Page 126 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

That was almost worse than a lie. Calroy’s jaw tightened, but he let go when I held his hand. “I’m going to find my sister, and when I do, and I find out you’ve lied through your teeth, I’m coming after you.”

“Make your choice,” the queen barked.

Lucian looked at his brother, as if answers were written on his face.

Pierre shrugged, as if the whole matter was mildly inconvenient. “The Seelie it is.”

“We’ll find your sister.” I squeezed her hand. “One way or another.”

Calroy didn’t answer, his daggered gaze pinned on the brothers. If looks could cause fire, he would have set them ablaze.

The queen waved a hand, and the brothers were escorted out. I’d thought she would punish Pierre for what he’d done to her daughter, but she had no proof of what actually happened. Perhaps sending them away was easier than keeping a constant reminder of what she’d lost so close to her.

“That’s it?” I frowned. “They get to walk free?”

“After the soldiers have time to rest, my mother will be heading toward Eldenmoor,” Calroy said. “To capture the king who aided the Seelie queen. Afterward, she’ll have to deal with two territories, which soon enough, I’ll have to help her rule. Or appoint another. Perhaps then I could put them on trial.”

Whatever he decided, I would stand beside him.

That evening, Calroy and I stood on the highest balcony of the castle, the wind coming off the sea below, Caelum villages spreading out beneath us in the last of the gold light. Winged people soared freely across the sky.

“I never thought this day would come.” Calroy stared out at the city, his beautiful blue eyes gleaming against the moonlight.

“You never stopped fighting, even when you were pretending to be a pirate.”

“Hmmm.” He glanced at me sideways. “The sea kept me sane when nothing else did. Besides, the pirate found you. I’ll give him that much credit.”

We shared a laugh.

“What’s the next step?” I breathed in the cool air and leaned forward against the rail, reminding me of being on a ship.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “We live wild and free.”

I laughed. “Where?”

“Anywhere.” He spread his hands toward the horizon. “It’s a very large world.” He stepped closer and kissed me. “We can live in any of the seven kingdoms if we like.”

I wrapped my arms around him. His hands slid lower, settling at my waist, then lower still and squeezed my ass. “I kind of miss your ship, Former Pirate Theron.”

“Is that so?” He pressed his lips to my neck. “Who says you must pick one? Many places I can undress you.”

“Why don’t we start here.” I touched his hardness and felt him sharpen against my hand.

He growled low against my neck and opened his wings wide, folding them around us both, blocking out the city, the moonlight, and the world.

Below, somewhere in the streets, someone began to sing, carried up on the wind. I recognized the melody before I caught the words.

A star in the darkness will unite us all.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Before we left for Jeju, there was one place I needed to go. Calroy came with me, wings tucked close in the narrow tunnel.

The corridors beneath the arena still held the smell of old blood no amount of time would scrub out. I found the gate at the end of the passage, the same one the boarox had lumbered through after the fight, heavy iron bars sunk deep into the rock.

A ring of keys hung from a hook outside the guard station, abandoned along with everything else the queen’s soldiers had left behind when they fled. I tried them one by one until the tenth caught, the lock groaning as it gave.

For a long moment, nothing moved in the dark beyond it.