their friends and families.
I met Isabel’s rabbit and helped her tend the horses, missing Ozlow. I hoped Frieda wouldn’t mind lending me another for my journey.
But I had yet to say anything of my plan to anyone.
The shadows in Aiden’s eyes always melted away when he saw me. He’d give me a warm smile and a lingering kiss as we went about our days. At night, we collapsed into bed together. I felt a growing need for him in other ways, but we were taking our time with each other, savoring every moment we had.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was determined to go back to Aquinon this time. He’d hated the idea before. He hadn’t even wanted Nikella to do it. But someone had to, and I was the best choice.
The selfish, cowardly part of my heart wanted to enjoy these few days of peace before we had to go back to war.
The morning of Arduen’s Night, Aiden woke early and dressed.
“Where are you going?” I asked, barely able to keep my eyes open.
“To check on the ships’ progress,” he said, bending down to give me a gentle kiss. “I’ll be back before the festivities start. But before I go . . . I have something for you.”
I perked up and scooted to the edge of the bed while he dug something out of a sack he’d set on the floor before we’d gone to sleep.
He turned up the lamp, filling our lodge with cozy light. His face was utterly serious as he lowered himself to one knee in front of me.
He held out a beautiful crimson scarf. Stitched in colorful thread, symbols danced over the fine cloth from end to end.
I gasped, running my finger over them all. A key, a mask, a bell, a wave, a lily, a group of trees, a firefly, a moonblood, an axe, a small knife, a lizard, a mountain, a fireflower, a spear, and a falcon.
“What is this?” I whispered.
“It’s us,” Aiden said softly. “It’s our story. It’s our love for each other and from others.”
I couldn’t breathe. Tears blurred my vision as I kept stroking the silky cloth.
“It’s tradition to give someone you love a scarf like this on Arduen’s Night,” Aiden continued. “I threaded most of the symbols myself the past few days. Maz, Ruru, Jek, Yarina, Sigrid, Frieda, Helene, and Isabel all added their own. I would love to get Everett and Delysia to add a few as well.”
I crumbled, tears racing down my cheeks. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Relief thawed the tension in his face and shoulders. “If you accept my token, wear it to the dance tonight.”
I reverently took it in my hands, gazing up at him. “Thank you. I will.”
He kissed me one more time and left for the coast.
I sat and stared at the scarf for a long time. I’d noticed other men and women with them around camp. I’d thought perhaps it was just a traditional decoration. But I’d also seen Dags clutching them at funerals of loved ones.
Still in awe, I tucked the scarf in my pocket and went to visit Maz.
“You seem distracted, lovely,” he said as we sat together in his lodge. “Are you not excited for tonight?”
He looked much better than he had when we first arrived. His skin had lost its pallor, and his appetite was voracious. He crammed freshly cooked venison in his mouth even now.
Being home was good for him.
“Yes,” I said, picking at a loose thread in the quilt wrapped around my shoulders. Except I’ll have to tell Aiden my plans tomorrow.
“Aiden said I could attend,” Maz said around a mouthful of meat. “Can’t dance, of course, but watching is fun, too. Has he . . . spoken to you today?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yes. This morning before he left. Why?”
Maz hummed and avoided my gaze.
I sighed. “He gave me the scarf, Maz. He told me you helped him with it.”
Maz beamed. “I did. Did you like my axe? My needlework is normally smoother, but my hands are still shaky.”
“It was perfect.”
He frowned, licking his fingers clean. “Then what’s with the sad eyes? Do you not want it?”
“Of course I do. I’m just worried, is all.”
“He loves you, Kiera,” Maz said gently, patting my knee.
“I know that, and he knows I love him. I’m worried about what happens next.”
Maz waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, the dance is easy to learn. Just follow Yarina’s lead. Or Bruna’s—Sigrid gave her a scarf two days ago.”
I froze, my thoughts torn from Aquinon. “I have to dance?”
“Yes, it’s tradition. When one gives another a scarf, they do the fire dance on Arduen’s Night.” He cocked his head to the side. “Aiden didn’t tell you that?”
Nerves bundled in my stomach. “No. He just said to wear it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll walk you through it.”
Maz explained what would happen, and my apprehension grew.
“Is this more serious than just a declaration of love, Maz?” I asked cautiously.
He hesitated. “It can be. But anyone can give anyone a scarf. I gave one to Yarina. A mother might give one to her daughter. Deeply bonded friends can. Lovers who might want to be more.”
“More?” I squeaked.
“Not always,” he said quickly. “But some lovers use it to promise themselves to each other before a wedding.”
“Like a betrothal?”
Maz looked slightly panicked now. “Again, not always. Fucking Four, I’m making a mess of this. It’s not a betrothal, Kiera. Unless you both want it to be.”
I tried to breathe steadily through my nose. Aiden had said nothing of a betrothal. The scarf was merely a symbol of the love we’d already professed.
“If it was, would that be so bad?” Maz asked, his blue eyes tender.
“I don’t know,” I murmured. “He’s not just a man. He’s a king.”
Maz nodded. “That life frightens you still.”
My heart warmed to have a friend who understood. “Yes.”
Maz took my hand in his. “Just remember, lovely. You haven’t experienced that life with him yet. The one you knew is gone.”
I gave him a bleak look. “I still have one left to destroy.”
“Then think about it afterward.”
Too late. I likely wouldn’t stop thinking about it.
At that moment, Yarina and Bruna burst into the lodge, out of breath. “Time to get ready!” Yarina sang, dragging me away from Maz. “Don’t move until we come back,” she ordered her brother.
A few hours later, I huddled in the snowy woods with a group of men and women. Night had fallen, and a large crowd had gathered around the unlit bonfire.
My scalp ached from the brutal brushing and braiding Yarina had subjected me to, but I had to admit the results were beautiful. My hair glowed and fell in a soft, wavy blanket down my back. Red and orange ribbons cascaded from the woven crown on my head.
She’d also given me a dark blue blouse with long, flowing sleeves and a black skirt. I hadn’t worn a skirt since the last time I’d danced. The thick material kept my legs warm as we waited.
Yarina hurried to each of us and pressed a single fireseed into our palms. “Your scarf, Kiera,” she hissed at me.
I dug my lovely scarf out of my pocket and knotted it around my waist with trembling fingers. Gods, I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Yarina and Bruna had practiced the dance with me. We’d laughed and twirled, and I realized how much I missed Melaena and Delysia.
I would see them again soon.
“All right, it’s time,” Yarina barked. “Follow me.”
We trailed after her, each of us wearing an outfit of the same colors and displaying our scarves.
We snuck through the woods until we stood closer to the crowd. They had backed away from the wood piled in the center of their circle, leaving a narrow walkway.
Half-naked men and women formed a ring around the pyre.
Yarina had told me that, traditionally, the givers started the dance barefoot and bare-skinned as the god Arduen once had.
A slow drumbeat rolled through the clearing, and the crowd hushed. Frieda walked forward and thrust a lit torch into the stack of wood. Once it caught fire, she backed away.
The drums beat steadily. Louder, then softer, like deep breaths. The scantily clad dancers linked hands around the growing fire.
My heart leaped when I glimpsed Aiden. His tan, muscular back with its scars and single falcon tattoo drew me in like a beacon. His black pants rode low on his hips, and his bare feet glided through the snow.
He looked as he had the night we met.
The dancers swept inward, blew on the fire, then drifted back. Kindling the flames like a bellow in a forge.
But only one kind of weapon was forged here. Something stronger than steel or sunstone.
Love is the strongest weapon of all.
The dancers circled and repeated the motion. As the fire grew, they danced faster. Eventually, they broke hands and leaped and spun, as if urging the fire with their movements.
Warmth trickled through my body as I watched Aiden. The way he bowed to the fire and kept time with the drum. His face was a flickering mirage. He looked as wild as these mountains. He looked as regal as a king. He looked like the man I loved.
My fingers wandered along the scarf he’d made for me. No matter what happened, Aiden would always be the right choice.
My heart lifted with the rising beat of the drum.
“Almost time,” Yarina whispered next to me, her eyes glowing. “Are you ready, princess?”
I grinned. “Let’s go.”
More drums joined the song, and Yarina swept out of the woods. I followed her, dancing through the crowd. Everyone smiled and clapped.
The first dancers backed away as we approached. Aiden beamed more brightly than the bonfire, his chest heaving, his skin flushed.
I smiled back before concentrating on the dance. We formed our own circle around the fire, twirling back and forth. Then, one by one, we threw our fireseeds into the flames.
The crowd cheered every time the fire roared higher. The heat caressed my skin, making my body feel languid and powerful.
Once all the fireseeds had gone into the fire, it rose as tall as the trees.
Then it was time to find our partners.
Yarina hurried over to where Maz sat on a throne of furs and waved her scarf at him. Everyone else clasped hands with their people.
Suddenly, Aiden filled my vision. He looked more beautiful than the god of love himself.
He offered his hands, his emerald eyes sparkling.
I clasped his fingers, and together, we danced the same push-and-pull fire dance we’d done apart.
“You look beautiful, Kiera,” Aiden said as we pressed together. “Somehow more beautiful than the last time I watched you dance.”
I quirked my eyebrow. “You mean when you spied on me?”
He chuckled. Gods, how I’d missed that sound.
“Yes,” he admitted. He twirled me, and then I him.
“Did you know I wondered what it would be like to dance with you?” I asked breathlessly. “When you blindfolded me?”
The heat in his eyes burned more fiercely than the fire at my back. “Did you?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes. But then I told myself we would only end in betrayal or death. But as fate would have it, we now dance beyond both.”
He held me closer, brushing the tip of his nose against mine. “I foresee only dancing in our future. Especially the kind we did in The Hollow.”
I gaped at him and accidentally stepped on his foot.
He laughed again, spinning me about with his warm hand clamped on my waist.
Sparks of desire whirled through my body. I wanted them to incinerate me.
Aiden’s eyes darkened, and he held me even closer. Closer than the dance was supposed to be.
“Give me tonight, Kiera,” he whispered. “Make love with me until the sun rises. Let me show you just how much I’ve missed you.”
My core clenched, and a soft groan escaped my lips. “Yes. Please.”
He flashed a wicked grin down at me. “Then run away with me, little thief.”