Promises #2
“Then make one. With me.” His hand tightened around hers. “Autumncrown isn’t perfect, but it’s safe. As safe as anywhere can be. And I’ll be there. Noctis will be there. Pippa and Darian too, presumably, though I make no guarantees about Pippa’s ability to stay out of trouble.”
She almost laughed, but a tangle of emotions seemed to be caught in her throat.
“You’ve thought about this,” she said. “Our future.”
“I’ve thought about little else. In between the research, the running, and the getting kidnapped and tortured.
” A wry smile crossed his face. “It gave me something to hold on to. That there could be an ‘after.’ That I could survive everything and come out the other side with something worth having.”
“And that something is me?”
“That something is us. A life. A home. Whatever we want to make of it.” He met her eyes. “But only if you want it too. I’m not trying to trap you or make demands. I’m just telling you what I hope for. What I’d like to build, if you’re willing.”
The fire had burned down to embers, casting barely enough light to see by. But she could see his face, the hope in his expression, the way he was holding himself still as though bracing for rejection.
She considered what he was offering. Not just a place to stay, but a reason to stay. A future that existed beyond the next crisis, the next fight, the next desperate scramble to survive.
When she was young, she had wanted that. She had ached for it in the days after Wintersorrow, when she was alone and afraid and desperate for anyone to care whether she lived or died. But she had stopped wanting it somewhere along the way, had stopped believing it was possible.
Yet here was Rion, offering it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Yes,” she said. The word came out soft, almost surprised. “When this is over. I’ll come home with you.”
His smile was a sunrise, bright and glorious, pushing away the darkness that always threatened to overwhelm her. When he pulled her close and kissed her, she tasted relief and joy. A promise on his lips.
“Good,” he said. “That’s settled then.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He drew back slightly, his forehead resting against hers. “We’ll figure out the details later. The important thing is that you said yes.”
“I said yes to going home with you. I didn’t agree to anything else.”
“What else is there?”
“I don’t know. You’re the one who reads romantic poetry.”
He laughed, the sound soft in the darkness. “I promise not to spring any grand declarations on you without warning. Though I reserve the right to be obnoxiously happy about this.”
“You’re already obnoxiously happy.”
“Then nothing has changed.”
They sat together as the embers faded and the stars wheeled overhead. Tomorrow they would reach Summerbright. They would walk into a city that wanted her dead and try to build alliances out of suspicion and fear.
But tonight, for a few hours more, they could pretend that none of that existed. That the future Rion imagined was not only possible but inevitable. That they would survive this, all of them, and go home together when it was done.
Lark leaned into his warmth and let herself believe it.
The walls of Summerbright appeared through the golden oaks around midday.
They were gray stone, worn by the centuries, rising from the landscape as though organic rather than built. Lark had seen them countless times before, but they looked different now. Smaller, somehow. Less imposing than they had loomed in her memory.
Or perhaps she was different. Perhaps she had grown in ways she hadn’t noticed until confronted with the landmarks of her past.
“That’s it?” Pippa squinted at the distant walls. “It’s not as big as I expected.”
“The city extends far beyond the walls,” Lark said. “There is the Old City, the Quarters and the docks. The walls only protect the Outer Districts and the enclave.”
“And the enclave is where?”
“The walled compound within the walls. A fortress within a fortress.” Lark pointed toward a cluster of taller buildings visible above the gray stone.
“They’ve kept themselves separate since the obelisk was destroyed.
Limited magic, limited trust. They trade with the city but don’t take part in its governance. ”
“Which is run by the guilds,” Darian said.
“The guilds. The criminal enterprises. The people who discovered that a city full of weakened witches was easy pickings.” Her voice was flat. “Summerbright looks beautiful if you don’t look too closely. Underneath, it’s rotten.”
They stopped at the treeline, still hidden from any watchers on the walls. This was where they would separate, where the plan would finally be put into motion.
Lark pulled the dove-gray cloak from her pack and swung it around her shoulders, settling the hood over her hair. The icy strands disappeared beneath the soft wool, hidden from casual observation.
Pippa hugged her first, fierce and quick. “Be careful. Both of you.”
“We will.”
Darian nodded at Rion. “Watch her back.”
“I will.”
Then it was just Lark and Rion, standing apart from the others, with the walls of Summerbright waiting in the distance.
“Remember what you promised,” he said. “When this is over. Home.”
“I remember.”
He kissed her, thorough and unhurried, despite their audience. When he pulled back, his eye was full of worry.
“I’ll find you,” he said. “As soon as we’ve made contact with the enclave. I’ll send word.”
“I know you will.”
One more kiss, briefer this time. Then he stepped back, Pippa joined him, and they set off down the road toward the main gates. Noctis hesitated, looking between Rion and Lark, before following his master with obvious reluctance.
Lark watched them go until they were too small to distinguish from any other travelers on the road. Then she turned to Darian.
“Ready?”
“No.” He checked his weapon again. “But that’s never stopped us before.”
They slipped into the trees, circling around toward the southern approach that would bring them into the city through the outer districts. The trees closed around them, amber leaves filtering the sunlight.
Lark didn’t look back. She couldn’t afford to, or she might go after Rion, pull him back to her and run to Autumncrown.
But instead, she straightened her spine and looked straight ahead. Summerbright waited, and she was walking into it with her eyes open for the first time in her life.