Page 142 of The Arrow and the Alder

Josephine smiled as she took in each member of her family until her gaze rested upon Alder. “Yes. Yes, we do.”

Seph sat upon a veranda attached to a little house near the seaside village of Peressian, which looked over the vast and tranquil waters of Canna’s Andulian Sea. A brilliant sun touched the horizon, turning the sapphire sea amber. It warmed her face and burned through the thin slip of a gown she wore. A soft and salty breeze kissed her skin and ruffled the fronds of the planted palm beside her, and Seph could not recall a time when she’d felt more contented.

Beside her, secured by a conch so that the wind couldn’t snatch them away, was the stack of letters Alder had written when he’d gone to Gorsich to recruit his uncle’s aid. He’d given them to her the day he’d made her his wife, but there hadn’t been much time to read them.

She had that time now.

And she savored each one, opening a new letter every day. There, upon the safety of that neutral canvas of vellum, Alder shared his long life, his hopes, and his dreams. His heart bled beautifully over each page, and Seph could hardly believe she’d ever found him callous and unfeeling. There was nothing unfeeling in the professions he’d given her. Bold were the poetic strokes that confessed his love and admiration, like the ones she was reading now.

My haunting little arrow,

I miss you.

I often marvel at the man I was before our paths intertwined. How he could move through this world wholly unaware of the life he did not yet possess. The one with you in it, shining over everyone and everything with that brilliant light that pours right out of your beautiful soul. He was ignorant of you, of the joy and goodness you would bring him. If he’d known what was to come, how the best part of his life was about to begin, he surely would’ve cast it all aside and torn the worlds apart to find you. I can’t help but think of all the pain you might’ve spared him, but the Fates have their reasons, and it is not for us to unravel.

Today, I had the displeasure of training a cohort of my uncle’s best fighters. They say an army’s temperament is a reflection of leadership, and they’re all as damned stiff and tedious as he is. I suppose it’s what one wants in an army, but it doesn’t make for interesting company, and it surely doesn’t distract my thoughts from lingering on you.

It’s your fault, you know. You are the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met, and the most beautiful, and I can’t stop thinking of you in that nightdress. The silhouette of your perfect form haunts me. Every line, every slope and curve. The vision torments me now as you tormented me then. It took every ounce of willpower to leave you that night. You are exquisite, my darling. A celestial work of art. One I cherish more than my own flesh, and when I return, if you’ll permit me, I want to show you just how magnificent you are. I want to worship every inch of you with my lips. Praise every bend of your shape with my hands. Hold you against me until the moon falls away and the sun lifts its head again, and even then?—

Seph sensed Alder a second before she felt him behind her. His face pressed into her hair as his arm wrapped around her. “Ah, I see you’ve reached my more…agonizing moments.”

Seph grinned. “Quiet, you’re interrupting.”

He squeezed her tighter, his mouth at her ear. “It can’t possibly be better than the real thing, love.”

Seph’s face flushed and her belly fluttered with the memory of last night. Or was it early morning? Seph didn’t know; it all blurred together in a beautiful night of passion, where he had kissed her and touched her just like he’d written in his letter. She turned her face to look at him, and he smiled wickedly before dangling a chalice of wine before her eyes.

“Oh, thank you,” she said eagerly, tucking the letter beneath the conch and taking the chalice from his fingertips.

He sat down beside her, though angled toward her, one leg bent and the other outstretched. His feet were bare and he wore loose breeches rolled halfway up his calves, and his cream-colored tunic was untucked and untied, showing off the strong chest beneath. The waning light gilded his skin, and the breeze tousled his hair.

Sometimes when she looked at him, she couldn’t believe he was hers. And sometimes when he looked back at her, she forgot to breathe—like now.

His lips twisted into a lopsided grin that was so very boyish it made her heart swell.

He raised his chalice. “Cheers.”

“To?”

A gleam lit his eyes. “You naked.”

Seph rolled her eyes. “Come on. You can do better than that.”

He raised a brow. “You naked and on top of me?”

Seph gave him a look.

Alder smiled viciously. “I’m sorry, my darling, but you are so beautiful. It’s all I can think of right now.” He reached out and brushed the back of his fingers along her jaw.

Seph couldn’t help but grin as she raised her own glass. “What about: cheers to a lifetime together.”

“…a lifetime with you naked,” Alder added as he too raised his glass.

Seph laughed as their glasses clinked. Alder’s gaze locked on hers as they each took a slow sip, and the way he was looking at her made her blood run hot.

“Alder?”

“Yes, my little arrow?”

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