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I crush myself to my brother again, wrapping my arms around him and he returns the gesture. “I love you, Bowman.”
“I love you, too.”
He pushes me away enough to look into my eyes. “You can marry whomever you choose. Fort. A frog, I don’t care.”
“A frog?” Fort questions. “You think so highly of me, Your Highness.”
Bowman grins over my head at him. “Ribbit.”
I roll my eyes despite the joy in my heart. This is the brother I have missed. The brother I grieved.
Just past him, Lacrae steps from the shadows. The bruises on his face have turned yellow, his golden gaze haunted. “Why didn’t you use the salve?” I demand as I release Bowman and rush toward the elf who has proven his loyalty to me again and again.
“Alysia couldn’t be healed. Why should I?”
Tears mist my eyes, and I wrap my arms around him gently enough that I won’t cause any further injury to wounds I cannot see. He returns the embrace. “I am so sorry, Lacrae. Had I known—”
“You both did what needed to be done.” He pulls away. “And now we are free because of her sacrifice.”
“She didn’t deserve to die.”
“No,” he agrees. “But she would have appreciated what came of her death.”
Salma comes around the corner next, smiling widely when she sees me. “Your Highness,” she greets.
I drop all pretenses and offer her the same embrace I gave Lacrae. “You saved them. Thank you.”
She returns it then releases me. “To be honest, all we did was open the door. Your warrior had already done the rest.”
Chapter 35
Fort
I never thought I would miss the ice.
But as I wrap my furs tightly around my body and stare out at the icy landscape surrounding the Land of Giants, I find myself smiling. This frozen world carries a feeling of home, for just over the cliffs lies Navalis.
Waiting for us to take her back.
It’s a siren song in and of itself, to be honest.
Carleah stands beside me, her piercing blue gaze focused only on what’s ahead. Wind whips at her white hair, sending the few free strands flying around her face. Though, even with the snowy backdrop, she looks nothing like the woman I fled Navalis with.
She is a warrior now.
A fucking queen.
The two weeks it has taken us to travel up to the top of these mountains in such harsh conditions has been a welcome reprieve from the war. But I’ve no doubt that, somewhere up here, Patrick and his army lie in wait for us.
“We should keep moving,” Bowman says.
“Yes. I long to be free of this ridiculous chill,” Harmonica says, her teeth chattering. “How do you survive this?”
Bowman smiles at her, adoration in his bright gaze. “You find ways of keeping warm.”
Her cheeks flush, and Carleah chokes on a laugh. The king of Navalis has been flirting nonstop with the siren since she joined us back in Soreno. And so far, neither of them have acted on the connection they each feel toward the other.
Hell, the heat between them could melt the ice if they gave in. Of that, I’m sure.
