Page 138 of Season Warriors & Wolves

“To me, you will always be little.”

Her emerald eyes glossed over. “Thank you for finding us.”

I rested my forehead against hers. Holding my little sister like this felt unreal—a dream. “Thank you for staying alive.”

Nia pushed her head out between the two thick brown curtains of the changing room. “I am certainly not going to be wearing this or anything of the kind.”

She’d dreamt of wearing those gowns. Used to parade around my room with quilts tied to her waist and a bunch of herbs in her hand at least one night a week. “Show us.”

“Absolutely not.”

She absolutely was. I stood and she scrambled back in the changing room, clutching the curtains to cover her body. “Helenia,” I hissed, pulling them back. “Let me see.”

The seamstress cocked both fists on her hip and sighed. “It is not done, hen. It will look much different once I fit it to your measurements.”

Nia breathed heavy, still covered by the brown curtains. “I look like a cake topper.”

The old woman tsked and pried the curtains from her hands and tried to pull them back. “A bride is the decoration at her wedding.”

“Moriko can wear the gown.”

Both Thora and I snorted at the same time. “You’re lucky she comes without armour,” I said, crossing my arms. “Does she ever even take it off?”

“Oh, she must,” Thora said, a sly smirk rising on her lips. “I’m sure of it. Now let’s see what the queen will take off you on your wedding night.” My sister ducked and crawled under the curtains to the other side of the changing room and gasped. “Nia!”

The words were muffled, but I heard Nia ask, “You like it?”

“I’ve never seen anything more perfect.”

I laid back on the sofa, just listening to their dimed voices and giggles. The world felt so light and airy. All of a sudden, I was in that meadow in the middle of nowhere, basking under a spring sunset, surrounded by flowers and hay.

I must have laid my head back because sleep was thrust upon me.

For the first time in a while, I didn’t dream.

What I saw was not a dream.

Not emptiness either.

Only a far desire that had only halfway come to life.

I woke to a gentle touch on my cheek and the brush of sunset tangerine rays warming my brow.

“Slept well?” Kilian asked.

“What time is it?”

“Dinner time.”

“Where did Nia and Thora go?”

“Moriko came and took them to Aru for the night. She needed them to make a few arrangements for the wedding venue. Nia didn’t want to wake you, so she called me.”

The seamstress returned from the storage room and bowed to Kilian. “My king.”

“Thank you for looking after her.”

The woman shook her head at me. “Everyone knows she falls asleep in the most ungodly places. We are used to it. These streets you walked have raised that little grump you call a wife.”