Page 81 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
He barked a laugh. “Thanks, I think.”
She held him tighter. “Minty once told me that I was good for you, you know.”
“Minty is not wrong.”
“But I rather think you’re good for me, too.”
Dimitri’s heart stilled in his chest, buckling under the weight of her words, stalling on the idea that he didn’t think he’d ever, ever been good for anyone, not in his entire life, and yet this person—this sunlight made human, who was good to everyone she knew—she foundhimgood for her?
Adeline pulled back, her cheeks still damp. “Was that inappropriate? Maybe I shouldn’t have—”
“No,” he said slowly. “Not inappropriate.”
“Then—”
His hands braced against her shoulders, and he found himself once more glad of the mask, that she couldn’t see everything rushing out of him. “Adeline,” he whispered, the rest of his words crumbling on his tongue, unable to survive the weight of her name.
Her mouth parted, just a fraction, but she did not speak. The crisp air between them heated, and Dimitri was dimly aware of a pressure around him, a tightness in his chest, a thousand threads tugging him nearer to her, to hold her in a way he’d never held anyone.
“We should get back to the festivities,” she told him, shattering the threads between them.
Dimitri blinked, dazed. “Right,” he said.
She pulled away from him, stopping a few paces ahead.
“Are you not coming?”
After drinking some more spiced wine, Adeline noticed a tent set up for fortune-telling and decided she wanted to hear hers.
Dimitri groaned. “You believe in that nonsense?”
She blinked at him. “You’re literally under a curse.”
“Yes, but… that’s real magic. This is just made-up nonsense.”
“I’ve had some very accurate ones in the past.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
“I will. Wait over there. I don’t want you listening in.”
Dimitri chuckled, and went to sit by the side. The children had all gone home now, and the noise from the nearby tavern was getting rowdier, dwarfing the dancing. He strummed his fingers in time to the music.
Adeline emerged after a short while, pulling at the cuffs of her coat.
“What did she tell you?”
“Oh, when I’ll get married, how many babies I’ll have, that sort of thing.”
“Is that right?” he asked, trying not to be jealous of this fictional husband or think too much about whether Adeline’s children would have smiles like hers. “Who’s the lucky fellow?”
“She… she didn’t say.”
“Of course not.” He sighed, and then, quite spontaneously. “I’m going to have a go.”
“But you said—”
“I can change my mind!” He strode forward towards the tent, not entirely sure what he was hoping to prove. Maybe just that he had some kind of goodness in his future. Maybe that the woman was a liar.
