Page 39 of The Night Prince

She brought her hands together in front of her, lacing her fingers together as if to stop herself from reaching for him.The jeweled rings on her fingers glittered in the low light of the lumen stones.The silver bracelets that ran up and down her bare arms shimmered, too.

“Will you walk a little with me?Perhaps we can go sit in our favorite place?”Her face lit up at the idea.

He felt another burst of warmth.Their favorite place!It was something secret they shared.That she shared with him.He did not think she had such times with other novices. “Yes, whatever you wish, my lady.”

“It is whatyouwish for, too, isn’t it?”she asked.

“Of course!It is an honor to be with you,” he assured her.

“Oh, anhonor.I was hoping that maybe youlikedbeing with me,” she joked.

“I do!”He hastened to add.“I truly… truly do.”

Another smile lit up her face and she gestured for him to walk beside her.He sheathed the one dagger that remained in the side of his loincloth so that it brushed against his bare thigh.

They walked in silence out of the circle and up the winding path of black stone that led them up to a cliff top that overlooked a vast black lake and on the other side of that lake was a city.Declan stared at it with a sense of awe andrecognition.

The city was made up of mushroom-shaped buildings, but they were hundreds of feet tall, and made of glowing glass.Orange, green, purple, red, gold, all the colors of the rainbow.They illuminated the endless night of the massive cavern.Boats with purple sails drifted over the black waters towards the city of light and disappeared into its many canals.

“Every time I see Nhamashel, my heart lifts,” Ashyrn said as she seated herself on a large boulder.She let her long legs swing back and forth almost like a child.

He found himself smiling at that.She didn’t allow others to see her so unguarded.Not like she let him.She caught his smile and returned it.She patted the rock beside her.

“Sit with me,” she requested.

He tried not to groan in pain as he sat down a foot away from her.The wounds on his back were throbbing and his thighs were numb. The chill was utterly gone.

You did not let go,another disgusted sigh.

He saw her frown and her hands glowed green for a moment as if the urge to heal him was too great to hold it back.But she did not use the magic upon him.

“So… you bested Vulre,” she said with a touch of pride in her voice.

I may be jadir, but I draw blood from the best,he thought, but there was still a bitterness on his tongue.

“He did not use his magic against me,,” he answered.

“Aren’t you a strange, young elf!”She laughed almost delightedly.

Elf,he thought.But then that thought was gone.

“S-strange?”He frowned.He did not want her to think him strange or different or anything like that.

“Most would be crowing over such an achievement,” she said with a knowing smile.“But not you.”

He stared at the reflection of Nhamashel in the water.“It does not feel like a victory.”

“Why not?”

“Because it will only cause him to hate me more and I am not yet strong enough to defeat him and survive,” Declan admitted.

Unless you let go,the voice whispered.

She blinked slowly.“He does not hate you.”

“It is not my place to contradict you, but…”

“But?”she smiled.

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