Chapter 130 -Caylix-

Chapter 130 -Caylix-
\-Caylix-

Even now, remembering it sends a strange pull through my chest.

"It didn't feel unfamiliar."

"Veylan?"

I nod.

"I've spent most of my life knowing nothing about that kingdom beyond what I learned from books. Then I found out I was born there, that Erik is my father, that I'm supposed to inherit a throne I don't remember ever belonging to."

My gaze drifts toward the fire beyond the bathing chamber.

"But when I touched that land..."

I shake my head.

"For the first time, none of it felt like something someone else was telling me about myself."

Avi's hand tightens around mine.

"It felt like mine."

There, that's the part I haven't wanted to say. Not because I'm ashamed of it, but because I don't know what it changes. Caelthar is home. Avi is home. Alexander raised me. Agameus trained me. Every memory I possess belongs to this castle and the people inside it. But somewhere beyond these walls is another kingdom, and its earth knew me. Avi reaches out and brushes wet hair back from my forehead.

"You don't have to decide what that means tonight."

I look at her.

"What if I don't know what it means tomorrow?"

"Then you don't decide tomorrow either."

A quiet laugh leaves me. She smiles, but her eyes remain serious.

"You've had your entire life changed in a matter of weeks, Caylix. You're allowed to take longer than five minutes to understand how you feel about it."

Avi presses a kiss against my temple.

"You'll figure it out."

"That's an alarming amount of confidence."

"I have a lot of it where you're concerned."

I turn my face toward her and she smiles. She reaches for the cloth again and washes the last traces of blood from my body. Her movements are slower now, no longer carefully searching for wounds or checking whether something is still bleeding. She runs the cloth over my shoulder, then down my arm before setting it aside.

"Come on."

I glance at her. "Where am I going?"

"Bed."

"But I'm comfortable here."

"You've been in there long enough."

"I've spent days on a horse. I may live in this bath now."

Avi stands and holds out her hand.

"Caylix."

I look at it and then at her. There is something different in her expression now. Not amusement… And not worry either. Something quieter… more certain. I put my hand in hers. She helps me from the bath, immediately moving closer when my side protests the movement. I feel the flicker of concern through the tether, but she doesn't fuss over me. She just steadies me until I'm standing. Then she reaches for a towel. For a few minutes, she takes care of me without saying anything. She dries my hair, my shoulders, my arms. Her hands move carefully around the places where the arrows went through me, but she doesn't look at the wounds the way she did before.

She's looking at me. I notice it when her hands reach my chest and they stop. Her eyes follow the path of one of my runes, then move lower. Something warm brushes the edge of my mind.

I look at her.

"Avi?"

She doesn't answer. Instead, her fingers curl around mine. She leads me toward the bed as something is happening to the tether.

It opens, one barrier at a time. The quiet warmth I've felt from her since returning deepens until I can feel her with a clarity I haven't experienced in days.

Then the last wall disappears. Her thoughts pour into me.

Gods, I missed him.

I stop but Avi doesn't. She walks me backward until the backs of my legs meet the bed.

"Avi."

She doesn't answer. Her hands settle against my chest instead, and she gives me a gentle push. So I sit. She steps between my knees. The tether remains completely open. There is no barrier between us now, nothing softening the shape of her thoughts before they reach me. But unlike the thousands of times I've heard something she never intended me to, there is nothing scattered about them.

She's concentrating. On me. Her fingers lift to the scar above my eyebrow.

I love this scar.

Her thumb traces the thin line slowly.

I know I shouldn't. You got it because of me. Because you put yourself between me and a blade before either of us was old enough to understand what that would become.

My eyes stay on hers.

But gods, I think it's beautiful.

Her fingertip follows the scar again.

I think it's so ridiculously attractive that you carry proof on your face that even as a boy, your first instinct was to protect me.

"Avi…"

The corner of her mouth lifts, but she still doesn't speak. She knows exactly what she's doing. Her fingers move into my damp hair, pushing it away from my forehead before drifting down the side of my face.

And this face.

I nearly laugh.

I could look at him forever.

That shuts me up. Her gaze moves over me with the same deliberate attention as her hands.

I've heard Avi think about me before. More times than she would probably like me to remember. I've heard the thoughts that made her slam the tether closed in mortification. I've heard her wonder about my hands, my mouth, what I would feel like against her. But this isn't that. She isn't losing control of her thoughts, she's giving them to me.

Avi's hands move to my shoulders.

I love how strong he is.

Her palms travel slowly down my arms.

I have watched these arms swing a sword countless times. I've watched him train until every muscle in them shook. I've watched him carry me as though I weigh nothing.

Her fingers curl around my forearms.

And I still can't look at him without wanting to touch him.

Heat rolls through me.

"Gods, Avi."

This time my voice comes out lower. She meets my eyes.

"Lie back."

I stare at her. There is no uncertainty in her expression. I could make some remark about being ordered around in my own chambers, but for once, I don't. Instead, I move farther onto the bed and lie back against the pillows. Avi follows. Her knees settle on either side of my hips as she leans over me, careful not to put any pressure against the healing wounds.

My hands immediately find her waist.

She catches one.

"Let me."

I release her and her hand returns to my chest. She follows the rune on my chest with one fingertip. Gold flickers beneath her touch.

These were always beautiful, even before I knew what they meant, and long before I knew they belonged to a prince.

The light follows her fingers across my skin.

Everything about him has always just been Caylix to me.

My throat tightens as she bends and presses her lips against the rune. Warmth spreads outward beneath her mouth.