Page 61 of Queen’s Gambit

This forced levity was worse than the tension shimmering under my skin, but I didn’t want our last night to end in brooding and fear.

‘Please don’t tell me you described my curves like fruit,’ I joined in, and he chuckled.

‘I didn’t have to. I took your maid, and when it comes to your outfits, that woman was ready to command the king.’

Rey watched as I stripped off the court gown and pulled on the practical outfit that changed colour with the light and clung to my body like a second skin. Once fully clothed, I crossed to the table and picked up the alchemist’s belt together with my fang dagger.

I slipped the belt around my waist, feeling more myself than I had in months. Rey must have noticed the change in me. He came up behind me and did something to my back. Coolness followed the brush of his fingers.

‘Wing flaps. The seamstress sewed in thistle felt on the edges. It is closed, but will part easily at the slightest tension.’ I turned to look at him. Rey always considered every angle of his plans, but that level of detail was unusual even for him. ‘You can thank Danka,’ he murmured when he noticed my raised eyebrow.

I stepped aside and tested my new gift. The pressure when I released my magic faded when the fabric parted, and my dragonfly wings sprang forth.

Rey reached out, and when I didn’t protest, trailed his hand over the ridges. A strange sensation awoke in my body. Heat burst from above my heart, and a soft green glow illuminated my features.

‘You are magnificent,’ Rey whispered, his hand sliding to the translucent membrane. ‘Every day I wonder what I did to deserve you. Then I worry you’ll see the man who didn’t protect you when it mattered most, and you’ll leave.’

‘I can protect myself,’ I breathed, stroking his short beard.

‘I know, Sana. I know. And that terrifies me the most,’ he whispered, tension rigid in his body.

I folded my wings, letting the fabric settle on my back. Reynard shook the cloak, draped it over my shoulders, then reached behind me and pulled Nightshade’s porcelain mask from my drawer.

‘The horses are waiting. There’s money and provisions in the saddlebags. I sent letters to the garrisons. They will answer to the wearer of this mask as they would me.’ His jaw tightened, and his nostrils flared when the berserker emerged, gold shining in his eye. ‘Listen to Irsha and return to me. You are my life, Roksana. If you lose it, you’ll kill us both.’

Pain shot through my chest, but I took the mask from his hands and strode to the door.

‘Return to me, Roksana, unharmed and alive. Promise me.’ Reynard’s roar and the sound of splitting wood chased me as I closed the door.

But I wouldn’t give a promise I might break.