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My heart pounded in my chest. When the ladder was gone, I loosed a long breath. My hands trembled. I wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and cry.
Pushing off the wall, I decided it was high time to go back inside. I turned to the tower and noticed something shining on the ground. I walked over to it, bending down to see what it was. It sunk into the cloud, only its tip pointing out from where the Sky Ladder had just been. I reached into the cloudy floor and pulled it out.
Looking at it, I grinned. Then, I began to form a plan.
Daliah
Pushing my good fortune, I headed straight for the library, knowing Zhèmson would be there reading. I found him in our nook, head bowed low, scouring a scroll. He held a sweet tart in one hand, while causing the words of the scroll to move up and down with the other.
I was about to sneak up behind him playfully to scare him when my eyes snagged on the small space beside him. He hadn’t lounged in a way to fill up the couch. He’d left exactly enough room for my body to fit beside him, like I always did.
I lifted a hand to my mouth, fighting tears. He had a way of paying attention to the little things that made my heart flutter. Without lifting his head, Zhèmson tapped the space, beckoning me to him.
My feet were moving without hesitation. I crossed into the nook, basking in the familiar scent of scrolls. A calm settled over me. I passed Zhèmson, going to sit in my usual spot, when he shot out an arm, pulling me into his lap instead. Those enchanting, amber-pale eyes enveloped me. He lifted my chin with a finger, curiosity furrowing his brows.
“Mm. Something has changed. Hasn’t it, Lightheart?”
Lightheart.
He hadn’t said it since the night of my biggest failure. My chest squeezed. I looked into Zhèmson’s eyes. In them I found profound love, understanding, compassion. My well-being mattered to him. My thoughts, desires, and pursuits all mattered to him. I leaned in and kissed his nose, bringing our foreheads together.
“Yes, it has.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Mm,” I mused. “You know, some magic should remain a mystery.”
Zhèmson chuckled, playing with my curls.
“So be it.”
Then he kissed me. Long, unhurried. I broke away first, panting against his chest. He was quiet as he worked to catch his breath.
“Zhèmson,” I breathed, gripping his unbuttoned tunic. The ridges of his muscles were hard beneath my palms.
“Mm,” he groaned. “I love when you call my name like that.” His hands moved up and down my body, squeezing, groping, leaving me in a bundle of heat and tightened nerves. “I will do whatever it takes to hear it again.” He nibbled my neck. “And again.” He licked my jawline, peppering it with kisses. “And again.” Zhèmson seized my mouth and didn’t let go until I was shaking in his arms.
“Zhèmson,” I sighed, laying my head on his chest. “This tower is surrounded by no armies. No beasts who don’t call you friend. The tower has no locks. It’s even too easy to come and go, in my opinion. What is shackling you to Urien? What keeps you inside of this castle in the sky?”
He was quiet for a long time, brushing my spine gently. He sighed every now and again as he contemplated his answer, before giving one.
“I made a few mistakes along the way. They happened after I gave my oath as a Nazèri. Doing so made me vulnerable. In my weakness, I was betrayed and locked away here.”
“Technically, you could just walk out of here and go back to Avari.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“But surely it has to be. We’ve left here many times.”
“We have… but I never brought you beyond the borders of the clouds.”
That caught my attention. I tapped on his chest, trying to connect the dots in my mind.
“What would happen if we went beyond the cloudy borders? If we tried to go back down?”
“We’d die.”
I started laughing.
