Page 178 of Dare
Yes and yes. I felt in us science and spirit, caution and curiosity, sanity and wildness. There was sense and madness everywhere, like love and hate. We’d been lucky to explore both. Whatever came next, our story had happened. And maybe what we’d had here, and who we became together, was the greatest sort of revolution. If we were possible, maybe other things were possible. Like the jester and princess, stories such as ours could move kingdoms.
With an agonized groan, Jeryn thrust his lips from mine. Now, he mouthed through his teeth. Leave now.
Yes. Now. If I didn’t, I’d break my promise and make him break his. I’d split and scatter into a million glittering flecks.
With a pained cry, I whispered against his mouth, “I love you.”
Then I turned and ran. Saltwater scorched my eyes, yet somehow I kept moving.
Poet and Briar waited by the tidefarer, empathy consuming their features. They understood this pain all too well.
As I reached them, the jester quietly extended his hand, and I took it. I knew what would happen next. Once the sun had set, we would dock at the wharf where I’d originally escaped. Under the cloak of night, we would say goodbye from there, with Poet and Briar returning to their ship alongside Aire.
The tidefarer would be mine. I didn’t know where I would go first. But as a sand drifter, I’d let the waves show me the way, because there were so many places, so much of Summer to see. And so much of my voice to offer.
Poet shoved the tidefarer from the shore and leaped inside. I hunched over the rim and snatched up a fistful of gold, then rose to my feet. The vessel sliced through the sea, and the clearest jeweled blue rippled under us.
The trees swayed. From the bushes, my fauna pack crept into view, having followed my scent. Relief washed through me because they’d survived and come to bid me farewell. I bowed my head in gratitude, and my trembling lips blew the animals a kiss, swearing to return someday.
Ahead of them, a shadow loomed on the cove. I warned myself not to look, but I did. My villain prince stood there. He watched me, and I watched him, and the smaller he got, the more my heart grew.
No longer did I see his face, but his shape remained. And I loved that shape. I loved it so much.
I grinned through my tears. Spreading my fingers, I let the wind take the sand, sprinkling it over the water and setting it free. Then I turned to face the sun.
53
Jeryn
I turned to face the sun. But not the same one. Not anymore.
Beyond the medical den’s open mullioned doors, the castle terrace extended toward a vista of alpine mountains capped in snow. The afternoon sun was a gray bruise in the sky, dull and murky compared to the burning firmament I’d grown used to.
A shaft of pale light hit my profile. The wind pierced my skin, its chill cutting across the tight ledge of my jaw. Winter did that to people, polished the essential parts. I appreciated how it numbed the soul, the blast of cold enabling me to function.
I rounded back to the table, my boots striking the tile floor. The sterilized room peered blankly at me. Shelves of manuscripts, scrolls, diagrams. Instruments with smooth and serrated edges. Curettes, extractors, tubes, shears, lancets, surgical knives. Blue cupboards of flasks, beakers, jars. Tinctures and elixirs.
This den was the only place that made current sense to me. Everywhere else in this fortress, I hadn’t gotten used to the surplus of luxuries. Glass windows. Polished furnishings. Baths and servants at my disposal. Meals consisting of game and wine. The wardrobe of velvet and leather. People bowing and curtsying the instant I strode into a room. Overwhelming.
On the surface before me stood a row of bottles, each labeled by my hand. Specimens of a legend and a kingdom. Plants of the rainforest, as well as the woodlands looming outside this stronghold.
My fur coat was draped over a chair. A draft rustled the prickly collar.
I flattened my palms on the table and stared at the vessels. Transporting my remedies from the ruins, plus samples of the rainforest’s flora, had offered advanced remedies. Yet I scowled. I had been at this for ages, trying to find the correct blend of Summer and Winter that would yield new treatments. Personal restoratives of a family nature, in addition to humanely tested remedies, compared with the toxic mixtures and sharp methods of experimentation mounted on the wall.
I might not succeed. Even assuming I did, this feat could take decades at minimum.
So be it. I’d been bred for that.
A knock caused the door to wince. My eyes sliced toward the entrance. Fucking incompetence. I had given instructions not to be disturbed. It appeared I would have to illustrate my wishes more tangibly.
Well. Few knew whether to translate my silence as “Yes” or “No,” much less “Come in” or “Get the fuck out.” That had not changed, with only a rare mastering the skill. This included my first-in-command, my family, the jester and princess, and …
Fuck. I scrubbed Flare’s face and the last three words she’d whispered from my mind. For her sake, I would not risk going there. If I did, the memories would incapacitate me.
Despite not receiving an answer, Indigo entered. The sight of that perpetual nuisance stiffened my joints. I’d been having doubts about his fealty since before my exile in Summer, a state of affairs that hadn’t changed.
The warrior’s silver cloak swept the floor as he bowed. “Your Highness.”