Page 144 of Queen of the Night
“What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours.” He glances up at Darrius. “His, too, I suppose.”
Darrius snorts. “Not yours, Acharia. Only hers.”
Gods, he can still be so growly and possessive, and I love it. Another glass of water appears in a whorl of shadows. “Thank you, páti.”
I feel his delight at the endearment. “You’re welcome, Starbright.”
I take a sip and then hand Roshan the glass, which he accepts with a sheepish grin. After quenching his thirst, he turns me sideways and lifts my legs, drawing them over his knees while I’m still sitting on Darrius. Then he removes my slippers and proceeds to rub my sore feet, which I relish with a silent, appreciative groan. I danced too much tonight, and while I could have easily used magic to heal them, sometimes it’s good to feel things fully... even the uncomfortable things. Sore feet are a marker of my time well spent.
“Should we return to the palace?” Roshan asks, glancing over at us. “Sura wants to go to Kaldari tonight. She has a surprise for you, Nightsong.”
An imperious eyebrow arches. “For me?” Darrius asks.
I nod, turning my cheek into his chest and breathing in his delicious smoke-and-oud scent. I love how they both smell so different, and yet, each of them feels like home to me. Roshan’s scent makes me think of warm forges and hot summer days, and Darrius’s makes me think of starlight and crisp winter nights. My sun and my night sky.
“Yes, we want to show you Nyriell, and the underground aqueduct.”
Your special aqueduct?Darrius asks silently, his surprise filtering down the bond.
The very same,I say.
Isn’t that important to the two of you?I can hear the uncertainty in his mental voice.I wouldn’t want to... intrude.
It was Roshan’s idea.
“Shall we depart then?” Darrius asks aloud, his voice thick with emotion.
“Soon.” I watch my father draw Amma into his arms, their eyes only for each other as they spin beneath the twinkling stars of the night sky. “I’m so happy for them,” I murmur. “I’m glad they have each other.”
Easing to my feet, despite both their protests, I stand and walk over to the far side of the market square, climbing the steps to a terrace where I can just see the dawn’s rays cresting over the tops of the highest dunes. The coming sunrise already has the promise of being majestic.
A familiar presence materializes beside me, and though they take no earthly form, I can feel them just the same.
“Ve,” I greet my old guardian.
The ethereal outline inclines their head. “Setareh Framataram.”
“I was hoping I’d see you tonight.” I turn to the glimmering Royal Star. “I wanted to thank you for not giving up on me. For helping me find the place I was always meant to be.”
I sense their smile. “You found your own way, child. And we are so proud of who you have become.”
I lift my palm, staring at the slightly glowing marks. “I suppose you were right about my destiny. Love is such a strange thing, isn’t it? Those fated to us and those we choose... love at first sight and love after a lifetime...”
Ve peers at me. “Like anything worth keeping, love takes trust, patience, and communication. It can challenge you, break you, and test your every limit, but the journey is worth it in the end.”
My grin is wide. “My, my, look at you, Ve, talking without cryptic riddles for once! Seems like we’re both finally finding our way.”
“Always so cheeky.” They giggle, and I feel a playful pinch on my cheek and then the loving warmth of their embrace. “Be happy, child. In the end, that is the only thing that matters.”
After Ve leaves, I think about what they said about love.
I think of Roshan and our tumultuous path, and despite the heartache, I wouldn’t change a moment of it, because our love has been forged in fire and blood, like a sword hammered and folded until it’s nearly unbreakable. And my beloved Darrius, who fought so valiantly to reject our soul-fated bond for years, simply to protect me from being tied to a monster. Though he’s not a monster—no part of him is.
I feel a lighthearted growl through the bond and I grin. Well, Dare might be...
But together, we fought therealmonsters and we won.
Biting my lip, I glance over my shoulder at each of my loves—my chosen and my soul-fated—one touched by light and the other born in shadow. My silence and my storm... my beating heart and my starlit soul. My simurgh flexes her wings in utter contentment, and the tricolored runes on my arms—silver, obsidian, and gold—shimmer.
We are bound by the earth and the sky, blessed by akasha, and we will forge a new path forward, one of our own making.
A future we deserve... one we are worthy of.
