Page 70 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
I didn’t budge and Navin turned to give me a questioning look. “I don’t belong here.” I swallowed thickly. I waved back toward the firelight behind us. “Not in Galen den’ Mora. Ever since we stepped foot back in Damrienn, I knew it deep down in my bones. I am not a Songkeeper, Navin, and I never will be. I can’t travel the realm with you like this.”
Navin paused for a long moment before turning back to me. “I know.”
My brows pinched together. “You know?”
“I see every part of you, Sadie,” Navin said, making me feel stripped bare in a way only he could. “Every form. You were never meant to hide in the footnotes of someone else’s song.”
I shook my head. “So what, then?”
“If the world was different,” he asked, “if you could have any life, where would it be?”
I didn’t know why emotions constricted my throat. Perhaps it was the funeral and the generous cup of liquor, but the thought of being able to pick any life had tears filling my eyes.
“If the world could be anything,” I said, “I would flatten Highwick to the ground and build another Damrienn city anew, one on the very outskirts of Damrienn, in the heart of Aotreas. A place where people from every corner of the continent would bewelcome. I would run through the mountains of pine forest every full moon, I would swim in the streams in the summer, and curl around fires in the winters. Not in Olmdere, not in Valta, not traveling town to town on an endless adventure. I would choose to plant down roots here.” My eyes lowered to meet his storming gaze.
“And you would be there with me, in this make-believe world. And we’d be happy and love each other deeply forever.”
Navin’s cheeks dimpled and he dropped his head, his hand sweeping to the back of my neck and pulling me into a soft kiss.
“But that world doesn’t exist,” I murmured against his lips. “And even if it did, it isn’t one you’d choose for yourself.”
“You make too many assumptions, love,” Navin said, licking into my mouth once more before pulling back and resting his forehead against my own. “Ask me what I want.”
I took a step away to look into his eyes. “What do you want?”
“You,” he said instantly, simply. “The easiest question of my life. The answer will always be you.” He held up a hand as I opened my mouth to protest. “Asha’s death has made things so crystal clear in my mind. Tomorrow isn’t promised, Sadie. And whatever time we have left in this life, I want it to be by your side.” He fished in his pocket and produced a velvet box.
“What is... ?” My hands flew to my mouth as he got down on one knee.
“I’ve been carrying this with me since Valta. I thought I’d wait until this journey was over, but the truth is one adventure always collides into another when it comes to us. And if the only time we have is now, I don’t want this question to go unasked.” Navin lifted the box aloft, a smile on his face as he revealed an opal ring on a thin silver band. “Sadie Rauxtide, will you marry me?”
I gaped at him. “Navin...”
“Sadie,” he gently mocked with a smile. “You are already everything to me. You light up every corner of my soul. Let me be yours in every way. Be my wife?”
I was so overcome I could barely get out the word “yes.”
When Navin rose and pulled me up off my feet, a chorus of music began playing through the trees. We both looked through the dense forest to where the lights of Galen den’ Mora gently flickered.
“Did they know?”
Navin chuckled. “They might have suspected,” he said. “But no. This is how we celebrate Asha, with music and memories swapped round the fire until the dawn light breaks. When a human dies, we use it to remind us all to celebrate life. To not wait to act as we feel.”
“Many an engagement happens at a funeral in your culture then I take it?” I asked with a laugh.
“Indeed,” he said, pulling my mouth back to his. His hands roved up and down my body, fusing me to him.
We broke our kiss only long enough for him to slide the beautiful ring onto my finger. I grabbed him by the hand and tugged him toward the tent.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh at my eagerness.
“I’m keeping with human tradition,” I said as I shoved him to the ground and straddled him. “I’m not waiting to act as I feel.”
Briar
WE NEVER MADE IT ONE STEP FROM THE OFFICE FOR THE RESTof the sleepless night. Maez had taken me in ways I didn’t even know existed. She brought me so much pleasure that I thought I might implode from it and yet still I begged for more. She was already a sex goddess before, but now... now I was pleasantly appreciative of her newfound wicked streak... and mine.
When exhaustion had finally overtaken our lust in the wee hours of the morning, we ambled to the bedroom and I left my sorceress to sleep. I’d found a robe in her wardrobe and padded off down the silent halls to find water. I desperately needed to hydrate after the last night. Peeks of early dawn filtered through the windows as I steered my way to the kitchen and found a pitcher.
