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He huffed a humorless laugh. “No, although I have some of my most valuable volumes at my cave.”

“Your cave,” she repeated.

“In the Nightmist Mountains.”

She could do nothing. Nothing but stand there and stare at him because she was completely dumbfounded and confused and what in the actual fuck was he talking about? Razik was staring past her, out into the desert, and when she couldn’t take it anymore, she said, “Is there something special about this…cave?”

“I keep treasure there.”

She clicked her tongue, instantly annoyed. “You do not.”

He brought his gaze to hers, titling his head up to see her better. “I do.”

She sent him a frank look. “What sort of treasure?”

He shrugged. “Various things.” His eyes dropped to her sword. “If I had won that, it would be there.”

She looked down at the spirit sword. She’d won it in a race through a hedge maze, beating Razik by mere seconds. Looking back at him, her eyes narrowed. “I suppose now you are going to try to convince me you let me win.”

He gave a scoff of his own. “Eliza, I would never let you win anything. Remember when I spit fire farther than you?”

“How could I forget? You constantly remind me,” she sneered.

“Exactly. I would have reminded you every fucking day if I had won that sword. Come to think of it, no. I wouldn’t keep that sword in my cave. I would have it sheathed down my back at all times to rub it in your face. I would give that sword its own seat at the dinner table directly across from you so you would have to stare at it while eating.”

A bark of laughter escaped her. She took a step towards him before she realized what she was doing and stilled once more. He had gone back to staring off into the night. She flexed her fingers around the sword hilt. He had to be lying.

“Do you really have a cave in the mountains?” she blurted.

His lips twitched again. Godsdamnit. How did he always know how to pull her into these stupid conversations?

“I do,” he answered. “I usually sleep there.”

“In a cave,” she said dubiously. “You have rooms at the estate and the castle, and you expect me to believe you sleep in a cave?”

He nodded. “I fly at night, after Cethin and I are done with whatever has required our attention that day. I usually end up there and just sleep there rather than fly back. I rarely stay at the estate or castle.”

“You could simply Travel back,” she pointed out.

“If I wanted to.”

“Youprefera cave?”

“It’s a very nice cave,” he answered without a hint of mirth.

Another laugh bubbled up. “I am sure it is if it’s full of treasure.”

“It’s a dragon thing,” he replied with another shrug.

She studied him, looking for any sign that he was jesting, but there was nothing. She honestly couldn’t tell if he was lying or not at this point.

A few minutes later, she was still standing there when he met her gaze. He tipped his head to the spot beside him. “Come,mai dragocen. Tell me where you learnedserena sabre.”

And damn it all to hell, she did. The sand was warm beneath her feet, heated by her fire, as she made her way to him. He reached up, gently taking the sword from her hand and setting it aside. She lowered down, wrapping her arms around her knees, and tried to dig her toes into the hard sand.

She was so sick of the sand. Beaches. Deserts. It was all the same. She wanted to go home to the mountains. Aimonway wasn’t so bad in that regard, she supposed. It was nestled right at the base of the Nightmist Mountains. The next best thing to Solembra in a way. Sand had never bothered her before. She was just…homesick. Sorin had given her a home when she’d had nothing. She missed her own space where she could simply be.

You will stay with him in Avonleya when this is all over?