Chapter 22 #2
“Back to this, then.” George tapped the copied letter.
“Is it possible that this tapestry my father believes exists is the literal key to keeping the veil of protection up around the city? Or maybe this is an attempt to harness chaosweaving for himself? I don’t know why he’s so desperate to track it down.
It feels beneath him, inconsequential, in many ways.
But it’s not. Is it? We need to find it. ”
“And how are we going to do that?” Burke asked.
A strand of Isahn’s water found George’s leg, curling around her thigh, begging her attention as he side-eyed her again. She ignored him.
He was going to tell them; he’d realized she couldn’t do it herself.
Tension crackled around them, an omen of his impending announcement. And once her friends knew, it was going to feel so much more real.
Rather than face Isahn’s departure head-on, she continued talking, “Regardless of what we’re unsure about, we know he’s sending Peros to hunt down this tapestry.
I’m not inclined to trust much of anything my father says, but he believes it’s where the letter was written—in western Selwas near Lake Rasda, and we don’t have anything better to go on.
If there’s anything of value on this tapestry, we can’t let them get it. Does everyone agree?”
Murmurs and nods ricocheted around the sitting room.
George nudged Isahn’s knee beneath the table, in support of the decision, though her heart cowered and her lungs froze up. It was time for him to talk.
“I’ll be following Peros.”
All eyes swung to Isahn, surprised and maybe a little offended.
It was the best course of action in an impossible situation.
She knew there was no other option, but every fiber of her being screamed in protest at the thought of him leaving her side for a single night, let alone the weeks he’d be away.
The damned journey would likely be longer than they’d even known one another. Ridiculous.
Hildy’s brows shot up, but when she opened her mouth to argue, George held up a hand.
“Yes, I trust Isahn with my life. And yes, I love him,” she barked.
Isahn’s face lit up, eyes sparkling blue like Lake Loukeo. A warm coil of water wrapped around her waist, offering a loving squeeze.
Hildy stifled a smile and asked, “When did you two decide this? Were you planning on letting us know?”
“We just told you,” George said flatly. “I knew it was a possibility when we overheard the initial conversation about Peros’s travel.”
“And Lake Rasda is my home. The manor with a view of the stars is mine. It’s Staridge.”
“The tapestry is in your house?” Burke asked, aghast.
“We think so,” George said, “but we needed to be sure that his going is the best course of action. Now we are”—she pointed between Isahn and herself—“and now you know.”
Isahn massaged her back with his magic, and Hildy cocked a brow but didn’t comment further.
“What are the odds?” Burke’s questioning continued. “This feels like fated intervention.”
Grumbling, Dunstan asked, “If the location is known, why chase?” Isahn’s magic stilled against her skin, settling into a warm circle upon her shoulder blade. “Why don’t we wait here for Peros to bring it back and intercept him outside the city?”
“It’s in my home,” Isahn said firmly. “I have no interest in leaving, but Peros is headed to my godsdamned home. My sister is there, my people are there, and they have no clue he’s coming.
Lia and I think he killed our parents. The whole reason I was following him in the first place is because we know he’s dangerous and thought he was plotting to take us out—to steal our earldom.
I can’t wait here and let him burgle my estate and hurt my sister. I’m going.”
Surprise lifted Dunstan’s brow. He nodded once, then shoved a bite of falafel in his mouth, chewing while he stared at the earl. George watched his brows drop and his gaze sharpen a smidge as Dunstan’s respect for Isahn grew before her very eyes.
“How will this work?” Burke asked what they were all wondering.
George and Isahn shared their initial plans, which extended as far as knowing he’d be leaving within the next two days to make it back ahead of Peros. In a note Isahn sent ahead to his sister, he let her know he’d return in two weeks and to watch for their uncle—just in case.
“He’ll need a token.” Dunstan narrowed his eyes at Isahn across the table, sizing up the earl’s ability to trail the king’s spy. “Should one of us go with him?”
“Obviously we’ll take him out with a token, but what do you think we need to do beyond that?” George surveyed the group, sliding over Hildy’s sharp gaze.
“I could accompany him to Selwas?” Wynnie offered halfheartedly.
“Nope.”
“No,” George backed up Hildy’s initial denial. “I need you here.”
Wynnie pursed her lips, accepting defeat with a shrug and a sip of wine.
Why she wanted to go along, George wasn’t sure. She must’ve wanted a change of pace.
“Best if I travel alone. I’ve trailed Peros before without issue.”
Hildy lifted a brow dramatically, and George giggled at her friend’s silent dig.
“Fine, mainly without issue. Peros has never caught on before.”
Dunstan, Burke, and Hildy, with their legionary hats on, nodded in approval. Though Hil didn’t appear entirely sold on the matter.
“I agree that we need to send him through the veil with a token, can’t have him forgetting everything. But we all know how the guards at the walls of Nowosmont can be.” Hildy looked around at her Domossan friends.
Eanraig shrugged. “Wouldnae ken.”
“How can they be?” Isahn checked, looking concerned.
“Harsh.” Burke’s voice was uncharacteristically flat. “They won’t hesitate to torture anyone leaving the city who isn’t authorized to be in the know.”
Isahn nodded. “I can handle that.”
“You can’t.” Hildy popped an olive in her mouth and caught George’s eye.
“They would torture you in earnest once they realized their magic wasn’t working.
” Georgie sighed as she reached for Isahn.
Her fingers curled lightly around the corded muscle of his forearm.
She knew what had to be done. She hated it, but it didn’t change the fact it was the best way forward.
Maybe she’d known the whole time, and that’s why she was so resistant to say he had to leave.
“You could also be captured anywhere along the way. We... we have to be inordinately careful.” Tears pricked the backs of her eyes.
“It’s not worth the risk of the king finding out. ”
“What’s not worth the risk?”
“Your knowledge,” Hildy answered, and George’s heart shattered hearing it said aloud for the first time.
Yanking his arm from George’s grasp, Isahn argued, “I thought you said I’d use a token?”
“You will.” George paused for a shaky breath, hoping to the gods he didn’t hate her. He wouldn’t un-love her so quickly. It wasn’t reasonable. “For your safety, I think we also need to overwrite your memories.”
“What?” Arms crossed tight, he shook his head. “No. No. Absolutely not.”
“Temporarily,” she tacked on.
Though obviously unhappy with this newest development, his temper remained tightly controlled; not even a muscle in his jaw ticked.
Her friends were all frozen, even Ean stilled his incessantly beating wings.
They all knew how much George despised uncontrolled anger, and this was the first opportunity her chosen family had ever had to see him become unhinged.
He wouldn’t. Of that she was certain.
“We can bring you out using a token and meet up at Wynnie’s?” George flicked her gaze to her friend, who nodded in agreement. “You can drink the tea, and we’ll revise some of your memories.”
“Only some?” Isahn’s voice was flat and unreadable, but George studied his practically impassive expression, searching for clues.
“Only some. You need to remember your mission. But you can’t remember Ean, the veil itself, the fae. It wouldn’t be wise.”
Sadness tugged at the corners of his mouth while his eyes bore into hers. “And you?”
George’s pulse tapped in her neck as she stared back. The rest of the room faded away, a haze in her peripheral vision. Words froze partway up her throat: Yes, you have to forget me. “Temporarily,” she managed.
“Temporarily,” he repeated, voice rough with emotion.
She opened her mouth to speak, several times, but couldn’t get a damn thing to come out—at least not without an accompanying deluge of tears.
Hildy cleared her throat, drawing all attention her way. “It’s not safe if they question you. I’m sorry, Isahn. The loyal legionaries—they can’t know you’re working for the princess.”
Isahn nodded, his eyes on Hildy as he reached for George across the table. She took his hand, grounding herself. Relief coursed through her: He wasn't angry, just scared. And so was she.
Conversation, though somber, continued a while longer. Ideas were bandied back and forth, until Hildy spoke up with a solution that involved everyone traveling to Nowosmont in shifts, where they’d mindmold Isahn at Villa Senone before sending him on his way.
George eyed Isahn as anxiety rolled through her in waves, scratching her skin raw from the inside out.
It was a decent plan, and she hated it.
Isahn frowned at her, slowly lowering his chin in agreement, his gaze resigned and eyes glossy. It was a decent plan. He hated it.
“How will he get into Selwas?” Burke asked of no one in particular.
“As Einarr Strom, from Gramenia,” George replied with a flicker of a smile.
“Clever.” Isahn smirked.
It would be easier for him to move across the border from Domos into Gramenia, then from Gramenia into Selwas as a Gramenian, whose country had the best relations with its neighbors.
By the time Ean cleared their plates away, they’d determined that Wynnie would stay at Villa Senone during Isahn’s journey, giving him a place to send correspondence.
It was late afternoon when her friends said goodbye. Tomorrow, they’d pack and lay the groundwork for their travel excuses. Then, two mornings hence, Wynnie and Dunstan would return before sunrise, via the exterior door, to collect Isahn for his departure.
George closed the door after her friends and turned back to face Isahn, who was standing beside the table, absentmindedly rubbing his chest.
She understood the sensation that plagued him. She too had a keening pain emanating from deep within her soul.
Forlorn. That summed it up.
“I can’t forget you,” he whispered.
“It won’t be for long.” Her words felt hollow.
He nodded as his eyes slowly refocused and landed on her face. “Do we need to do anything else tonight?”
She shook her head, gaze dropping to his lips. “Only each other.”
Her words broke the tension, and Isahn snorted, embracing her before scooping her into his arms. With an elbow hooked beneath her knees, he used George’s feet to knock open the door to her sitting room.
“Yours or mine?” he rumbled.
“Mine. I need the memory for when you’re gone.”
“Temporarily.”
“Temporarily.” She nodded into his neck, and the dam broke, her hot tears rolling down to soak his collar.
“It’s all right, Georgie. It’s going to be all right,” he murmured. Settling her on the bed, Isahn curled in behind her, drawing her close.
They both ignored his erection pressing into her bottom as she clutched his hand to her chest and cried. “I know it’ll be all right. If we keep our convictions, we’ll make it that way.”
He nodded against the crown of her head. “You know I don’t want to go, yes?”
His words warmed her, slowly but surely drying away her tears.
“I know. I don’t want you to go either.” With a twist, she rolled to face him.
Sliding one of her thighs between his strong legs, she burrowed into him, loving the way he dug his fingers into her hair, claiming her.
“We both have our roles to play. This is the best-case scenario. You can see what Peros is doing, and I can keep an eye on my father. When you come back...”
“We’ll make you queen.”
“We’ll make me queen.”
He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin, and George lifted her gaze to her perfect, patient, caring lord. How had she ever gotten so lucky?
The fear of all that could go wrong slithered down her spine again, but she paid it no heed. Instead, she threaded her fingers through his tresses and tugged him close, their mouths coming together in a gentle kiss that tasted of salty tears and torturous longing.
“I’m still here,” he whispered into her mouth. “And I’m not going anywhere, not really.”
“Just temporarily.”
He nodded once before capturing her mouth again, his hot tongue prodding for entry. So she opened for him, accepting him, molding to him as they tamped down their fears and spent the night in a haze of love and unadulterated need.