Daughter of Dusk
Page 31
Tristam’s mouth quirked, and his gaze drifted over Kyra’s face in a way that made her stomach tingle. “You’re looking very well yourself.”
Kyra invited him in and offered him tea and a piece of the cake Idalee had baked that morning. The girl’s cooking was rivaling Bella’s these days.
“Things are much better at the manor,” he told Kyra as they sat down at her table. “There’s still the occasional raid from the rebellious Demon Rider, but the number has dropped enough so that our family can handle the defense.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Kyra. “And your family, they are well and safe?”
“They are all well,” he said. “Henril will be returning to his post in the border patrols. Lorne will stay with Father a while longer.” He hesitated for a moment. “I…sent a message to Lord Salis in Parna with my regrets. Lady Cecile is a beautiful, intelligent, and amiable woman, but I do not think we would make a good match.”
Kyra had been drinking her tea, and she was grateful she had an excuse not to look at Tristam. She took a long sip while she composed herself behind the mug. “Will they take offense?” she asked.
“The family was not pleased, since we’d spent so much time on the negotiations, though my most recent demotion did make me a less favorable match.” He gave a wry smile. “Apparently, even Parnan families care about court reputation if it gets bad enough. As for Cecile…” And here he paused. “I didn’t know her well, but I think she might be happy for me. I can only wish her the best.”
Kyra wrapped her mug in her hands. It threatened to scald her skin, but she was too distracted to mind. “So that gives you some respite, then, before your da and your ma start thinking about another match for you.”
This time it was his turn to look down. He’d eaten his whole piece of cake, and he stirred the crumbs with his fork. “I’ve been speaking to them about other matches. They’ve always been reasonable on the subject of marriage, and now that our manor is no longer under direct attack, they were happy to hear my thoughts. We’ve talked about the new peace agreement with the Demon Riders. We’re hopeful that even if things don’t go completely smoothly from here on out, there might at least be some basis for coexisting.” He paused, and when he spoke again, it was with the expression of a man scaling a cliff without a safety rope. “I…mentioned to them that it might be good, though perhaps unconventional, to think about a match with one of their number.”
Kyra let go of her mug and wiped her damp hands on her trousers. Her heart beat strange rhythms against her rib cage. “Well, don’t set your sights on Adele,” she said. Her voice didn’t sound like her own. “Flick is a decent brawler, even if he doesn’t have a knight’s training.”
Tristam smiled at that, though his eyes were still uncertain. “No, I don’t have my sights set on Adele.”
It would have been easier to continue teasing him, but as Kyra met his eyes, she found it hard even to breathe, much less say anything clever. “I see…”
She swallowed, but it didn’t make her mouth any less dry. A long moment of silence stretched between them. Bits of birdsong drifted in through the windows, and still neither of them spoke.
Tristam cleared his throat. “I’m not asking you to marry me right away, of course. I mean, I’ve been gone a while, and with everything that has happened…I just thought…well…” He laughed at himself then, and put his fork down to take a deep breath and pull himself together. When he spoke again, his voice was calm but strong. “I love you, Kyra. You know that, don’t you? And I’d fight for a future for us, if you’ll have me.”
What a difference a few words made. The cottage itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting for her reply. “And what about what I am?” she asked quietly. “Would you tie yourself to someone like me?”
Tristam rubbed his jaw. The bruise was gone, but Kyra would always remember striking him there. “I’ve seen you struggle with your bloodlines, and I will always have tremendous respect for what you can do.” He stopped and looked her in the eye. “I also trust you with my life. I hope you can do the same with me.”
He spoke the words with conviction, and Kyra found that she believed him. How things had changed since their first encounter, when he’d tackled her in the Palace courtyard. She’d been a common thief, and he had been dead set on destroying her. Kyra reached over and covered his hands with her own. “I do trust you.”
They smiled at each other then and stood up at the same time. The table was still between them. Tristam started to walk around to her side, but she stopped him with a touch on the arm. The table’s height had caught her eye. Kyra kicked off her shoes and hoisted herself up. She had to put more weight on her arms to accommodate her hip, but she jumped up quickly without knocking any dishes to the ground. From there, it was just a short hop to land in front of Tristam. He ringed her waist with his arms, his touch setting off a pleasant shiver that swept to the tips of her toes. Tristam looked down at her, amused.
She shrugged. “I’m still getting a feel for what I can do.”
“And was that a difficult climb, master thief?”
She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. He was wonderfully warm. “Horribly difficult, but worth it.”
Tristam bent his face down toward hers then, and she closed her eyes. Her skin prickled at his nearness, and she let out a contented sigh. Then, after what seemed like forever, his lips brushed hers, and they put off the rest of their talking until later.
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Whisper the word “sequel” into a debut author’s ear and she’ll likely jump five feet into the air and flee wild-eyed into a corner. Writing Daughter of Dusk was a very different experience from Midnight Thief, as I made the transition from writing for my own enjoyment to delivering a book under contract while my newfound (and wonderful) readers waited in the wings. Thankfully, I had a fantastic team of people steering me safely into port.
My editor, Rotem Moscovich, shepherded this manuscript from early outlines to final draft, providing insightful guidance the entire way. Julie Moody, Jamie Baker, and the rest of the team at Hyperion were instrumental to the process as well.
My agent, Jim McCarthy, kept me sane and assured me, time after time, that each draft was not as horrible as I believed.
My longtime critique group, Courtyard Critiques, offered encouragement and suggestions on my first draft as it came out, three thousand words at a time: Amitha Knight, Rachal Aronson, Jennifer Barnes, and Emily Terry.
First-round beta readers kindly slogged through the original (boring) beginning and offered key insights for restructuring every plot arc: Lauren James (Love is not a triangle), Andrea Lim (jukeboxmuse.com), Anya (On Starships and Dragonwings), Stephenie Sheung (The BiblioSanctum), Tabitha Jensen (notyetread.com), Summer McDaniel (Blue Sky Shelf), Alyssa Susanna (The Eater of Books!), and Maja (The Nocturnal Library).
Second-round beta readers pushed me to polish every scene and campaigned (successfully) for more sparks between Kyra and Tristam: Faye M. (The Social Potato), Jenna DeTrapani, April Choi, Amy Hung, Lianne Crawford, Emily Lo Gibson, Bekah (Awesome Book Nuts), Kelsey Olesen, and Lisa Choi, MD.
Thanks to several authors’ loops for wisdom and laughs: The Fourteenery, One Four Kidlit, and YA Binders.
And of course, love and gratitude to my husband for being a (captive) sounding board on everything from plot ideas to copy edits (and, to his credit, he was only slightly insufferable when his grammar or vocabulary proved better than mine), and my parents, in-laws, extended family, and friends for their constant excitement and support on this journey. You make a girl feel loved.
LIVIA BLACKBURNE has a PhD in neuroscience from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she conducted research on the neural correlates of reading. She still blogs on the intersection of writing and brain science (liviablackburne.com), and she now lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Livia is also the author of Midnight Thief, an Indies Introduce New Voices selection.
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