Page 56 of Straw and Gold
“I hope she’s happy. Wherever she is.”
“And you, Morella?” He pulled me back to his shoulder. “Are you happy here?”
Tears pricked my eyes, stinging in the truth that I didn’t even consider denying. I sniffed, wiping my sleeve across my nose. “I love him, Korven,” I murmured softly.
He squeezed my shoulders as if he already knew. As if he could reassure me that it was all right to love when that love was not returned.
Breathing a sigh, he said, “He cares for you. I can see that at least. Perhaps with more time?—”
“We don’t have time,” I interrupted. “We have these three months and then it’s over. He has said as much.” I paused a moment, gathering what thoughts I was willing to reveal. “He does care, but…it doesn’t seem to be enough for him to treat our marriage like I see it. Like how I know it could be.”
“It’s not like you to give up on what you want.”
“No,” I agreed. “It isn’t. But there’s more to it than I’ve told you.”
He jerked back. “You’re not in danger, are you?”
“Nothing like that. Have you met Céad?”
He shook his head. “Mother has mentioned her once or twice. She’s not…all there. Madness has taken her along with her obsession for change.”
“Well, Killian made a bargain with her. A long time ago. And I’m trying to help him fulfill it.”
He chuckled. “The fae Goddess bargain, eh? Do you think it can be fulfilled?”
“Yes,” I said with confidence. “I do. I know I can help him.”
“Then I don’t see why you’d give up on what you could have here. You’ve been imagining this life for years and here it is.” He gestured to the sea of rolling green hills ahead of us, turning golden in the setting sun. “If our mother taught us anything, it’s to take what we want. What we need. Regardless of the obstacles.”
I took a deep breath, my lungs filling with the breeze off the Citrine Cliffs in the distance. I knew what I wanted. I knew Killian wanted at least some of those same things, too. It was time to jump and risk everything we’d had so far, even if it seemed like no more than a frayed thread between us.
“Thank you, Korven,” I sighed.
“You’re welcome, Little Fungi.”
I laughed heartily, rising to my feet, ready to shift and say my last goodbye to him before he left to explain to Seraphine what happened. “I haven’t heard that in a very long time.”
He brought me into a hug once more, resting his chin on my head. “That’s what older brothers do. They never let you forget you still have a home and a history of where you came from.”
By the timeI stepped back into our room, night had fallen and the fireplace roared, soothing away the autumn chill.
My husband sat by the fire and from his position alone, I sensed the thinly-held control in the stiffness of his body. Without turning to greet me, he asked, “Is the Cursebringer gone?”
My stomach dropped at his tone. “Yes.”
He nodded and I crept forward, setting three spools of woven golden thread I’d just finished on the small desk. Keeping my gift held tightly to my chest, I swallowed hard and joined him at the chairs by the fire. He was sitting back, legs sprawled open, face resting on one hand as he watched my every move.
I cleared my throat, adjusting my burgundy skirts and kicking off my shoes, folding my legs up underneath me on the chair. “I’m sorry,” I began, “for the sudden appearance of my brother today.”
“He loves you,” he mumbled. “You should not be sorry for that.”
I nodded. “Korven has always been overly protective of me. My lack of strength and…my condition only fueled that fire over the years.”
“He took your birthright.”
“No,” I amended. “He saved me from failing at the duty of the heir to the Ravenfae Goddess. I could not have succeeded as Cursebringer, nor did I want the job.”
He paused, still holding onto that tight control. “And now you’re here.”
