Page 28 of The Ocean's Heart
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Shelter isin an ancient everness tree surrounded by barbed brush and brambles. Getting past the defenses is no easy task. We chose it all those solar revolutions ago for this very reason, and I etched a path to the center, to the hollow nestled at the base of the tree, hidden by a berry bush.
I lead the way now, holding back the brush so it doesn’t scratch at Thalia’s skin. She slips past me, her body lightly brushing mine as she enters the short tunnel that leads into the earth and to our shelter for the night. I allow the berry bush to fall back into place, trapping us in gloom.
She glances back at me. She’s pulled down the scarf now, and the little light filtering in from between the tight-knit branches of the bush finds her face and highlights every plane, dip, and angle.
I want to touch her.
She arches a brow that askswhat now?
She hasn’t spoken to me since the battlefield, and although it has not even been half an hour, it feels like an age. I miss her voice. I could pretend not to see the question in her eyes and make her speak, but that seems petty.
“There’s a door ahead.”
She nods and continues deeper into the gloom, reaching out with her hands as it gets darker.
My eyesight adjusts so that I can see the path clearly. The ground is about to dip, and I open my mouth to warn her, but something stops me, long enough for her to trip. I grab hold of her and hold her against me for long seconds, reveling in this excuse to touch her before I say, “I forgot there was a step there.”
“Oh really?” Her voice touches me in hidden places, and I can’t help but sigh. “I doubt very much that you forget anything, King Vaarin.”
I bite back a smile because although she’s talking to me, her use of my royal title makes it clear that she is still annoyed.
This woman…
She pulls out of my grip and continues into the dark, finding the roughly made wooden door. She pushes it open to reveal yawning darkness and falters.
“Let me…” I move forward, and she shuffles back to allow me to take the lead. I fumble at the threshold, fingers searching for the small table and the lantern that should be there. I find it, and a moment later, the chasm is filled with light.
Her gasp of shock brings a smile to my face. “It’s a room. An actual room.”
The sitting room with its soft furnishings, neat rug, and hearth makes a pretty picture. There is a bed to one side and a dresser also. I can’t claim credit for this place; we found it years ago. An abandoned hovel, home to some creature who was unable to return to it. There is a story here but no one to tell it.
Part of me hoped to spend this night in silence. Best for us both because tomorrow we will be on the ship to Merida, and she will be married to my son, and these feelings burgeoning inside me, emotions that I do not wish to examine, will be quashed.
But the stiffness has melted from her demeanor now. There will be no silence tonight. Not until we sleep.
ChapterSixteen
THALIA
I wasn’t sure why this small, cozy space brought tears to my eyes. Maybe it was because it reminded me a little of the small tower sewing room that Bryony loved to hide away in and where I’d often joined her with a book, teasing her by saying she’d ruin her eyes with all the intricate needlepoint. She’d retort with, “Better than risking losing a limb in battle.”
And we’d had our fair share of those. Father had loaned the guard to neighboring provinces, kingdoms, and isles over the years in exchange for grain, and I’d fought on varying terrain. I’d slept on hard ground in the cold with my guard and come home weary and hungry to the castle where Bryony and Father had been waiting.
This room brought an influx of memories, and with them came a surge of emotions because my sister was dead, and we would never sit in the sewing room together again.
“Thalia?” Vaarin cupped my shoulders. “Look at me.”
I lifted my chin to view him through a sheen of tears. I was tired and homesick and scared. So fucking scared.
He pulled me into a hug, and I accepted the comfort, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my cheek to his chest. He was the sea and power, but right now, he was safety and comfort, and I needed that, even though he might ultimately become my undoing.
“I’m sorry for my reaction earlier,” he said. “I was…afraid. Afraid of what might have happened to you, but you…you fought, and you won and…Your skill is of a seasoned warrior. How?”
There was nothing to do but offer him half the truth. “I fought with my father’s army a few times fending off invaders to our shores.”
“Your father would risk you this way?”
