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‘Burn me,’ she said, without hesitation. ‘Burn me and cast my ashes out to sea from the cliffs at Thezmarr.’

The image flashed before Wilder: him, standing alone on the rocky ledges beyond the fortress, the dark dust in his palm all that remained of Thea, catching in the wind, leaving him forever.

Not trusting himself to speak, he nodded, his arm around her tightening as though he alone could keep her in the world.

‘I want you to keep an eye on Wren as well,’ Thea murmured, like she was running through a list in her head. ‘I’m glad she has Anya now, but —’

‘I’ll be there,’ Wilder said.

‘And Cal and Kipp —’

‘Everyone you care for will be supported, Thea,’ he told her gently.

‘And you?’ she asked bluntly. ‘Who will support you? Who will be there through your grief? You have a tendency to shut people out…’

‘Do I?’ he said drily.

She slapped his chest lightly. ‘I’m serious.’

Wilder sighed. ‘What do you want me to say, Thea? I don’t know how to navigate this any more than you do.’

‘I want you to tell me that you won’t close yourself off from those who love you. I want you to talk to people: Malik, Torj, Talemir, Adrienne, Drue… Whoever you need.’

‘I…’

‘Promise me, Wilder.’ Thea’s voice was firm.

He didn’t think he could bear the agony of it. It was worse than any wound he’d suffered in all his years of slaying monsters. But for her? For her he would bleed a thousand times over. For this fraction of a life with her, he’d pay the price of grief – for loving her was a privilege, and that privilege was worth any cost.

‘I promise,’ he said at last, the words hoarse.

Thea pressed a tender kiss to his lips. ‘Thank you.’

He was grateful. It gave him the chance to gather himself, to fight back the tears that burned his eyes as her mouth roved over his. When she broke away with a happy hum, he forced a lightness into his tone. ‘Anything else on your mind?’

‘Only you,’ she told him. ‘What life might be like beyond all this. We could capture my Tverrian stallion, get me some armour to match yours, roam the midrealms together…’

‘No princess life for you, then?’

Thea scoffed. ‘You know I was never a princess.’

Wilder had wondered what the Embervale sisters intended for their fallen kingdom, had wondered if it would change things between him and Thea. But they hadn’t had the chance to talk about it until now, and he still wasn’t sure it was the right time —

‘What about you?’ Thea interrupted his thoughts. ‘What do you want, should the future not be so bleak?’

Wilder hesitated. It had been a long time since anyone had asked him what he wanted, since anyone was willing to hear his needs and his desires, as though he deserved to have them met.

He encircled Thea’s waist with his hands, pulling her on top of him before he spoke the words he hadn’t dared to say aloud yet. ‘I want… a life more than existence, more than survival. To experience the world to its fullest, with you at my side.’

The blanket around her shoulders slipped, revealing her round breasts, and the fate stone that rested between them. Thea rolled her hips, the soft heat of her meeting the granite hardness of him, eliciting another carnal moan from deep inside Wilder.

‘Then we’d best start now,’ she said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

THEA

Their bubble had to burst eventually. As dawn broke outside, they could no longer ignore the noise of the war camp being dismantled. Thea dragged herself from the warmth of the cot and Wilder with a moan. Every muscle in her body ached savagely; the cold made matters even worse. A grunt from Wilder told her he was faring just as poorly.