Page 159 of Salt in the Seas
A glance up at Gaeren made it clear he’d heard the older man’s recommendation. He hesitated, then nodded, beckoning her over to his circle while Riveran stepped away. Aeliana pulled out her dagger, but even that brought a host of emotions she wasn’t ready for as her thumb brushed the daisy on the pommel.
The corner of Gaeren’s mouth lifted, reminding her of all the wayshe’d teased her, except now it was tainted by the fact that he’d let her make a fool of herself, exposing her feelings for him to everyone.
She marched over to his side, taking deep breaths to keep the trees around them from spinning.
“You look about as exhausted as I feel,” Gaeren said. He sheathed his sword and pulled out a dagger, a swap that might have seemed thoughtful in the past but now felt patronizing.
“Iris might have mentioned something about you whining.” She widened her stance and bent her knees, balancing on the balls of her feet.
His eyebrows rose, and he matched her position, holding his dagger in front of him with his other arm out for balance. “And here I thought out of everyone you might have some sympathy.”
She swiped at his waist while he spoke, forcing him to jump back and cut off their conversation. Spots danced in front of her eyes, so she drew energy from her starlock, willing it to strengthen her for the fight. She didn’t want him to go easy on her, but she also didn’t want him to best her. They circled the rim of their sparring ring, their eyes locked, each waiting for the other to make a move.
“I was too busy thinking about how I’d hurt Lukai to worry about how you’d been affected.” Her words came out harsher than she meant, and he flinched.
“That’s fair.”
This time he lunged for her, not with his dagger, but with his free hand, twisting her arm until she dropped the dagger. Despite the energy she’d borrowed from her starlock, her muscles were too weak and her skills nowhere near a match for Gaeren’s. He continued twisting until he’d spun her closer in his grip, his dagger now placed at her throat and both of her arms pinned beneath his as her back pressed against his chest.
“Next time,” he instructed in her ear, “hold your weapon closer to your body until you’re ready to use it so you’re not vulnerable to attacks.”
She huffed and stomped on his foot, but while that move had worked on Lukai in the past, the steel toes of the prince’s boots left himprotected, and he chuckled, the laughter thrumming in his chest against her back.
“It wasn’t enough to make a fool of me with the kiss?” she hissed. “You had to best me in a single move the moment we were matched against each other?”
His arms dropped and he stepped away, the cool air rushing between them making Aeliana shiver. She turned around to find his face contorted with confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
A glance around revealed most everyone watching. Velden stopped sparring with Cyrus to raise a webbed hand in a wave, then waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Aeliana groaned and grabbed Gaeren’s hand, dragging him across the forest line for them to get some modicum of privacy behind the trees. Then she spun to face him, keeping her voice low.
“You knew it took more than a kiss to break a bond. You could have told me before I—” She gestured between them, then flinched as the confusion in his eyes switched to understanding. She looked away, her face heating. “We should have just cut them out.”
He stepped closer. “I almost did tell you. When you offered a kiss, I didn’t think it would work.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “Well, now you know it did. And so does everyone else.” She placed a hand against his chest to push him away, but he grabbed her hand and brought her closer.
“But then I realized it would, not because I was confident you cared for me, but because I realized how much I cared about you.”
She stilled, then dared risking a look at his eyes, which burned with an intensity—a desperation to be understood.
“Thallahan compared falling in love to an Awakening, something I couldn’t imagine when I related it to my bond with Lenda. But the moment I considered your offer, I recognized the feeling he spoke of—an overwhelming and incomprehensible joy combined with a strange…desperation and responsibility. A gift that has to be used wisely.”
He flipped his palm over and lined his scar up with hers. Like Irishad pointed out, Aeliana’s looked new, blood trickling out of a few spots where the scabs had broken open.
“The truth is, my bond with Lenda never could have matched what I feel for you. I’ve felt it for moons now, but I’ve been afraid to admit it. If you’d offered before our time on Sayhla Island, I’m not sure I would have even recognized it. But that night, I understood.”
She stared at the marks on their palms, afraid to hope that she’d heard him right. He lifted her hand to his cheek, drawing her gaze with it.
“Does your outburst and hateful regret mean you might possibly have a fraction of the same feelings for me?” His face shifted into a cheeky grin beneath her hand, one that made her want to smack him—or kiss him again.
“Why do you always tease me?” she whispered even as she smiled.
His gaze dropped to her lips. “Because you either smile like that and give it right back, or your cheeks turn a shade of pink I’ve only seen on the clamshells near Rykarn. Either way I’m rewarded.” To her dismay, he stepped away and gestured at their feet, where daisies had sprung up at least two feet around them. “Or sometimes I get these.”
This time she stepped closer and placed her hand back on his cheek, relishing the way he went still, as if he might possibly feel the same nervous vulnerability. “I may need another kiss to know exactly how I feel.”
His smirk bloomed into a full grin. “That can easily be arranged.”
