Page 149

Her voice grew hoarse, but she continued to silently wail, doubled over and clutching her sides as her tears soaked the ground. All this time, he had been the thing pulling her forward. The chance to see him smile, to hear his laugh, to tell him things it had taken her far too long to understand—that’s what had kept her from crumbling. That’s what had kept her going day after day, and without him… without him, she was—

Something tugged at her braid, but she waved it away, too lost to care. Because how was she supposed to go on? How was she supposed to live in a world that didn’t have him in it? She didn’t like that world. She didn’t want it.

That thing nipped at her ear, and she lashed out, snarling as she—

Stopped. Frozen as surely as if she’d been caught in one of her own snares.

A tiny red rabbit with violet jewel-like eyes blinked up at her.

She blinked back.

As if in answer, the rabbit gave a tiny squeal of joy, then a hop, before evaporating in a cloud of mist.

“Taly?”

Taly’s breath left her in a whoosh, and the pain and anguish dissolved, replaced by something more tenuous. A fragile, sparkling ember of hope.

She turned, slowly, as though in a daze.

And then somehow, she managed to stagger to her feet, staring with wide eyes at the figure that emerged from a break in the hedges.

Dark hair, green eyes, lean but powerfully built. The crest for House Ghislain stamped into his armor was speckled with blood.

“Skye?” She had to mouth the word, unable to find her voice.

His eyes found hers, and that smile, small and disbelieving at first but quickly widening, had her racing forward, running as fast as he was running to meet her. They collided somewhere in the middle, and he lifted her up, wrapping his arms so tightly around her she could barely breathe.

But she didn’t care. Because she was holding onto him just as tightly, relishing the feel of his racing heart pressed against hers. He was here. He was alive. And she wasn’t sure if she was laughing or crying as the full weight of those long months apart, all that time spent missing him and worrying about him and watching him die in a countless number of ways, finally crashed into her.

They were both shaking when her feet finally touched the ground, and it was an effort not to pull him back to her when he leaned away slightly. Some of the blood on her hands had rubbed off on him, staining his cheeks and mixing with the blood that had already soaked through the leather of his armor.

Leaving one arm banded around her waist, he brought a hand up and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. There was a faint look of wonderment shining in those impossibly green eyes, and Taly held her breath as he traced the arch of her ear, then her cheek, noting each change. He even touched the tip of her nose, and she couldn’t help but snort. There was nothing different about her nose. It still had that damned bump right in the middle of the bridge from when he had tripped and sent them both tumbling down the stairs as children.

“Don’t tell me,” Skye said at last, and Shards that voice. Oh, how she had missed that voice. “You changed your hair.”

At that, she was crying again, and he pulled her to him, letting her bury her face in the crook of his neck as he held her.

“I wouldn’t get too sentimental,” he said, pressing his nose to her hair and breathing her in. She felt his whole body relax, as if he’d just been relieved of some great weight. “After all, you still have to explain this mess to me, and I plan to be quite furious.”

Taly cried harder, and Skye had to pry her away far enough so that he could look her over. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

She shook her head, saying tearfully, “No.”

“Are you sure? I heard screaming and—”

“Believe me, my dear,” a new voice drawled, “she’s perfectly fine.”

Skye’s reaction was immediate. In a blur of motion, he twisted his body, shoving Taly behind him and reaching to draw his sword in a single, fluid movement.

Taly grabbed his wrist, staying his hand. “Don’t worry about her,” she said, looking up at the woman that sat on top of one of the hedges, merrily dangling her feet. “That’s just the Queen.”

“What?” Skye glanced at her over his shoulder.

“It’s a long story,” Taly muttered.

Azura grinned and hopped off the hedge, a wisp of aether curling around her body as she gently floated to the ground. Her skirts puffed around her like a cloud. “Now, my dear, what sort of introduction is that?”

“Fine,” Taly snapped. “Skye, this is the woman that’s been holding me captive for the past year.”