Page 19 of Requiem of Silence

She pulled out of Darvyn’s arms and looked into his dark eyes. “I wish that I could come with you tonight, but I’m still not… ready. Not to go back to the palace.” Or around other people at all, truth be told. She’d been in a self-imposed exile since arriving here, and even this new disaster could not pull her from her solitude. She’d never imagined herself a coward before now, but perhaps that’s exactly what she was.

“I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“You think you’ll be home tonight?”

“Of course, but it might be late.”

“If it’s easier for you to stay in town, I’ll understand. It’s rather a long ride and—”

“Kyara.” His tone was sharp, his gaze serious. “I amnotspending a night away from you.”

She blinked in the face of his fierce declaration.

His hands gripped her shoulders gently. “I spent too long awayfrom you, not knowing where you were or what was happening to you. I won’t do it again. Not unless it’s unavoidable. Understand?”

When she’d been captured, she never thought she’d see him again. In fact, she’d thought him dead and that their next meeting would be in the World After. It had taken two long months for Darvyn and her to find their way back together. She didn’t want to do anything to risk it, but couldn’t help feeling that she was somehow holding him back.

“All right. I’ll expect you back late,” she said lightly. “I hope there won’t be any more attacks before then.”

He frowned. “Oola seemed to think this was a test, and that makes sense. Opening the portal seemed fairly difficult in Yaly, when the Physicks were at full strength. I know we dealt them a blow even if we didn’t wipe them out completely. Let’s hope that they’ll need even more time to regroup and mount another attack.”

“Between the queen, the Goddess, and the Shadowfox, I know Elsira is in good hands.” She tried for a smile, but failed.

Darvyn snorted and shook his head. “Between the new terrorist attack yesterday and this? I don’t know.” He ran a hand across his shortly cropped hair. “Fighting the True Father was one thing, but here we have to fight the people for our very right to exist. It feels different. Harder.” His shoulders slumped and she pulled him close again, this time trying to offer comfort as well as receive it.

They held one another for a long time until Darvyn pulled back. “The driver is waiting. If you change your mind about the birthday party, just call Jasminda’s secretary and she’ll send a car for you.”

Kyara nodded. Darvyn had showed her how to use the telephone, but she didn’t imagine she’d ever need to. His face turned grim, like he could read her thoughts.

“Pity you’ll miss out on the sunset,” she teased, trying tolighten the mood. After watching the sun fall beneath the ocean on three consecutive days, Darvyn had failed to see why sunsets so fascinated people. She’d tried to share what enthralled her, how the colors that bled across the water were so vibrant, never the same twice, but it never moved him the way it did her.

“Would you like me to stay until it’s set?” he asked. He would if she wanted, this she knew and was grateful for. But she shook her head, attempting a smile.

Darvyn kissed her very thoroughly. She allowed herself to linger for just a few moments in his embrace and then pulled back. He needed to be on his way.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he said.

And then he was gone.

She was glad that the cottage was relatively small. Larger than a Lagrimari dwelling, especially one meant for two people, but not so large that she felt lost in it. Not so large that the loneliness pressed in against her from all sides. Could she even be lonely when it was what she preferred? What she explicitly asked for?

A knock on the door had her whipping around. Did he forget his key? Even though this seaside town was supposed to be safe, Kyara insisted on using the locks and keys provided, never feeling too secure.

She wrenched open the door to chide him and stopped short, finding not Darvyn on the step but a short Lagrimari woman with a shorn head. Her delicately canted eyes were turned down at the corners, giving her a sad expression.

“So you decided to knock this time?” Kyara said irritably.

Mooriah smirked. “I do know how to be polite.”

Kyara shrugged. “If you truly understood politeness, you would stop coming here every day and would have listened to me the first time I told you no.”

Mooriah crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb.

“How long have you been waiting?” Kyara asked.

“Five hundred years.”

She snorted; she should have seen that one coming.

---