Page 133 of Last of Her Name

He raises a brow. “And?”

“And … I was thinking about your plan to become desert smugglers.”

“You know I’d make an excellent smuggler.”

“It’s true. We could smuggle all sorts of things. Treasure, food …”

“What do you say we ask the crew?”

He laughs and puts an arm around me, pulling me close.

Behind us, Riyan is talking with Damai and his other sisters, here from Diamin as part of their father’s entourage. His father won’t speak to him, but that didn’t stop his sisters from mobbing him and Natalya the minute they landed. They’ve hardly been apart since. Their chatter seems to fill the whole of the Rezidencia, and though Riyan seems a little dizzied from their noisy attention, he looks happy. I glance at him, our eyes connecting for a moment, and he gives me a little nod.

Nearby, on a bench beneath an Emeraultine willow, Mara and Natalya are whispering and laughing. Those two have become inseparable in the past few weeks. I guess between Mara’s betrayal and Natalya’s time under Volkov’s power, they’ve found something to bond over, and I’m starting to think it’s even more than that. As angry as I was at Mara, somehow none of that seems to matter anymore. She tried to apologize once, about a month ago, but the rest of us wouldn’t hear it.

“I think we’re all ready to get away for a while,” says Pol. “And as nice as a life of crime sounds, I’d settle for a few nights on the dunes with my favorite princess.”

“Ah!” I wave my spoon at him. “Not a princess anymore.”

He cocks his head. “If you’re not a princess, then that must mean I’m free from my vows.”

“Oh.” I set down my spoon and fold my arms on the counter, looking at him seriously. “Does this mean you’re leaving me, Appollo Androsthenes?”

“It means …” He leans toward me, until his lips are an inch from mine. “I’m asking if I might have the honor, Stacia Androva, of whisking you off on a romantic voyage to Rubyat.”

His lips are cold from the ice, but they warm quickly against mine. He tastes of strawberry and Amethynian wine. I slide forward on my seat so I can lock my hands behind his neck, and his fingers dig into my waist.

When we pull apart, we’re both blushing, sensing more than a few eyes on us.

“For a kiss like that,” I whisper, “I’d follow you over the edge of the universe.”