He appeared as he always did, standing alert at the window, hands folded behind his back, eyes on the horizon, always on the lookout for something dangerous, something deadly. As his mind registered where he’d been pulled, what room he was in, his body spun. There was no surprise in his gaze when it found hers. She hadn’t seen his dark blue eyes sparkle with unspoken wonder in a very long time. Now they were always stormy and tumultuous, just like the ocean upon which his people lived.
“Kasiandra, you came,” he said, his voice smooth and unwavering, confident in his authority. The sound brought a shiver to her skin. Kasiandra’d’Rokaro was her name in the world below. Her true name. The one her mother gave her. Though it sounded false, like a lie, every time she heard it.
“My liege,” she murmured. “I have news.”
“The trials have barely begun,” he said, words pronounced like a question.
“They haven’t yet begun. That’s part of my news.”
His dark-blond brows furrowed, but he kept his lips shut, nodding once.
Cassi continued, “A dragon reached the House of Peace.”
His eyes widened a fraction, the only ounce of surprise he let show, and they remained that way, slightly surprised and slightly concerned as she reviewed the events of the past day. The fight with the dragon. Lyana and the raven. The delay of the trials. And lastly, the most important update of all: “Lyana said she’s going to choose the raven prince as her mate. There was something else, something she wouldn’t tell me though I could see the barest glimmer of a secret burning in the corners of her eyes, something about him, about what happened between them. I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually, but I wanted to come as soon as I heard, so you could prepare. At the end of the week, she’ll be journeying to the House of Whispers. And that’s where she’ll be on the eve of her eighteenth birthday.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, dark ribbons of concern weaving through the words.
Cassi nodded, hating to bring an even greater burden. “I’m sure.”
“I thought her father wanted her mated with the prince from the House of Flight.”
“He did,” Cassi agreed. “That’s what I heard him tell his mate and his advisors, but I know Lyana. When she wants something, she gets it. And I’ve never seen her want anything more. The look in her eyes—it was the same one she gets when we go to the edge, when she looks out at the world. So much unspoken desire to see it all, to go everywhere, to explore.”
For a moment his gaze became light and wistful, as though he understood the hopes of a princess he had never seen but knew intimately, as though he sympathized with them. The moment passed.
Cassi trudged on, ignoring the stinging in her chest, the needling prick of an emotion she didn’t want to face. “Trust me. The raven prince will be her mate before the week is through.”
“This changes things,” he said under his breath, then remained quiet for a few seconds. When he looked back at her, endless calculations were spinning in his dark pupils. “You did good work. Excellent work. Come back when the trials are over to confirm, and I’ll update you on the new plans. In the meantime, see if you can determine what this raven prince is hiding.”
“Yes, my liege.”
Cassi knew when she was being dismissed, and she released her hold on his mind, letting his dreams dissolve into chaos once more. By the time she’d pulled out of his spirit entirely, her king was awake, eyes blinking open as he lifted his hands to wipe away the sleep.
He stood and walked to the desk in the corner of the room, then shuffled a few papers before he paused, looking right at her. The hint of a smile fluttered over his lips as the slightest bit of warmth flooded his cool eyes.
“You can’t spy on me, Kasiandra,” he whispered, voice rich and full, the sort of sound only a true body and not a spirit could make—the sound she’d been waiting to hear. “Good night.”
Cassi smiled, content.
She left her king with his worries, only taking one look back at the lonely ship surrounded by fog, something that might have almost been a dream, as she returned to her body and her life in the floating world above.
13
Cassi
When she woke the next morning, Luka was already alert, as though he’d been lying there just waiting for her to stir. She didn’t need to look at his face to see the lines that would be carved into his umber skin, the shadows that would lurk in his warm eyes. Cassi knew they would be there just from the sound of his breathing—not the slow and smooth, carefree sounds of sleep, but the fast, broken, deep sighs that came with finally facing a moment that had been avoided for far too long.
Cassi blinked, opening her eyes and finding his immediately. He was still on his stomach with one smoky wing outstretched, draping over her back like a warm blanket, trapping all their body heat, keeping out the bright morning sun. She had rolled onto her side in the night, wings tucked back so she could sleep facing him.
There was nowhere to run or hide.
No more time to stall.
“You don’t have to say anything, Luka,” she murmured.
“Cassi…” He said her name as though it caused him pain, letting it trail off, unsure where else to go with his words.
“It’s all right,” she soothed, forcing a small smile to cross her lips. “I’m fine, really. We both knew this day would come. And now it’s here.”
She shrugged.
Luka’s expression softened. That was one of the things she always appreciated about him—how caring and considerate he was. He thought she was trying to be strong, for him. He thought she was putting on a brave face. And maybe in a way she was. Or maybe she knew that she’d been using him just as much as he’d been using her, if not more.
“If I weren’t who I am—” He broke off, his voice strained.
Cassi nodded. “I know.”
“If there were any way—”
“I know.”
“I think I might lo—”
Cassi reached out, covering his lips with her palm, trapping the word inside. “Don’t.”
He swallowed, appearing hurt. But she couldn’t let him say it, even if it made him feel better. It was the sort of thing he could never unsay, the sort of moment she didn’t want to steal from him, didn’t want to take away, especially when she knew she would never say it back.
Cassi did love him in a way—loved his heart and his strength, his bond with his sister, his concern for his people, his honor and his loyalty, and just who he was. But deep down, that wasn’t what had drawn her to him.
No.
That attraction, that spark, was only there because he reminded her of someone else. A person who lived a world away. A man she saw only in her dreams. They were both leaders. They were both boys she’d grown up with, boys she watched time tame, boys of mischief and fun who had become men of duty and action. But Luka was the only one she could touch with her real hands.
It wasn’t a good enough reason to steal his first I love you from the woman who would become his mate and his queen, the mother of his children, his future. Cassi wanted to remain a passing memory, one that brought a nostalgic smile and not a regretful fold to his lips.