Page 75 of To Fight and To Fold

Thea held in a scoff. As if.

Aaryn's grip on her hand eased, but they remained connected, and Thea tried to remember how her hands usually existed by her sides. Natural.

"I thought you said there would be no prison bars?" Aaryn said this carefully, and her hand went oddly still within Thea's.

Stone pillars surrounded them, with runes carved into their surface, emitting a soft glow. Beyond the pillars and trees in their vision was what Thea considered to be paradise. Home.

But Thea could see how she got the wrong idea.

"Don't lose your wit," Thea drawled. "This is just the teleportation area. But first—" Thea drew in a breath, treading unchartered territory. "There's something we have to do before I can take you in."

Aaryn squinted at her, and finally their hands parted as Aaryn stepped back to brace them on her hips, suspicion clear as moonlight on her face. It looked pretty there, with her flushed cheeks and rouged lips, even thinned in such a fierce line. "And what's that?"

Thea decided she liked this… spark in Aaryn that she'd never seen before, the one ready to flare at any moment.

They'd always carefully danced around one another when Thea had been falsely wearing Evergale's insignia. Maybe Thea had been fearful of offending her and ruining the mission.

Now she didn't have to hide anything, or treat Aaryn like such a… princess.

"I need to search you," Thea told her, and tried not to grin as Aaryn scoffed, as predicted.

"As if I could hide anything in this," she complained, and waved a hand at herself.

Thea crossed her arms and waited for permission. Aaryn stared at her, that stubborn streak flashing as their gazes met, tension taut between them.

"Fine!" Aaryn snapped, and held out her arms. The chain of jewels adorning her left hand rattled softly, emphasizing her scar and her vexation. Thea bit down on a smirk and stepped toward her, ears perking when Aaryn began to mutter about truces and truths that should've been revealed before any agreements had been made.

"What, you're gonna let a few touches keep you from Starspark?" Thea teased, hands falling to Aaryn's waist, on the corset of her dress. The bold touch was almost a challenge, and yet embarrassment warmed Thea's face.

At first, Aaryn didn't rise to the occasion, head turned away, chin tilted. A "hmph" fell from her pouted lips. The moment stretched on and Thea selfishly stole the time to admire her.

Damn it all, she looked gorgeous. The soft pink of the dress only made her deeper hair color even more vibrant, and the cinched waist of the corset emphasized her shape. The long skirt fluttered around the tops of her shoes, which were not grass-friendly material, dainty and most likely uncomfortable.

Thea knew she wasn't likely to find anything. After all, where would she even hide another weapon, or a magic scroll?

Would the prince have even trusted her with something like that?

He had certainly danced with her as if they were close.

A discordant twang struck in her chest at just the memory of his hands on her, and Thea shook it away, drawing in a breath to focus on the moment.

Unfortunately, that breath was laden with the scent of Aaryn. Florals and white amber.

"Well?" Aaryn drawled, and Thea came back to herself.

Her fingers drifted to the ritual dagger belted at her waist. Aaryn huffed and finally glanced down to watch Thea relieve her of its weight.

But now they were far too close, and if Thea just… looked up, their noses might bump, and she held her breath, slightly terrified. It reminded Thea of that night in Aaryn's room, the same tension threading between them, ready to snap.

Thea worked her fingers against the knot, digging the strip of fabric out of its bind. It went slack around Aaryn's waist, and Thea slid it into her own belt.

"Now…" she began, all bravado and smirky. Inside, she was rattling.

She placed her hands on Aaryn's sides, dragging them down firmly enough that she would feel a sheath or a hilt of a blade. If Thea was more polite, perhaps she'd have volunteered the use of the backs of her hands. But Polite Thea had been left behind, along with that atrociously shiny Evergale armor. Thea wasn't the knight Aaryn once knew.

She was a druid. And this was fun and daring and Aaryn's face was so red and her lips were parted just the smallest bit. It was the cutest thing in the entire world.

Thea liked flustering her. So she lowered her touch.