Then she asks, “What do you think of Azul?”
I tell her the truth. “He runs his realm as a democracy. Everyone has a say. It’s foolish.”
She frowns. “That doesn’t sound foolish to me.”
She hasn’t yet seen war. She hasn’t seen factions forming, battling against each other.
Eventually, she will see for herself. She will make her own choices for her realm.
Not if she dies unlocking the sword, I think, and my chest goes hollow.
No. Tonight is her night. She wanted to be here, celebrating it. I won’t take that away from her.
I lead her to all the hot-air balloons she wanted to see so badly.
“Choose,” I tell her.
She frowns. “I don’t think we can choose, and I think there’s a line—”
I portal us to the one I noticed her staring at. In moments, we’re floating toward the stars.
She gasps and steps backward, right into my chest.
I snake an arm around her, pinning her to me, holding her where I wish I could hold her forever.
Then, I look over the side.
Panic flares. Nausea roils. But I force myself to look. Force myself not to shrink back at the sight.
For her, I will be fearless.
In my arms, she is an anchor, a steadying presence. Gradually, my pulse slows. The roaring in my ears dims.
The world is small beneath us. Insignificant, compared to what I have in my arms right now.
As my own fear dissipates, hers grows. “I don’t think I like heights,” she says, and, at the same time, I think,I don’t like anything but you.
In that moment, I tell myself I will never be afraid of this again. Both of us can’t be afraid of heights. The need to make her feel comfortable overpowers any remaining shred of terror.
I want her to know she’s safe with me. I want her to know that I would protect her with my life.
I curl forward to rest my chin on the top of her head. “I can portal us anywhere, remember?”
I feel her begin to relax, like I have helped banish her fear, the same way she has for me.
Slowly, she leaves my embrace. She walks to the edge of the basket and looks past it, at the Skyling newland.
Her surprise and fascination make me smile.
“I’ve never—I’ve never been up so high,” she says. She points at a distant mountain range. “I’ve never been on a peak like that. I’ve never seen the world be so ... sosmall.”
I want to show her the Algid. The peaks there, with snow light as dandelions. I want to show her the frost-coated villages of my upbringing. For centuries, whenever I thought of my childhood, I only thought of the bad. But now ... I remember the pockets of light. I want to show her everything I once liked.
She reminds me that I wasn’t always so heartless. And that life wasn’t always so cruel.This is where I want to be, I think. Out of the shade of the shadows, and in her radiant light.
Slowly, I step forward, until I’m by her side. Together, we watch the world in peaceful silence. I drown in her happiness; it is intoxicating, addicting. I can’t help but feel some of it myself.
This moment, I think.I’d like to live in this moment for the rest of my life.
