Page 60 of The Heart of Nym (The Twisted Roots Duology #1)

Alight knock on the door drew Nymiria from her thoughts, from the embarrassment she felt in having to watch Aziel run away from her after what they'd done. He'd vanished off the balcony, for godssake—it was humiliating, to say the very least.

Before she could muster a response to the person on the other side of the door, it opened to reveal Trio. He was dressed in far more casual clothing than the times she'd seen him before, his locked hair braided back with one strand hanging over his forehead, a black jewel dangling from the end.

"I've heard you've confined yourself to the room, princess.

" His gentle smile forced a sigh from her chest, allowing her worries to melt away for just one moment.

"Fortunately, for you, I've managed to sneak away from the party with a little something for us to share.

" His hand came out from behind his back to reveal a bottle of blue liquid that Nymiria likened to liquid fire.

Her face scrunched up in disgust. "Don't tell me you don't like absinthe. "

"I don't like absinthe." She chuckled.

Trio merely waved her off, approaching her with his free hand extended in her direction. "Allow me to change your mind. Let's go." He tugged her off of the bed and to her feet, whisking her away in cold shadows before dumping them out onto a secluded hillside where the palace was still in view.

The revelry had ended for the most part.

There were still fires burning in the fields, with solemn music filtering into the air.

People were huddled around the flames, huddled together, and leaning on one another.

She watched from afar, tears threatening to spill until Trio's hand wrapped around hers again and tugged her to the ground.

"Don't look at them if it causes you pain." He sighed. "Here, I worked a little magic with the drink. It should be sweeter now." He passed the bottle to Nymiria, watching her with a smirk as she lifted the bottle to her lips and took an uneasy sip.

While the fire was still there, lingering amongst the sweetness of the drink, it went down much smoother than the last sip of absinthe she'd taken. Nymiria liked the warmth it brought her aching heart and with a sigh, she turned the bottle up to her lips again and took a longer swallow.

Trio let out a boisterous laugh, snatching the bottle out of her hands and narrowing his eyes at her. "Easy, now. It's still just as potent as before. Aziel would murder me if I returned you to him unconscious."

Nymiria frowned at the sound of his name, muttering curses at him under her breath before looking at Trio. "I don't understand him. I don't see why it would matter what I do, but he's so very overprotective and for what? Just so he can string me along on his missions?"

"I'm afraid it is all much more complex than that, princess." Trio huffed, passing her the bottle again. "You mean something to him—to all of us. But, to him, it is something…"

"Deeper?" She snorted. "Of course. I'm quite aware that he wants to fuck me—"

"It's not that, but I can't say much else. As much as I would love to, I have been sworn to secrecy."

How convenient.

The closer she got to getting answers about all of this, something always stopped her.

She had a feeling about why Aziel was going to such lengths to have her here.

She'd felt it the day they passed through the choking vines.

And though she'd tried to deny it, there was no other way to explain what she felt when they parted for her—like they recognized something inside of her.

She was just afraid of what it entailed should she come to terms with what really lurked in the depths of her power.

"I don't understand why he doesn't just come here and escape the hell back in Yaar.

" She grumbled. "His own father wants him dead and it seems as if the only people that truly care for him in that palace are Desi and Oran.

Maybe Philter, a little, but he also tried to kill him once. Why does he stay?"

Trio pursed his lips, eyes trailing off to the horizon. "Why do you think he keeps going back?" He hummed. "My love, Aziel was supposed to be here by now. He was supposed to come to Eadyn two months ago, but he never did.”

"Eadyn? What's that?"

He waved his hand across the line of hills in front of them. "This is Eadyn. They renamed it—the king and his son."

Nymiria looked around at all of the beautiful things that surrounded them.

From the pink blossoming trees to the the shimmering waters that ran through the field.

She couldn’t understand his delay—what would have made someone abandon something so beautiful in exchange for the hell they lived in over the border.

“What changed his mind?” She asked.

Trio stared at her for a moment, watching as she wove her fingers through the dark green grass. “You did.” He said.

“Me?” Her head snapped back in his direction, brows drawn together. She could’ve laughed. She could’ve cried. She could’ve done a lot of things. Instead, she just shook her head and looked away. “There is nothing significant enough about me to make anyone want to stay there.”

Trio only hummed beside her. “Desiree would disagree. Aziel would, too.” He laughed, but Nymiria couldn’t find it in her to join in.

She’d been too blinded by her own self-pity to realize that there was still someone who cared.

Someone who cared enough to stay in Yaar, put themselves at risk of Dorid’s torment…

and they did it for her. She owed Desiree one hell of an apology and probably a thousand dragon berry tarts.

She also owed it to her to not be so damned selfish.

And Aziel…

Well, she wasn’t quite sure what she owed him.

“Can you tell me a secret about him? Something that no one knows.”

“Who?”

Nymiria shot him a bland look, rolling her eyes. “Aziel. Tell me something about him that would shock me. Something he likes or does. If he sleeps with a stuffy or a special blanket—something along those lines.”

“Oh,” Trio drawled. He reclined onto the grassy knoll, eyes solely focused on the stars. “You’re really trying to get me killed.”

“I won’t tell him that you told me.”

He let out a sigh, glancing at her once before peering up at the stars again. Nymiria took the bottle of absinthe away from him, figuring that she could just get this one bit of information out of him and then deny him of drinking more. She turned it up to her lips, taking one small sip.

“Alright.” He grumbled. “A secret for a secret, then. You’ll have to tell me something, too.”

She nodded. “I agree to those terms.”

Trio pushed himself up onto his elbows. “He’s never kissed anyone.” He said.

She frowned. “That’s a lie. You can’t lie.”

“I’m not lying.” He exclaimed, holding his hands up in defense. “He has slept with many women, but never once kissed them. Any of them.”

“He kissed me.” She shot back.

Trio blinked his eyes at her a few times, as if the words she’d spoken were entirely unbelievable. At the perplexed expression he wore, it felt like her stomach had twisted into the largest knot in the world.

“When?” Trio demanded—eager.

She hissed. “I’m not telling you.”

“That can be your secret—you can tell me when he kissed you,” he cocked his head to the side. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t believe you.”

Nymiria scoffed and rolled her eyes. The gall of this man. “Which time do you want to know about?”

Trio looked as if she’d just stabbed someone, his mouth hanging open and eyes narrowed. “Which time?!”

He didn’t believe her. Or he was just really good at seeming shocked and was just doing all of this to know all of her best-kept secrets. It didn’t matter, she was going to tell him anyway.

Gods only knew that she’d been dying to tell someone.

“The first time he kissed me was at the inn we destroyed. The second occurrence was today. Just upstairs." Trio was beaming like she’d just presented him with a chest full of gold. And by that look alone, she believed that she’d just made a hilarious mistake at entrusting him with that information. “He’s truly never kissed anyone?”

“Listen,” he sighed. “We are speaking of a man who doesn’t even like dispelling a pat on the shoulder most days. Touching people bothers him.”

That night at the inn would have been his first kiss.

Remembering the skill of his tongue and the precision of his lips, Nymiria started to feel lightheaded.

She was his first kiss. And while, yes, he’d slept with women before and sex was far more intimate of an act than kissing, knowing that she was his first made her feel both relieved and guilty.

Guilty because it wasn’t romantic in any way whatsoever and relieved because…

He never hesitated. There was a specific confidence in each stroke of his tongue, in every mesh of their lips. Like every single kiss he’d placed upon her skin had been saved specifically for her. A brand of its own kind.

“You are a horrible gossip.” She grumbled, inwardly praying that Trio had not taken notice of the redness in her cheeks.

Thankfully, he was only eyeing the bottle of absinthe she was still clutching to her chest. “It’s not gossiping if it’s true.

” He shrugged. “If I’m telling the truth, it is merely making others aware.

There’s a difference.” He paused, gesturing for her to hand over the bottle.

She looked down at it again before handing it to him, rolling her eyes when his mouth spread into a wide grin.

“Aziel made me look up the definitions.”

Of course he had.