Her breathing returned to normal, but she could still feel a tingle in her blood and a warmth on her skin, something more than just the afterglow. “You know, I think I can feel the midsummer magic.”
“Seasons turn. We’ll have our day in the sun, just not now.” He linked his fingers with hers and they watched the sky, both knowing that they were over and that they had to go back, but neither wanting to be the first to move.
A deep lowing nearby made Taryn open her eyes. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. Then it all spun back in a rush. She was still in the field. The noise was from a cow that was eyeing her and it was no longer night.
“Ah shit.” She gave Verden a shove. “It’s almost morning.” Dawn had arrived and was nearly over. What time was it back in Annwyn?
Time moved differently there. It had probably only been a few hours, not a whole night—but she wasn’t willing to gamble on that. She grabbed up her dress and started pulling it on.
Verden sat up, his head in his hands. “What is that awful pounding?”
“Hangover, which will be worse if we don’t move it.” She tossed his clothes at him and tried to ignore the pressure on her temples. That was the reason she didn’t drink very often; it didn’t take much to get her tipsy but she always had a killer headache afterward. She’d thought it was just her, but apparently it was a fairy thing.
“You didn’t warn me about that.”
“Sorry. I don’t have aspirin either so you’ll just have to tough it out.” The way she would, until she got back to her room in Annwyn and rummaged through her purse. She should offer him one…nah, they’d broken up and he needed something to remember her by.
He tugged on his pants and boots, and for the first time since she’d known him, he looked like he’d had a rough night. His hair had come loose and was curling on his shoulders with the occasional piece of grass poking out. What did she look like?
“You’ve got grass in your hair.”
Verden stopped doing up his shirt and looked at her. “So do you.”
She hastily combed her hair with her fingers and twisted it in a loose knot, hoping that she looked presentable. “We’ve stayed too long.”
“We’ll be fine. I have been out cavorting and…well, people will assume you’ve been in someone’s bed, just not mine.” There was an edge to his voice, but where he once would have touched her or helped pull the grass out of her hair, he kept his distance. It was better that way. Easier.
“Right, of course.” She glanced at the trees that marked the doorway, anxious to get back, yet not wanting to leave. “Shall we go?”
Verden gathered up the mortal clothing and led the way. She followed, unable to walk beside him in case she accidentally took his hand. What would the Court say if she walked in wearing jeans?
“Remind me again why mortals drink?” He stopped by the doorway.
“To relax, to forget their troubles for a while.”
“They don’t care that the troubles will be waiting?” He reached out to touch her cheek, then pulled his hand back at the last moment.
Taryn turned her head away. “We have to do this properly.”
“I know. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to touch you.”
“Isn’t that what Court is about? Doing things you don’t want to with a smile on your face?”
“No. Court is for the power hungry and those that love the game. The rest live at the edges of Annwyn or in the mortal world. I’m tired of the game.”
“Last roll of the dice?”
He nodded.
“And the King?”
Pain flickered in his eyes before being masked. He was preparing himself to go back, constructing the lie as she watched all emotion leave his face. “I’m still his.” He paused. “Loyal subject as are you.”
She knew they’d been friends once. Now Verden couldn’t stand to see the King with her, and if the King knew what they were doing he’d be pissed. But she loved Verden, not the King, and while there were many things she’d do to get her parents back, going to his bed wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t pretend sex was just a business transaction or part of a deal. It meant something to her. And it meant something to Verden now.
“You’re my first fairy ex.” She forced a smile.
“Ex what?”
“Ex-lover.” Boyfriend didn’t seem quite right.
He placed a kiss on her lips before she could pull back. “Only fairy lover. This is temporary.”
Her heart hitched as she gazed into his eyes, pale gray like rain clouds of a summer storm. “Very temporary.”
Chapter 15
No one was saying it, but Felan knew this was the last midsummer that would be celebrated under his father’s rule. The swelling of the river and the spreading of winter from its banks had gone too far for it to be salvaged. It swirled and sucked at the ground in front of him as if trying to reach him. Every so often, a face or a hand would push against the surface in an effort to get free. How many souls had been condemned to spend eternity drowning, never able to break free and draw breath again? He shivered as if the chill from the river was caught in his blood.
Above him the branches glistened with frost. No leaves remained; the blight was spreading. Every day a little more ground and another tree succumbed to winter. Before he claimed the throne, Annwyn would be coated in snow—but hopefully not for long.
All he had to do was convince Jacqueline to marry him to save both worlds.
Of course, they hadn’t spoken for seven mortal years, but he’d kept watch, unable to look away from the woman who’d broken his heart. The only woman to have ever done that. He looked up at the sound of hooves. The Hunter. His father’s Hunter.
“You are looking exceptionally morose today,” Verden said as he swung off the horse.
“You too.”
“We all have reason to be grim.” He nodded at the river.
They could have spoken over dice or cards. But Felan didn’t want to be overheard and he certainly didn’t want to be seen with Verden too much—no doubt Verden felt the same way, as it might look as though his loyalty was shifting. It wasn’t, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have mutual goals.
“Tell me of Taryn’s deal with my father.”
“You could ask her yourself.”
Felan glanced at the Hunter. Something was wrong and it involved Taryn. “I’m asking you because I expect her to have told you and you will have already examined it and drawn conclusions.”
Verden looked away. “If her father agrees to his original punishment—to serve as a shadow for a year and day—he may return.”
“And Arlea?”
“Nothing specified but she isn’t exiled. I don’t think she’d be welcomed at Court.” Verden spoke carefully. Too carefully.
“And?”
There was a pause as if the Hunter were chewing over something unpalatable. “Taryn is still bound to the King and therefore beyond my reach.”
Felan nodded. “I don’t know if there is much I can do.”
“You placed her there in the first place. You brought her here to get the pardon.”
“And if I hadn’t, you would never have met her.” Felan crossed his arms and sighed. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“Horse shit. You don’t want to do anything.”
“And what price are you willing to pay to have me intercede in my father’s private matters? What reason would you have me give to him when he has pursued her publicly this far?”
Verden took a few steps away and turned around. For a moment Felan saw the raw pain on the other man’s face. “It doesn’t matter; we are over.”
“So soon?”
“How can we continue when everything is set against us?”
“It won’t be forever.” That was all the comfort he could give Verden.