Lessia shrugged as she moved her gaze out back over the sea. “Painful memories.”
Fabric rustled as the wind blew through their clothing, and she gripped her hair, twisting it a few times and pulling it over a shoulder when the strands continued to cover her sight.
“I’m sorry if I was the cause of them,” Loche said. “I hope you know I must have done it because of the love I had for you.”
Nodding, she let her fingers glide over the smooth ice, picking at a spot where a crack had begun forming.
“I can still feel it.”
Lessia stiffened when Loche moved closer, one of his legs swinging over so he straddled the railing, his body now turned fully toward her.
“I keep watching you, andI knowit shouldn’t stir any feelings. I remember you removing them—I still feel them being ripped from my mind. But for some reason, your voice snakes its way into here when you speak.” Loche tapped his heart.
“And those eyes…” He sighed. “It’s like lightning strikes me when they meet mine, and I think… I think my body remembers, even if my mind doesn’t.”
Her throat tightened as she turned his way, and she took a step back when the intensity of his gaze deepened.
“I’m sorry,” she offered quietly.
“Were we happy?” Loche’s dark brows snapped together when she took another hesitant step away from him. “For a while, at least?”
Lessia hesitated.
Had they been happy?
The wild ride in the forest replayed in her mind.
The dancing.
The library.
The cave.
Their conversation on the bed when she’d found out Frelina was alive.
“As much as people like you and me can be,” she finally replied.
She tried to muster a smile, but her lips wouldn’t cooperate when Loche’s features twisted, understanding that she wished he didn’t have lowering his chin.
She sensed he was about to ask her something else, so she quickly blurted out, “There is something in this castle that can help us in the war.”
Loche eyed her for a moment. “And what is that?”
“It’s something you gifted to me that I-I didn’t have time to take when I left.”
“I don’t remember gifting anything to you.” Intrigue flickered once more in his eyes as he added, “I don’t think I’ve ever gifted anyone anything before.”
Her heart clenched at his words, but she forced herself to continue. “It’s a stone that glows softly? It belongs to the Fae, and you told me I needed something to light up the darkness when you offered it to me.”
“And what does this stone do?”
Lessia narrowed her eyes.
Something else crossed Loche’s features.
Something calculating.
Something far too similar to what she’d seen of him in the early weeks of knowing him.
