Page 171 of Veinblood
Varam laughs. “I would say give her my regards, but I don’t imagine you will be doing a lot of talking when she arrives.” He stands and walks toward the door. “I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re not to be disturbed until tomorrow … at the earliest.”
I make my way back through hallways that feel more like home with each day that passes. We moved from my old quarters shortly after we returned to Ashenvale after Blackvault,and took over the ones where my parents lived during their reign. Ellie insisted we furnish them with new things rather than preserving them as a shrine to the dead. But where my parents preferred more formal furnishings suitable for receiving visiting nobles, she’s created something warmer.
Comfortable chairs are positioned for conversations in front of the hearth. Books lie scattered on tables because we both read voraciously and forget to put things away. Flowers from the gardens fill vases, bringing life to a space that was once locked away and left to rot.
I settle into a chair close to the window to wait, allowing myself this moment of quiet before she arrives. The anticipation never gets old. This moment before she comes home when I can simply exist in the knowledge that soon she’ll be here, filling the space inside me that is incomplete without her. Even when it’s only a few hours separation, the feeling is the same.
I’ve discovered there’s profound strength in choosing to need someone who chooses to need you in return.
The woman who stumbled through a tower door all those years ago has become my equal in every way that matters, and together we've created something I could never have managed alone—a partnership that makes us individually stronger and collectively formidable.
The sound of hoofbeats echoes up from the plaza below, and my pulse quickens despite myself. She always affects me like this. My consort who shares my rule, my lover who shares my bed, and the love I never expected to find and refuse to take for granted.
I could go down to meet her. I could abandon all pretense of dignified patience and be there when she dismounts. The impulse is stronger than it should be, stronger than any ruler should feel about a three-day absence. But there's something to be said for anticipation, for the building tension of knowing she's climbing the stairs, moving through hallways toward our rooms, toward me ...
Through our bond, I can feel her exhaustion from the long ride, but underneath it runs the same eager anticipation that courses through me. She's tired, but she's also hurrying, taking the stairs faster than necessary, probably dismissing any servants who offer to attend to her needs. The knowledge that she's as eager as I am to close the distance between us sends warmth spreading through my chest.
In moments, she'll be walking through those doors, bringing with her stories of her trip and the particular energy that only she possesses. The way she moves through space, the subtle shift in atmosphere when she enters a room, the immediate sense of completion that comes when she's near.
I think about the memorial gardens, about Sereven's marker and the choices made in the name of necessity. The path that led us here required decisions I'll never stop questioning, actions that served purpose while exacting personal costs that can't be balanced in any ledger. But sitting here, waiting for Ellie to come home to the life we've built together, I understand something about victory that no amount of formal teaching ever taught me.
True victory isn't measured only in enemies defeated, thoughthat matters. It's measured in the space between what was lost and what was found, in the possibility of building something better from the ruins of what came before. And sometimes, if you're fortunate beyond any reasonable expectation, it's measured in the sound of familiar footsteps climbing stairs toward home.
ELLIE
Thesight of Ashenvale’s walls rising up in the distance makes my heart lift every time.
Home.
The word holds weight it never had when I still lived in Chicago—not when I lived in the group home, and not when I lived in my apartment. I have never had anywhere before that fits me as completely as here does.
“You’re practically bouncing in your saddle,” Mira says from beside me, though her own relief at seeing the city is obvious despite her attempt to sound unimpressed.
I amnotbouncing.”
“You’ve been urging your horse to go faster every few minutes for the past hour. And now you’rebouncing. It’s undignified for someone who supposedly rules Meridian.”
“I don’t rule anything. I just happen to be the consort of someone who does.”
She snorts. “And I suppose the way the settlement leaders hung onto your every word was nothing more than politeness.” Mira’s tone is dry as dust. “The respect they showed you had nothing to do with your own influence?”
Warmth spreads through me at her words, even as I try to deflect them. She’s not wrong. Somewhere along the way, I’ve become someone people listen to, someone they trust. It still surprises me sometimes.
When we finally reach the city, we guide our horses through the outer gates and into streets that bustle with life. The change from how Ashenvale was the first time I ever came here still amazes me. Vendors hawk their wares without looking over their shoulders, children play games that would have been forbidden under Authority rule, Veinbloods use their abilities to help with daily tasks.
What was once a city ruled by terror has become something vibrant and alive.
“Look at you.” Mira shakes her head, following my gaze as I take in the scene around us. “You’re mentally checking off every detail like you’ve been gone for months instead of three days.”
“I like seeing how things change … how they grow.”
“You like seeing proof that what you and Lord Torran built actually works.” She fails at hiding the affection in her tone. “Though, I have to say, I believe your eagerness to get home has less to do with civic pride and more to do with a certain Shadowvein High Prince.”
Heat creeps up my neck. “That’s not?—”
“Please don’t insult my intelligence. You’ve been distracted since this morning. Every time we crested a hill, you were checking to see if we could spot the city yet.” She shakes her head, but I see the way her lips twitch. “Two years together, and you still can’t bear to be apart for more than a few days.”
I glare at her, and she laughs.
