Page 72 of A Veil of Gods and Kings

“Oh.” I gestured to the mountains beyond, draped in a coat of gold. “Let’s watch the sunset instead.”

Hyacinth frowned. “You want to sit out here for an hour when we could get work done to watch the sun set?”

“Yes.”

He blinked twice and then readjusted, pulling his robe off, folding it, and setting it down in the grass. He lay back, twining his fingers together and resting his head on his hands.

“You’re going to stay? That easily?”

He smirked. “You were the one who said we should try new things.”

“Well”—I stretched out beside him, using my knapsack as a pillow—“that was for me, but I can get behind you joining in.”

He laughed, the humming sound of it vibrating against my skin. The whole of the world spread before us, trees whispering secrets to each other, dragonflies zipping through the air, a lake far off shimmering as the sun bowed before it.

“This is my prophecy,” I whispered.

“What? Being the downfall to human princes by distracting them away from their work?”

I burst into a laugh, turning my head to meet his gaze. I held it for several heartbeats as the color of his irises transformed when he tilted his face out of the sunlight.

“Not quite. I’m to be the god of the sun.”

He gasped. “You’re going to be the sun god?”

“No, Cyn,” I deadpanned. “I lied to see how you’d react.”

He clicked his tongue. His face lay so close to mine I could reach out and brush my fingers over it, graze the coarseness of his jaw, trace over his lips. I lifted my eyes back to the rays streaking the heavens.

Hyacinth moved closer to me until our arms brushed. “You sound scared.”

Clouds slipped ahead, their lilac and strawberry forms drifting along. “Maybe you aren’t the only one who wishes his life could be poetic rather than the reality fate thrusts upon him. One day my entire existence will be tied to the sun and its rhythms. It will be my responsibility to make sure it crosses the heavens consistently.”

Hyacinth breathed against my cheek for a moment, his chest rising and falling and then his tone shifted back to playful. “Do you know what scares me?”

“Let me guess. The dye in your kingdom running out and you getting stuck wearing normal people's clothing?”

He scoffed. “You’re a jerk.”

“Yet you stayed out here with me.”

He chuckled. “Yes, well…”

“What is it?” I turned to face him again, the tips of our noses sweeping over each other. I pulled back, breathing in the grassy smell of the hill. “What scares you?”

“Ruining others’ lives,” he whispered. “Making choices that cause suffering or pain for other people.”

Me too, I wanted to say.

But I couldn’t.

The words wouldn’t come. Because I’d already done that, caused others to suffer by my poor choices. It was my greatest fear to repeat it. How unexpected that Hyacinth and I had that in common. But he was a far greater leader than I’d ever be. It was almost a shame I was the god and he the mortal. The world would be in better hands with him at his helm and not me with my selfishness and mistakes and wicked family.

Instead of sharing, I shot back another truth. “I’m afraid of heights.”

He gasped, the peachy colors of the sky giving a shimmer to his skin. “You’re not serious?”

“I am.”