Page 229 of Tears for a Broken Sky
Thorne
I could hear their laughter and joy from here. A year ago, it would have angered me, maybe even hurt me.
Now it made me both grateful and sad.
She had found them. And they her. Like it was always meant to be.
And one day I would prove myself worthy of her again.
I sat at my post outside the door. I wouldn’t leave, not for anything. I heard footsteps approaching and stood. The prince—Caelen, I thought his name was.
He stopped a few feet away, his expression cautious.
“Hello,” he said warily.
I nodded, retaking my post.
“Is she up?” he asked me. I heard a giggle coming from inside the room.
“She is, but I wouldn’t go in right now.” I said, my voice calm and detached.
He glanced toward the room and snorted. “Right. Phoenix’s bare ass isn’t something I need burned into my memory.”
A flicker of a smile ghosted across my mouth. “Not just his.”
Caelen blinked. “Gods. Good to know.”
“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked, already half-turning back to the door.
“A message has come. From her mother – from Queen Syrena. She has asked that we meet her.”
My jaw tightened. “Where?”
Caelen grimaced. “I probably should just talk to Ellie or Phoenix.”
I winced—internally. I didn’t let it show.
I knocked. Once. Then again. I wasn’t sure they would open—not to me.
After a beat, the door swung open.
Phoenix stood there, a towel slung low around his hips, hair dripping from the shower, expression stormy enough to curdle blood. Behind him, I caught a flash of Elira—bare shoulders, short dark curls damp and wild as she towelled them dry. The glimpse was brief, but enough to make my jaw clench as I looked away, heat creeping up my neck.
Phoenix shut the door behind him with a sharp click, body angled like a wall between me and everything inside. “What?”
“You don’t even answer the door dressed now? Who raised you?” Caelen said dryly, arms crossed.
Phoenix sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “There better be a good reason you’re bothering me right now, Caelen.”
Caelen held up the rolled parchment. “Message from the Queen.”
Phoenix raised a brow. “Since when are you the help?”
“Most of the servants have fled,” Caelen said with a shrug. “Ghost town, remember?”
Phoenix snorted. “Right.”
Then his gaze drifted to me. For a second, the storm in his eyes didn’t ease.
