Page 149 of Shadows of Stardust

But my warrior doesn’t seem to mind as she makes her own vows to me.

Roslyn tells me there will never be a day when she doesn’t want me by her side. She tells me she’ll love me and give me patience and understanding as we figure things out together. She tells me she’ll be my family, that I’ll never have to look up at the stars and feel like I’m alone.

“I accept these promises of yours, my warrior,” I tell her with a brush of lips to her forehead.

“And I accept yours, too.”

I do not know of human marriage rites or how they are practiced now that the human homeworld is abandoned, andthe ancient rituals of Revexor were too complicated for a child’s mind to remember before they were lost to the cosmos.

But I also do not think there is anything in either set of customs that could mean more than our softly spoken vows. I do not think there could be any deeper binding.

Ros’s hands—those gentle, warm, wonderful hands—make a study of me. From the line of my jaw, to my neck, and lower, palms pressed over my heart as she feels the beat that’s just for her.

After a few endless moments, she raises one to touch my hair, fingertips trailing over the close-cropped length of it at the side of my head.

“This is different,” she murmurs.

“I’ll grow it back out, if you like it longer.”

Ros runs her hand over me until it cradles the back of my head, and I can’t do anything to stop the low noise of pleasure that breaks deep in my chest.

She laughs softly. “However you like it, I like it.”

The chasm in my chest widens, the soul-deep knowledge that I’d do anything, any damn thing in the universe to make her happy, my haircut being the very least of it.

Anything she asks. Everything she wants. It’s hers.

Roslyn sighs and rests her forehead against my collarbone. “I wish I could offer you a better place to stay. My ride off this rock doesn’t leave until tomorrow, and the apartment is… well, let’s just say it leaves a lot to be desired.”

“I might have a solution for that.”

She glances up, smiles. “Oh yeah?”

“I hate to deprive you the pleasure of public transport, but I think I can get us to Terra Spei a little faster if you’d like to hitch a ride with me.”

Her grin widens, andfates. I fear for my longevity if my heart lurches like this every time I see that smile. Instead of worrying about it, though, I decide to taste it instead.

“Ready to get out of here?” I ask when we finally come up for air.

“You know it.”

She stands first, then reaches down to offer me her hand. I take it, letting her help me up.

We dress and leave the roof together, hand in hand, stepping onto a path with no clear ending, no perfectly charted route.

But there is no doubt in my mind it will take us where it needs to. There is no doubt we were always meant to walk it together.

48

Zandrel - Terra Spei, Six Years Later

I’ve always had a keen sense for knowing when I’m in an enemy’s crosshairs. A prickling at the back of my neck, a heightening of my senses in anticipation of attack.

And right now, in the bright sunshine on Terra Spei, I’m certain I’m about to be ambushed.

A solid weight crashes against me just a moment after I hear a small, laughing voice call out from behind me.

“Daddy!”

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