Chapter 73 The Aftermath pt2
And then he’s kissing me. A sweet, tender assault. As if it’s a choice.
His lips are gentle, brushing against mine with a softness that takes my breath away. His hand cups my cheek, his thumb stroking my skin as if I’m something fragile. The tenderness in his kiss sends a warmth through me, melting the icy grip of my sorrow. I close my eyes, surrendering to the moment, to him.
Our lips move in a delicate dance, exploring, discovering. There’s a vulnerability in the way he kisses me, a silent promise of something I’ve never had. It’s not about passion or desperation this time, but something deeper, something that soothes the ache inside me.
I part my lips slightly, inviting him to deepen the kiss, and he does, his tongue brushing against mine in a slow, intoxicating caress. The taste of him, the feel of his breath mingling with mine, fills me with a sense of rightness I didn’t know I needed.
My hands move to his back, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath my fingers. His warmth seeps into me, grounding me, telling me I’m not alone. His hand trails down my side, pulling me closer, and I can feel the strength in his embrace, the promise that this means something.
When we finally pull apart, our foreheads resting against each other, our breaths mingling in the small space between us, I open my eyes to find him gazing at me with an intensity that makes my heart stutter. “I…don’t understand,” I whisper through tingling lips.
Zaries huffs out a gentle breath. “Neither do I, Anara.” He presses his mouth to my forehead before tucking me under his chin with a deep sigh. “All I know is it feels so damned good to hold the one who wrote those letters.”
The one who loved him with all her heart.
The same person he’s promised to kill over and over.
Do not forget that, child. Do not mistake his guilt and confusion for something else.
I still at the invasion of my mind mentor, for the first moment in a long time feeling like he’s invading something private.
Never let your guard down with this prince, Anara. Or the other prince.
They will never accept who you truly are.
My eyes drift closed, feeling heavy and swollen and gritty after crying. My heart is bruised after the battering of another loss.
Yet my sigh is almost…content. Like I’m where I’m supposed to be.
So I ignore the voice that’s kept me safe from the moment he appeared. I press my face a little more into the warm skin of Zaries Carpathian, the heir of Stormcoast, and let sleep take me.
Because despite it all, just as I predicted in the letter, I don’t want to leave.
The sound of furious footsteps breaks me out of my sleep moments before someone grabs Zaries and heaves him bodily across the room.
I sit up, crying out in shock, and stare blankly at Thorne’s back.
“Stay the fuck away from her!” he roars. “Guards, take him!”
“Thorne, what are you doing?” I jump to my feet and race for Zaries, but Thorne grabs me by the back of the neck and holds me in place.
“Take him to the courtyard,” Thorne growls as guards storm in and pick up a bewildered Zaries off the floor.
“You can’t do this, Thorne, I’m your prince!” Zaries barks, struggling against the hands now holding him.
“In Hellbane I’m the king, little boy, and you were just found with your hands all over my ward! Take him away!”
“Thorne, stop this!” I beg, gripping his forearm as Zaries is carted away.
“When I told you I claimed you as my own child, did you not think I would protect you like a father? I come home to find my fortress blown to pieces, fodder dead, captains wounded, and Silas missing. I come to find you in bed with the very man who’s threatened your life on multiple occasions!”
I blink back tears, surprised at his words. The only people who ever treated me somewhat like a daughter were the kings who passed away and their queens. Hearing Thorne scold me like I’m actually his blood makes my chest clench, especially after learning and losing the knowledge of my past all in one day.
Thorne sighs, his hand slipping from the back of my neck to my face where his calloused thumb wipes away a tear he could not have possibly seen. “When I received the message from Maggie, I ran out of the council meeting with the queens and got here as fast as I could. I don’t think you understand how much you mean to me, Anara.”
“Everyone keeps saying I’m important, that I matter,” I whisper, shaking my head. “Yet every time I get close to figuring out why, the knowledge is snatched away from me. Alric…he said he knew my mother. He was going to tell me everything, and then Malachi burned him. His body didn’t have one stab wound from the alicorns, it was all Malachi.”
Thorne’s hand freezes on my face almost imperceptibly when I tell him that Alric knew my mother. I swear his lips tighten, but his words are calm and comforting as he pulls me against his chest and holds me tightly.
“I’m so sorry, Anara. I know he meant a lot to you, and to lose information before you got it… I can only imagine your pain.”
I sob against his chest, letting myself melt into his arms. It truly feels like being hugged by my father, and that makes something inside me snap. I let loose all the pain and heartache I’d been holding onto for years and cry against his chest until he has to tighten his hold to keep me from falling.
“As for Malachi,” Thorne says, his voice hushed as he strokes my hair and holds me. “According to the questioner, the boy claims he was bewitched by Cinder and didn’t have any control over anything he did. He claims innocence, that he would never hurt you—”
“He’s lying!” I cry, pulling away from Thorne’s chest and staring up at his masked eyes.
“I believe you, but he swears contrition and begs for his life. I would have him drawn and quartered, but the questioner believes him.” Thorne sighs. “And there’s no time to question him.”
I still, sensing fate once more press in close. “No time?”
Thorne steps back as his face hardens to become the dragon master I first met. “Silas’ actions have forced my hand. We cannot wait any longer.”
I straighten, ignoring the way my heart struggles to beat in my too-tight chest.
“That's why I came looking for you. I’ve called everyone to the courtyard for an announcement.”
Even though it’s nighttime.
Even though everyone’s still recovering from the alicorn claiming.
Even though we need more time to train…
Thorne’s stony face, his tense shoulders. The way magic crackles around him tells me everything.
The final test is here.