“I think a few more of your vicious character assassinations, and he might not be so firm in his opposition. You are a quiet observer, Lunelle, but that does not make me blind. That man, whether either of you would ever admit it, would ride into battle for you this instant. I cannot fault him for that. And I cannot fault you for finding a piece of yourself in his touch.”
Lunelle rested her hand on his shoulder, her lips pulled tight as she fought back a wave of emotion she did not know how to parse out.
“You are notmine, Lunelle. Youareme. I cannot possess something so deeply woven into my being, nor could I lose it to anyone else. We justare—we will always be—in a thousand lifetimes.”
She pushed into him, dragging her fingertips from his shoulders to his face.
“You are right. About a great many deal of things.”
He leaned his face against hers, enjoying the quietness in her chest for once.
“I only ask that you do not carry his heir,” he said softly. “Should this hellish timeline ever straighten out enough that it isn’t foolish to do so, I’d like to hold that one thing sacred between us.”
Lunelle nodded, stroking the back of his neck. That felt like a fair enough request.
“You speak of an heir as if we’ll need one,” she sighed. “I hope there will be nothing but love to inherit.”
He kissed her—a warm, steady thing that no one else would ever be able to provide for her. The safety, the comfort, their version of infinity.
Lunelle sighed, regretting that she had somewhere to be.
“What is it?”
“I’m to meet my sister in the library, we have some catching up to do.”
“Come find me tonight,” he murmured, pulling at her hips and stealing one final kiss.
“How can I find that which is already within me?” she asked, arching her brow as she smirked at him.
“A cruel goddess,” he whispered into her skin. “And yet I cannot help but worship.”
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Lunelle was unsettled—she’d spent most of her day reeling after sifting through Astra’s documentation from Ellume.
Their hunches, it seemed, were right.
Seleniawashiding something, and Oestera knew.
But bigger than that was the note she’d received from Yallara.
Dearest Lunelle,
In my brother’s absence, the movement has gained traction. I fear what he’ll do to me when he returns—if he returns—but you would be proud.
Come see for yourself soon.
It should have been good news. She should have felt excited.
But she could only find dread.
She feared what lengths Arcas would go to when his duty here was done.
“You seem tense,” Lura said, moving in circles around Lunelle as she placed a few final pins in her coronation robes. They were velvet and heavy on her frame, with silver Moons embroidered across the hem, exactly as brilliant as she’d always dreamed they’d be.
“Do I?” Lunelle laughed as Lura stuck another pin between her lips.
“I’m sorry, of course you are.”
