CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

T HE HEALING POOLS WERE only a short distance from Vellinth. As soon as the suns had begun to set, Riven pulled me from our bed, dressed me in a matching robe, and carried me there. Not a word was shared between us, in part because the Singing Wood was filled with creatures who would come running at any sound, but also because we both knew the talk would turn to the battle to come and neither of us wanted to waste our final night on that.

The cavern glimmered with rivers of gold and turquoise that expanded across the black rock. He set me down on a dry patch of stone and pulled a carved pin from his robe. He twirled his finger through the air and I turned. Riven gathered what was left of my hair and twisted it onto the top of my head with one hand. He pulled the hair pin from his mouth, and I held the twist as he secured my hair. He pressed a kiss to my bare neck and pulled the robe from my shoulders.

Riven’s eyes feasted over my naked body as if he had gone months without it instead of mere minutes. He licked his lips as I dipped my foot into the healing waters, slowly lowering myself until only my collarbone was visible.

My magic hummed underneath my skin—that was the only way to describe it. The pool’s effect was immediate. Even though I should be sleeping, I felt like I could fly for days without stopping.

Riven somersaulted into the deep end of the pool, his splash and my laugh echoing down the cavern as he surfaced. Thick strands clung to Riven’s face, but he didn’t move them. His long lashes clumped together too, the auric light illuminating the gold flecks in his eyes. He just watched as the ribbons of magic swirled around my body, stoking my powers until I vibrated, sending tiny ripples throughout the pool. I tensed. My powers felt like they were going to explode.

Riven reached for a vial at the edge of the pool and dabbed the sweet liquid on my lips. The urge to release my magic faded, but I could still feel the weight of that power stored underneath my skin. Waiting for the release that would come at dawn.

Riven scooped me up and lay me back on the surface of the water so I was floating. He floated beside me, touching cheek to cheek, and looped his smallest finger through mine. Tiny touches, barely any contact at all after what we had just done in our bed, but in that pool, I could feel every part of him. A current ten times stronger than the bond that had once been between us coursed through my body and into Riven’s. I could feel every breath he took, every fear he had as our cheeks brushed together. We had an all-consuming love that I’d only felt once before. That I had believed for so long I would never feel again.

I grabbed Brenna’s diizra that still hung around my neck. No matter what Damien did tomorrow, no matter what or who he took from me, he couldn’t take that truth from me. If I died protecting my people, I would die as someone healing, as someone with the capacity to love even though the fear of losing it chilled me to the bone. I may die wielding a blade, but I wouldn’t die as one. A tear trickled down my cheek and into the water. Riven sensed it through whatever magic connected us and turned to kiss it away.

“We should try to get a few hours’ rest,” he whispered, his lips trailing across my ear. I tilted my head into his touch and nodded. Riven stepped out of the pool first and picked up both our robes in his hand. I hung mine from my shoulders and helped Riven thread his arm through the sleeve. The healed end poked through the wide circle of fabric, and I pressed a quick kiss to the scar.

Riven lifted my arm and kissed my elbow with a boyish grin on his face. I laughed and Riven’s smile widened.

“You’re still the most exquisite creature I’ve ever seen.” My cheeks warmed at his words, and Riven grabbed my wrist and twirled me down the tunnel just as he had in Cereliath. Then we had been two allies barely able to trust each other, but now I would give him everything I held dear without a single doubt.

I twirled back to him, crashing into his chest. Riven caught me with a kiss and hoisted me over his shoulder. I stifled my laughs with my sleeve as Riven carried me through the Singing Wood. The scent of birchwood and dew enveloped me as I let my head rest on Riven’s shoulder.

The person I trusted more than any other.

He laid me on the bed and fetched an amber nightgown from his closet. I lifted my brow. “How many of these did you buy?” Between this house and both our burls in Myrelinth, I seemed to have nightgowns in every color the Elverin could dye.

Riven’s voice was rough and hoarse. “Ten.”

I bit my lip, counting the colors in my head.

“Dozen,” he added.

I chucked a pillow at him. “Why would I ever need so many?”

Riven pulled on a soft pair of sleeping trousers and crawled into bed beside me, his chest still bare. He eyed our ripped tunics covering the entrance of his home. “I have a habit of rendering them useless.” I elbowed him in the side before turning to lay on his chest. His skin was as warm as a hearth on a cool night, safe and welcome.

Riven nipped my ear before curling a loose strand around his finger. “In truth, when Nikolai asked for a color selection, I told him all of them .”

“Why?”

Riven shrugged. “You had worn black for so long. I didn’t know what colors you liked. I didn’t even know if you knew which colors you liked. I wanted you to have the chance to choose.”

My heart exploded in my chest. I had no doubt that Riven cared for me in the big ways, the ways I needed, but the small ones still took me by surprise. He seemed to know how to love me in ways I hadn’t even imagined for myself.

“Green,” I whispered against his chest before tapping his nose.

His jade eyes widened knowing exactly what hue of green I meant. Riven cleared his throat. “You do look fantastic in green.”

I chuckled. Then that patient silence settled between us, almost enough to lure me to sleep. But there was still one thing I needed to do before sunrise. Something I would only trust Riven with.

I sat up and crossed my leg over Riven’s. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” he answered without hesitation. His black mane covered the pillow completely like a bird about to take flight, ready to fly toward whatever task I gave him.

I swallowed and grabbed the small pouch at my chest. “I want you to wear this for me tomorrow,” I said, slipping the gold chain from my neck.

Riven shook his head. “No.” He sat up, kneeling beside me on the bed. “I will not let you go into battle believing you will die. We promised each other.”

I silenced him with a gentle kiss. Tears pricked my eyes as I pulled away, placing the diizra in his hand. “I promised you I will fight with everything I have, and I will .” My voice shook with adamant resolve. “But you and I both saw how Damien reacted in Volcar. If he bests me, he will take great pleasure in destroying this, and I won’t leave that to chance. Brenna died tangled in one of his sick games. Her death will not fall victim to one too.”

I wiped the rivers at my cheeks as Riven sat frozen. I grabbed for both his hands, forgetting one was gone. “Damien targeted us both in Volcar and he will do the same in Koratha. But this time—”

“I will not be on the front lines,” Riven finished for me, his hardness cracking.

I nodded. “Brenna deserves to be free. She deserves to be reconnected with our kin, even if it’s only in death. And right now, you are the better fit to give her that. To protect her and her freedom.”

Riven’s fingers closed around the diizra . “But I didn’t know her. Myrrah, Gerarda—”

“Will be targeted too.” I reached up and cupped Riven’s cheek in my hand. His body shook under my touch as his fears raged inside him. “I can think of no one better to protect the legacy of my first love than the one who loves me now. The one I love. The one I chose .”

Riven’s lip quivered but no words came. My breath hitched thinking he would still say no, but he nodded his head. I sighed in relief and looped the delicate chain through my fingers and over Riven’s head. Brenna’s diizra sat over his heart, the same place that would hold my ashes if Damien got his way. I pushed that thought from my mind and pressed my forehead against Riven’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me back into bed, this time the exhaustion of the choices we had to make pushing us to the brink of sleep. I lay my head on Riven, letting the beat of his heart and rhythm of his breath beckon our dreams toward us.

My hand reached for the pouch on his chest. It was just as warm as it had been laying across my skin. Riven closed his hand over mine and we fell asleep clutching the diizra as we clutched each other, with all our promises between us.