Page 27

CHAPTER 27

When Elva resurfaced, Fyn was lowering himself in the other end of the pool, his skin already flushed pink as he adjusted to the warm temperature.

‘What is this place?’

‘It’s one of the Arden Mountain hot springs,’ he said.

‘One of? You mean there are more places like this?’

He nodded, hissing as he sank further into the water.

Elva looked at him, unable to formulate what she wanted to say.

‘Why are you staring at me like that?’

‘You mean to tell me there are multiple hot springs? And not one person has thought to mention this?’

He huffed and sank all the way into the pool.

If she’d known the hot springs were this glorious she would have set the pace at a gallop.

She lifted her hand to dribble water down the back of her neck.

Gods it felt good.

While the two ends of the pool were connected, the narrowest portion of it was curved, which meant they were sitting almost parallel to each other, overlooking the river.

The curve was small enough that if they reached their hands out they might be able to touch.

Why was she thinking about touching Fyn?

She shook her head and sank a little lower into the water.

Myrra would love it here, she thought.

As would Remi.

And Neve.

She loosened a breath and tried to push those thoughts away, her emotions out of whack from the adrenalin of the day.

She turned to Fyn.

‘Thank you for thinking of this. Even without nearly dying of hypothermia, these pools are amazing.’

Despite his sweat-slicked hair and a layer of grime coating his face, he was striking.

She nearly missed his next words; she was enjoying looking at his jawline so much.

‘I’m sure Avi would have shown you,’ he said, words soft in the breeze.

She frowned, the mention of Avi like a splash of cold water.

She turned back to face the river, not sure what she should say.

She wondered if Avi was okay.

She hadn’t even said goodbye to him when they left this morning, which felt like a lifetime ago.

Avi was her guard, and her friend.

But trying to explain how gentle and tentative their friendship was might ruin it.

She closed her eyes and allowed the heat of the springs to chase away the last corners of cold, her body heavy as her mind slowly pieced itself back together.

‘I’m sorry, that sounded.

.

.

’ Fyn sighed, running his hands through his hair, the slick strands framing his scalp as he smoothed it down.

‘Sounded what?’ she asked.

He dropped his hand back to the pool.

‘Sounded petty. I didn’t mean to insinuate that you and he.

.

.

I know you swim together.

And when Lonn said you’d shared a tent last night.

.

.

I just.

.

.

I don’t know what I’m trying to say,’ he said, letting out the last of his breath in a sigh.

‘We’re not fucking, if that’s what you’re asking.

’ She turned her face to the sky and closed her eyes, the warmth of the water was like a hug and she nestled into its soft embrace.

‘Vettonians do things differently, but I wouldn’t be that brash.

With that said, you’ve made it very clear you don’t want anything from me, not romance or friendship,’ she said, shrugging.

There was no malice in her words, and she hoped he understood.

‘I left everything behind, Fyn. You didn’t seriously expect me to just sit in my room and do nothing, did you?

’

‘No, I don’t know – shit, I’m sorry,’ he said.

Silence rose between them, but it was less strained than before.

She moved her head to rest it on the rim of the rockpool, gazing at the sky.

Soft puffs of cloud floated high above, and she relaxed even further into the heat of the water.

‘Truth or lie?’ Fyn’s voice broke her reflection, and she grinned at the memory of the game.

‘Truth.’

‘You’re not what I expected.

’

She smiled, turning her head to look at him.

‘You’re not what I expected, either.

’

He met her gaze and laughed, humour and something she couldn’t place sparking in his eyes.

‘For different reasons, I think,’ he said, and it was Elva who chuckled at that.

‘Clearly.’

Their laughter faded into the melody of the bush, and she took a breath, then let it go in one long whoosh.

‘What made you agree to it?’ She knew Clochain’s official reasons for accepting the arranged marriage: trade routes, import taxes and an end to the border wars, but she’d never thought to ask about his personal reasons.

He tipped his head back and rested it on the ledge of the pool, mirroring her.

‘I didn’t have a choice,’ he said at last.

‘My father made it very clear this wasn’t up for negotiation, and I should resign myself to the fate that Caius and the Seacht put before me.

Why did you agree to it?

’

‘Vettona can’t afford to be fighting a war that’s killing us by the thousands when new life isn’t taking.

’

‘And?’

Elva looked at Fyn, surprised he could tell there was more.

She wasn’t sure if she could trust him, if this was part of her story she wanted to offer yet.

She hadn’t even spoken about it with her sister or Remi, although from their furtive glances in the months since Neve’s death, she’d assumed they knew at least part of what kept her up at night.

Birds chirped in the trees around them, and the rush of the river was a blanket of noise against the chatter in her own mind.

She was about to make a flippant excuse when the tug pulled.

Faint, in comparison to the tug that bound them in the fire last night, but present nonetheless.

It washed through her, chasing away her doubts, and before she could second guess the feeling, she began speaking.

‘You know the warrior I lost in the massacre last year? She was my best friend. We grew up together; closer than most warriors because of our age and our talent. I pitched myself against her – to be better, to do better. Neve was like a sister to me.’ Elva trained her gaze on the river, unwilling to see the judgement in Fyn’s eyes.

‘And she died in the Anfa massacre because I made a bad call. When the treaty became a viable option, coming here was... a convenient way to not be reminded of that decision every day.’

It took her several moments before her heartbeat calmed and she could muster the courage to look at Fyn.

She was expecting disdain, but when their eyes met there was a softness.

He smiled gently, the corner of his mouth crinkling with an understanding she hadn’t expected.

He sank lower in the water, turning his head away from her to look out over the river.

‘About a year ago Lonn and I were bringing my mother here, to Mount Ard, so she could visit the site of the danann’s fall.

We were ambushed by a murmur of sylphs.

I was halfway to the Ending when Lonn came crashing in and threw me into the river.

I was barely conscious but I watched the sylphs start to drain him, and then they turned on my mother.

I didn’t know what to do.

I was helpless watching them, but she said something to the sylphs I couldn’t hear and then a minute later I.

.

.

exploded.

I don’t know how else to describe it.

The Ever you sense in me?

It wasn’t there before that day.

But in the waters I just.

.

.

let myself fall into it.

I don’t remember what happened after that.

I blacked out, woke up with the medics days later, Lonn beside me.

My mother said it had been her Ever, and a week later Advisor Gudren beheaded her in a private execution for the Seacht.

’ He laughed, a hollow sound which held no humour.

‘That’s how my Ever manifested.

’

He turned his head and Elva met his gaze.

There wasn’t anything either of them could say to take the pain away.

‘Is that why you’ve been distant?

To try and keep this hidden?

’

He nodded.

‘Yeah. I’ve been trying to research Ever and how it manifests, but the Seacht destroyed most books during the Great War.

’

‘Does your father know it was you?’ she asked quietly.

He shook his head, wet hair sticking to the side of his face where beads of perspiration slid in glistening tracks.

‘No. My mother was convincing to the point that I genuinely don’t know whether she was Ever Blessed or just covering for me.

’ He let out a long sigh.

‘I know she wasn’t happy; she was always travelling here to pray.

I think she was searching for something, but I don’t know if she ever found it.

I think she would have left my father, in time.

I’d like to think I would have tried to help her.

’ He smiled sadly, and Elva couldn’t help but feel a spike of anger on his behalf.

‘Your father’s a real asshole, isn’t he?

’ As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew she shouldn’t have said them.

She turned to him, eyes wide.

‘I’m so sorry, that’s technically treason and I didn’t mean – shit, I—’ she said, tripping over herself.

Fyn’s face was impassive, and she expected him to surge to his feet and leave, just like every other time they argued, only – he snorted.

His chuckle grew, and his chest rose and fell with each breath, making the water lap against his skin.

Elva let out a sigh of relief, and before she knew it she was laughing with him, her faux pas washed away in the sweet relief of their amusement.

A ripple pulsed through her body, and the tug yanked again.

Her laughter faded, and he met her gaze with a sly grin.

Her core tightened, body going loose and taut in all the right places.

His lips parted, and a small bead of sweat dripped down his brow.

The desire to lick it off him surged through her, and the corner of his lips curled.

Every single responsible thought she’d ever had fell away.

The urge to ride him, make the waves of the hot spring wash over them until oblivion took her, was all-consuming His eyes drifted down her neck to her chest, where her peaked nipples flashed beneath the waves of the water.

‘What is that?’ His voice pulled her from her fantasy.

Was he talking about her tits?

‘The tug. Do you know what it is?’

‘Oh.’ She cleared her throat.

‘I have no idea. It feels like something in me needs to break when it pulls.’

Fyn’s eyebrows creased in thought.

‘It’s the opposite for me.

.

.

as if something painful needs to escape.

’

She knew what he was saying was important, but she couldn’t help her gaze drifting south.

Drops of water clung to his chest hair, glinting in the sunlight.

This was a wholly new side of him.

A different man to the apathetic prince or the rigid captain.

The man before her was confident and relaxed, and she didn’t know how to make sense of it.

When he met her eyes again, a small smile danced on the corner of his mouth.

‘Just so you know, this is new for me.’ His voice was low as he gestured between them.

‘I’m not used to honesty.

And I didn’t expect to ever be honest with you.

’

She tore her gaze from his lips, so full she wanted to bite into them like a peach, and fought to consider his words.

‘I didn’t either, but I meant what I said on the ship.

This can be whatever we want it to be.

’

‘What do you want it to be?’

She swallowed, unable to think of anything remotely appropriate to say.

The warmth of the water had started making her sweat, and she could feel perspiration building on her face.

She forced her gaze from him and looked out over the river, thinking.

‘I would like to trust you.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Why don’t you tell me?

’

His eyes turned fiery, as if welcoming the challenge she presented, and he sat a little straighter, the ripples from his movement making the water brush up against her body like phantom hands.

‘I don’t know what I want us to be,’ he said slowly.

‘But I would like for there to be an us.’

She was acutely aware of every drop of water that ran down her body, of every drop of water that ran down his.

The bend in the pool was narrow enough a human could walk through sideways, and she was seriously contemplating moving towards him when a crashing noise came through the bush behind them.

She spun, cursing herself for leaving her clothing so far away, cursing again when she realised she’d left her axe back at the priests’ camp.