Page 24 of Hearts on Fire
Gods, he would do anything just for another chance to have a conversation with her.
One by one, she sent her remaining arrows into the piece of wood with the circle, each shot executed smoothly and methodically. This time, all six landed inside the painted target.
“Yes!” She pumped both fists into the air, jumping with joy. “Has anyone seen this? Anyone?” She giggled, obviously not expecting an answer to her question.
But he couldn’t stay away any longer, wishing to share her joy. Snapping his wings open, he leaped off the wall and landed right in front of her.
“I did. I saw everything. Great job, Amber!”
With a strangled gasp of shock, she slammed both fists into his chest. “Dammit! You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
He laughed, grabbing her by the waist and twirling her around, just once.
“Bullseye, Amber!” He set her down, then glanced at her target over his shoulder. “Or should I saydragon’seye?” The red circle, the single target she had painted on her board, was exactly the size of a dragon’s iris. “Is that what you’ve been up to? Training to kill a dragon?”
She moved past him to yank the arrows from the wood and put them back into her worn leather quiver.
“That’s none of your business. How did you know where I was, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be with the king?”
For the past two weeks, the king had been focused on strategizing for the final battle of the war. Every morning, Elex met with him in private. During these meetings, he recounted to King Edkhar the battle at the Bozyr Peak in every detail he could recall. The king knew he would win, but he wished to leave nothing to chance.
“I see the king in the mornings, before his meetings with the others,” he said.
“Right. You’re his favorite, aren’t you?” The disdain in her voice made him wince.
“I have the information he finds extremely useful right now. The final battle is in less than two weeks.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “Butwouldit happen if you didn’t tell him that?”
Amber was getting into the cause and effect of the events. There was no answer to that question as no one could live two different timelines to compare them. But he had seen the result ofthistimeline. He’d lived in the future. He knew what was the best outcome for his family and his kingdom, and he had no desire to jeopardize that.
“It has to happen, Amber. The king must win. But isn’t the end of the long, bloody war a good thing?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
“You don’t look convinced.”
Amber had long become more than just the girl who saved him from Ghata and made his cock stand to attention by just looking his way. He’d been trying to glimpse deeper inside her soul and her heart, but she had walls built around her heart, higher than the Bozyr Peak. She wrapped her soul in so many layers of self-preservation, the more he peeled them off, the more he found behind them. And…the more he wished to know about the beautiful creature hidden inside.
What exactly made her happy? Why had he not seen her smile for what felt like forever? Why instead of the intoxicating fragrance of arousal when she was near him before, could he only sense the darkness of despair rolling from her now?
“Doesn’t the end of the war excite you?” he asked.
“It’s not my war.” She set the quiver down and reached for her robe.
He took the robe from her and helped her put it on. It shrouded her slender frame, turning her body into a shapeless blob, but it must at least keep her warmer.
“Doesn’t the end of violence and murder need to be celebrated?” he insisted. “Even if those aren’t your people who are being murdered?”
She glared at him.
“I’m not heartless, Elex. I would rejoice at the end of the bloodbath. Only I don’t believe the violence and oppression would stop even after the war has ended. The people…Mypeople will still cower behind the walls of the Sanctuary. They’ll still be persecuted and murdered for being born the way they are. They’ll be burned for the king's entertainment…” Her voice trailed off, and she glanced away, blinking a tear from her eye.
The heavy feeling he’d been carrying inside pressed on his chest even heavier. He knew which side to pick the moment he’d learned the exact year he’d returned to Nerifir. That didn’t mean it didn’t feel like the wrong side to be on.
“It will get better, Amber. In just over a century, King Edkhar will be dead. King Elex will take his place—”
She exhaled a humorless laugh. “A century is longer than a lifetime for someone like me. And how can you be so sure that life is just moving along this one predetermined path, like on a train track, with no turns, detours, or side quests?”