His praise, so heartfelt and true, sends a rush of gratitude crashing through my veins. Before I can think, my arms are up, pulling him into a hug. “And no black spots, Ian. Did you ever think we’d come to this point? That there would be a day when the strength of my magic wouldn’t take the strength out of me?”
He laughs against my hair, sliding back to take my hands. “We’ve always known you were special. The power of your magic today only proves it.” Standing to his feet, he gives my fingers one last squeeze, nodding across the camp toward Reeve and his men. “It looks as though all is set with your cousin. After Knox and his men pass through, Reeve and The Lost will intercept the army.”
“Intercept?” I ask, knowing there’s a variety of ways that plan could go.
“Without force, so no one gets hurt. I believe Reeve mentioned something about darts. Apparently, he got the idea from our lovely acquaintance Lo.”
Lo. The thought of my wild friend brings a rolling chuckle to my throat, knowing she’d be proud that her mayhem now sports its own legacy.
“I had a feeling you’d understand,” he says, casting another look toward Aras’ sleeping figure. “Now, I better go before he wakes up. Something tells me he might be furious, and I think you’re the only one who will be able to handle that.”
My gaze finds Aras, all endearing snores and smooth olive cheeks. A sly fox in a handsome boy’s clothing.
“Yes, I think I might.”
ↄ
“Hello, Princess.”
I wake with a start, the edges of sleep leaving my vision blurry and my head confused. I jerk up from my pallet, wincing as my forehead bangs against another.
“Skies above, Bravest. Remind me to never wake you again.”
The hazy shape of Aras comes into view, dark against the fire still burning strong in the middle of camp. He holds a hand to his brow, face pinched as if I’ve knocked more than the smarts out of him.
Good thing he has my sympathy to cushion the blow.
“Oh, thank Ashen! You’re awake.” My arms fly around his shoulders and I pull him to my chest, crushing the hurt the best way I know how. “Took you long enough. How do you feel?”
Aras laughs, his warm breath teasing the rumpled braid at my neck. His thumb slides across my jaw, instantly crushing any remaining resolve I have to hassle him further. “I’ve been up for a while, Princess. Long enough to come to near blows with Reeve. Thankfully, Ian explained their plans for Knox’s army. After that, I decided he might be of some use after all. Besides, what would your family think if your future suitor tried to pummel your demonic cousin? When chasing after royalty, one must play his cards right.”
I sit up straight, schooling my features to a perfect calm, while an electrifying storm brews underneath. The kind that speaks of a new destiny. A new happiness. A new love. “My future suitor? Is that what you’re calling yourself now? And here I thought you were some lowly guard from Orien, intent on marrying me off to the wealthiest prince.”
A wide smirk settles on his face, making me thankful I’m sitting on the ground or else I’d be tripping over my feet like a fool. “Nope.”
“Nope?”
“Nope.”
My nose wrinkles, and the blasted smirk grows. “Tell me, then, what’s brought about this wondrous change? Was that arrow laced with a little more than a sleeping tonic? If so, my dear cousin may be my new best friend.”
In answer, he holds out his hands, tilting his head as if I’d ever refuse. “Ian and I may have talked… about other things while you were snoring away like a piglet.”
I latch onto his hands, probably squeezing tighter than I should. “Is that true? And what exactly did this conversation entail?”
“A variety of things,” he says, pulling me to my feet. Around us, the camp lounges in silence. The only sound is our fevered whispers and pounding hearts. “But there’s really only one answer I need to know.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“Do you fancy a climb, Bravest Penelope?”
A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth, and I fight the urge as hard as I’ve ever battled anything in my life. In the end, it wins.
“It seems you’re in luck, Aras Renn, because I do believe I’d fancy anything as long as it was with you.”
He leans down, pressing a light kiss to my hand. I swear if my boots weren’t firmly planted on the ground, I’d flutter up into the sky. “Dangerous words, Bravest. I hope you don’t mind if I hold you to them.”
“I’d be delighted if you did.”
His eyes flash, and a new kind of warmth floods my veins. “Then let’s see if we can reach the stars.”
So we do.
Fifteen
True to his word, Aras’ climb is a real one, complete with a massive tree and solid branches to match. Even though he knows better, he’s careful with my ascent, marking each foothold and pausing to make sure I follow his lead. I toy with the idea of passing him, catching him off guard as we swing like animals in the wild. I’ve been scaling trees my whole life, so this climb is nothing.
Only now I’m following him to what feels like a new beginning.
“Almost there.” Aras looks down, the childlike excitement in his voice igniting my nerves. I pick up the pace.
Below us, several trees away, our camp rests, the low light of the stars scarcely breaking through the thick leaves and limbs. But the higher we climb, the brighter our world gets, until it’s just a boy and a girl and a view so vast and full of potential it could hurt their eyes.
Aras stops at a wide fork, settling on a sturdy branch that juts out to the right, its ends reaching out like gnarled fingers to the sky. His legs swing back and forth in the open space, while he leans back on his arms, fingers clenched tightly to the bark. He turns his cheek, watching as I straddle the branch, shimmying my way to his side.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” He leans forward, wrapping his arms around my waist and tugging me to his chest. I rest my head on his shoulder while we gaze out into the star-dipped sky.
“I’ve come to find that any sky is beautiful when I’m sharing it with you,” I say, testing the waters with this new me. The girl who bares her soul to the one boy she’s always wanted to take it.
Aras grunts in response, the noise so strained that I look up, desperate to catch a hint of his thoughts as they shift across his face. But what I find is the opposite of hurt—it’s want. The very same want I feel with every touch. Every glance. Every thought.
And it’s dangerous, given we are thirty feet above the ground.
His palm cups my cheek, fingers teasing the nape of my neck, and for one blissful moment, I couldn’t care less about this tree and every barrier in it. Because I need Aras, and if the look in his eyes is any indication, he needs me, too.
He watches as a slow blush rises up my neck, taking root and bursting into bloom upon my cheeks. A heavy sigh leaves his lips, lashes fluttering as he leans forward, resting his forehead against my own. “I think I should tell you a story before you make me lose my mind.”
“But haven’t I already made you lose your mind?” I grin at the question, knowing full well what he means. That we’re finally here. Together. Alone in a tree. And Ashen knows we’ve got more than talking to make up for.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t rise to the bait. Instead, he pulls back, ever slightly, allowing the cool air to whoosh back between us again, taming the sparks before they can ignite. Looking up, he calls my attention to the sky, the sweetest of stories brimming in his heart. “Once upon a time, there was a boy who was taught to live and breathe by the hope and power of the stars. Every night, he’d go out into the dark and gaze into the sky, praying he’d find his path, lit up like a trail of fire for all the world to see. For years, the boy went, and for years, he saw nothing. With every passing night, disappointment tried to weave its way into his mind, but he always held firm, determined to give the stars their chance.
“Then, one day, the sky changed.
No longer was there a random blanket of lights, twinkling their secrets to everyone but him. Now there was a solitary star, lit so brightly it overpowered every light in the universe. And every night, the boy looked to that star, memorizing its shape and yearning from afar. For he knew what it was and what it would come to be. The brightest light guiding him through his darkest nights.”
He lifts my hand, stretching my arm out into the air. Movements slow and measured against our racing pulse. His fingers, so full of purpose and care, run a soft, agonizing path down my skin and back, rising to my wrist until they entwine with my hands. Together, we make an arrow, pointing to the brightest star that shines in the sky.
“Do you see that?”
I nod, our tangled dark hair meshing into one blissful nest. I’m too afraid to speak a word and ruin this moment forever.
“It’s mine, and it has been since as long as I can remember. You’re my reigning star, Bravest. That’s you, right there, guiding my every step even when I threaten to fall.”
Careful not to break the spell, he lowers my hand, fingers trailing back up my arm until they reach my face. His free hand reaches around me, gentle fingers tugging to unravel my braid. His thumb swipes at my cheek, drying the quiet tears I didn’t know had fallen. We stay like that, wrapped in each other’s gazes not mere breaths apart, until the last of my hair tugs free. Running his fingers through the unholy curls, he smiles, a grin so bright I think he’s fallen from the sky and landed in my lap.
“There she is, my reigning star.”
My hands reach up, their touch feather light, a tremble against his skin. With a mind of their own, my fingers find their way into his hair, each strand a soothing comfort to my skin. I’ll never get enough, I realize. I’ll never get enough, and I’ve never been more content.
Aras reads my silence as if it were his own, breathing it in and holding it tight. He takes my hands, a bout of apprehension sizzling in his tone. “To the ends of the earth, to last moments of my life, you’re all I’ll ever see.” He pulls my fingers to his lips, cradling them between us as he kisses each one. By the time he finishes, I’m all but a puddle of mush, waiting to be pulled back up into the stars. Except I can’t leave him. Not now. Not ever.
“Marry me, Bravest Penelope. Make my story complete.”
I answer when our lips meet. A thousand yeses without a single word.
Together, we push and pull and mold into one. The heat that is all our own burning between us and feeding our flame. We burn, and we burn, and we burn, until finally, we melt. Slow and steady, like the building of our friendship. Our love.
Careful not to lose our balance, Aras slides me back against the trunk, the force of his kiss finding me more now than it ever has before. Breathless, I pull back, teasing him with light kisses across his nose. His eyes. His ear.
“Your reigning star, huh?” I say, turning my attention to his jaw.
He groans in response, and I know I’ve done something right. “Always. Although, I have to say I’m a little upset.” His kisses mimic my own, dangerous in their search for my heart. “You kissed me first. I was planning on making the move this time. You didn’t give me the chance.”
I laugh into his neck, relishing the feel of his smile against my cheek. “With a speech like that, you didn’t give me much choice.”
“You’re right. Perhaps this one time, I can forgive you, so long as this rude behavior of yours only sticks to kissing and kissing alone.”
“Oh, I see. You really do like it when I kiss you first.”
His lips land high on my cheek, my eyes closing in tune with his sweet caress. “Bravest, you can kiss me anytime you want. But preferably often, and with as much gusto as I’m experiencing right now.”
“That’s not too much to ask,” I whisper, showing him just how much gusto I’ve got.
“Not at all,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Hello, lovebirds!”
Aras lurches free from my hold, almost knocking us from our precarious spot along the branch, eyes wide and breaths heavy. Together, we turn, awestruck by the little guest sprawled out below us on another branch.
“Vivi!” Aras scolds. “You could have made us fall.”
My sister, true to her nature, tosses a defiant shrug. “From the looks of it, there were a variety of things going on up there that could have made you fall. The way I see it, you’re lucky I came along before it was too late.”
This time, Aras’ groan has nothing to do with my kisses. “All right, let’s go. Everybody down.”
“You’re no fun,” Vivi fusses, rising from her perch and starting the careful descent.
“And you’re a little creeper, so I guess we’re even.”
Another round of laughter floats into the air, and Aras’ eyes flash to mine. “You think this is funny? You two are something else.”
His neck flushes red, and I pin my lips tight to keep any other sounds from escaping. But by the time we make it to the bottom of the tree, most of his discomfort has evaporated, and he tugs Vivi into a warm hug. “You drive me crazy, you know that?”
“I know.” She snuggles under his arm, sighing into his chest. “Besides, Brave has been wanting to maul you with her kisses since the very second you promised your soul to Knox. Next time you get her alone, I suggest you try for some lower ground.”
Now it’s my neck that blooms scarlet. “I think this is where we say our goodnights, Vivi.”
“You’re right.” Aras gives my little sister a squeeze before turning to me. Pulling me into his arms, he gifts me one last kiss. “Sleep well, Bravest. Promise you’ll dream of me.”
“Forever,” I say, shocked by the randomly poetic words that have suddenly started to sprout from my being every time he’s around. But Aras, for his part, looks more pleased than ever. Bidding goodnight with a tip of his head, he leaves us, making his way to his pallet by the fire.
Silence takes hold of his footsteps, dragging the quiet in his wake. Together, Vivi and I stand, the tips of the fire’s flames yellowed as they begin their slow decent back into the earth. I turn to head toward my pallet when a soft hand stalls my own.
“It seemed like there was a lot of talking involved while you were kissing. Is that normal?”
“Vivi… how long did you watch?”
“Not long enough, apparently,” she drawls. “And you should probably let me braid your hair again, or else you’ll wake up tied to your pallet.”
I huff, pulling her hand until we’re both safe and tucked away in our beds once more.
Aras is right; sometimes, my sister drives me crazy, too.
Sixteen
When the early morning glow finally finds my weary eyes, I’m more than annoyed to discover that my sister was right once again.
I should have let her bind my hair.
Careful not to tug too hard and cause any unsightly tears to sting my vision, I run my fingers through the dark curls, wincing when I come across a particularly snarled patch. Even as a quiet hiss spills into the air, I can’t help the strange glee that follows the pain. The memories of last night find my heart, surrounding me like a dream. A very, very nice dream.
“And what in these great cursed woods do you have to be happy about this morning?”
The deep voice crawls across my exposed skin, jarring me awake better than any I’ve ever heard. I hope my glare matches my tone. “Good morning, cousin. I trust you slept well.”
His mouth quirks, a devilish spark lighting his eyes. “Better than you.”
My glare turns outright deadly. “You can dance around me all day with your cute little remarks, but none of them will ever ring true. You don’t know me well enough for that.”
“Is that true?” He drops down beside me on the pallet, eyes roaming across the camp and coming to rest on another particularly wild-haired member of our group. Thankfully, his back remains turned as he rolls up his bed, tidying his things, or else he’d probably be as red cheeked as I am right now. “We a
re blood, you know. Someone has to lie awake and keep track of you during the middle of the night. If not me, then who would?” He pauses, head tipping to the side as he takes me in. “The Theron prince?”
If I were a better woman, maybe this is the point where I’d get up and leave, content to ignore his insufferable prods for someone lesser than me. But as luck would have it, we are blood, and blood is nothing if not alike. “Why ask questions when we know you already have the answer? Aras told me the three of you talked—at length—after he tried to return the favor you so gallantly graced him with. Ian and I are friends; we always will be. But that’s all that will stand between us. I’m not a good fit for him. Even you can see that.”
Reeve rolls his shoulders, the only sign he may actually agree with my words. It’s odd that such a defiant behavior on anyone else becomes a signal of submission from him. I suppose when one is used to bullying one’s way through life, some habits find themselves to be a little backward. “You’re right; you were never good enough for him.”
“That’s not what I meant, Reeve… “
“I know.” He startles me, cool fingers wrapping gently around my wrist. He tugs me closer, and I scoot across the pallet, angling so our shoulders touch. “Listen,” he whispers, his voice so full of worry I almost pull back to get a better look of his face. “You and me, the prince, your annoying Orien guard…” His eyes dart to Vivi, where she lays on her back, passed out to the world. “Even your foolish sister. All of us, we’re good. You each drive me mad on a normal day, but that doesn’t mean I’m above seeing our potential when we work together for the greater cause. Now that I know we are on the same side, I feel better about the future.”
“A future that doesn’t contain Knox,” I say, realizing the undercurrent of his words. The true reason he never liked me from the beginning. He was afraid I’d give in. He was afraid I wouldn’t be strong enough to end my father’s reign.
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