Page 107 of Reign of Stars and Fire

“We have eternity to use that tongue of yours.” I pressed a kiss over her breastbone. “You ought to know, I realized I’m violently in love with you.”

“You’ve only just realized this?”

I grinned. “As in, I think I will cause a great deal of violence in your name and there would not be a drop of guilt.” I hesitated. “I told you once you thawed me, too, and you have. I have never, nor will I ever, feel this way about anyone. Whatever happens, know that.”

Saga pulled me over her and kissed me.

Davorin wanted to take this from me, from us. He could try.

He would lose.

* * *

“What thoughts are spinningin your head?” Saga traced her fingertip down the bridge of my nose.

Dawn was not far off. I’d made good on my silent vow to keep our bodies entwined until we were forced to leave.

I would not be able to move by nightfall, but it was worth it all.

I rolled onto one shoulder and held her gaze. “I must tell you some things I saw while I slept.”

Saga’s smile faded. She propped onto one shoulder and nodded. “Tell me.”

Where to even begin. How did you tell your wife the time spent apart was spent in the shadow of her dead brother? How did I speak of memories where I witnessed her pain and torture, where I learned the truth of my origin?

How did I tell her there was an heir to her brother’s throne she’d long forgotten? One Wraith said had been wiped from existence. Not only would she mourn her brother and his wife, she’d mourn the loss of a child she couldn’t remember.

“Ari.” Saga smiled softly. “We’ve told each other many hard things before. Tell me.”

How did I do it? In practically one breath.

From start to finish I blurted out the words exchanged with Wraith. How I was brought into the court of House Ode. The times I was a spectator to Davorin’s rise and fall. I explained how fate magic abounded in her brother’s court, and how the actions of her old consort broke a kingdom apart in deeper ways than we knew.

When I told her of the role of my parents, Saga sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. “You saw them? With my brother?”

“They sawyou,” I said. “Do you remember?”

Part of me almost believed it might’ve been one long dream. A myth my mind conjured up to explain what had happened here.

Until Saga sucked in a sharp breath. “After I was found, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ari.” Saga’s eyes widened. “I . . . Idohave the vaguest memory of interrupting Riot and a meet with our smith. Gods, he was yourgrandfather? The boy you mentioned. . . I can’t see him in my mind, but when you speak of a ward, a pupil of Riot, it . . . doesn’t feel wrong. Why can’t I remember him?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. He was the guide in my head. A ghost, a spectral of the Otherworld perhaps? I’m not sure, but he revealed to me how my blood and destiny always resided here. With you.”

Saga blinked in astonishment. “Your folk . . . your mother and father were here. Your father—” She whipped around, facing me straight on. “He was no mere cartographer. He shaped our whole world. They truly never knew?”

“Never was it mentioned our blood hailed from anywhere but Etta.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “They wouldn’t remember. The curse, it divided us all. Gave us new histories. It erased lives according to Wraith. Which leads me to the part I’ve dreaded telling you.”

I chose my words carefully. Saga loved fiercely, and I had no doubt she’d once loved her brother’s child.

By the time I finished, she shook her head, paler than before. “No. No, I would . . . Ari, I would remember if Riot and Anneli had an heir. The bloodline stopped with us, with me. Even on Gorm’s house chart, there was no heir.”

I sat up, leaning against the headboard, and took her hand. “What I saw, Riot’s curse was meant to protect you from Davorin, but I think it also was meant to protect his bloodline.”

Saga’s head fell onto my shoulder. “You think . . . his heir is alive?”