Well, he’d never been known for prudence or caution. Raff strolled into the chapel and sat beside her. A mark of her absolute introspection, she didn’t notice his arrival for a couple of minutes. Then she started, her breath coming in a sharp inhalation. In such a restrained person, that qualified as a shocked scream.
“I’d apologize for intruding, but I’m not sorry, so let’s bypass the part where I feign remorse, as I’m not very good at it. I rarely regret yielding to my various impulses.”
“Good evening to you as well,” Thalia said.
“Does it bother you that I’ve omitted a traditional greeting? Then how about, ‘Hello, fair princess, why do you tarry in this desolate place?’”
“I might tell you if you truly wished to know and were not just mocking my preference for good manners.”
“That’s unfair. I was teasing, Lady Silver. Mockery has unkindness at its heart while teasing springs from affection.”
“A spurious claim. You scarcely know me. Therefore, it can only be the former.”
“Is that so? Well, my curiosity was sincere at any rate. What are you doing here?”
“I was praying,” Thalia said. “And now, I’m sitting.”
“Alone, in the dark?”
“Not anymore, though it is still dark. We have a couple of hours yet before sunrise.”
“How should we spend them?”
Thalia tilted her head. Even in this light, he could see her clearly. “You should get some sleep before the festivities start.” Impossible to miss the faint tinge of bitterness, the emphasis on the word ‘festivities’.
“If you have doubts, it’s not too late to stop this. You could marry up with the Gilbraith wad who issued such a lavish ultimatum.”
“I’d rather die,” she said softly.
“No need to be dramatic, ‘no’ is good. Works for so many unpleasant occasions.”
“I’ll remember that. Even if you can’t sleep, we should go. Except I’m not sure if I can. My legs seem to be asleep.”
That was easily enough solved. Raff rose first and pulled her upright; she hadn’t exaggerated, though, and Thalia stumbled against him. He supported her, noting the way her heart sped up. That might be simple nerves, however. There was no reason to read it immediately as attraction.
“Better?” he asked, after a long moment. “Can you walk now?”
“I think so.” To prove her assertion, she took a step, then another, steadying herself on the cool stone wall.
“Then I’ll see you to your room.”
“You offer as if I’m in danger,” she said lightly.
“I’d rather not test it. It’s not like I expected to get shot with anti-Animari rounds while we were out hunting.”
Her shoulders rounded slightly, as if he’d added to her burden with that reminder. “Fair point. I’ll welcome your escort.”
Great, they weren’t even past the wedding night, and he was already making shit worse. Raff had seldom felt more useless. While the Eldritch princess might need his troops and his technology, the odds didn’t seem promising that she’d welcome anything he had to offer personally. That shouldn’t even bother him.
Being purposeful wasn’t his strength anyway. Life of the party? Yes. Leading the way out in the wild? Certainly. He could also drink most people under the table and beat nine out of ten challengers in a bar dust-up. None of those skills would keep his people safe like the Pax Protocols.
“My pleasure,” he mumbled.
She sighed audibly. “Do you mind if we detour? I’d like to get some air and see the stars before I turn in.”
That would be the perfect atmosphere to make a move, flirt a bit and see if he could thaw her out. Only it seemed…wrong to look on her that way, but he didn’t know how else to be. People fell into two categories: those he could charm and those who saw him as a nuisance. Thalia didn’t seem willing to join either camp, currently.
“It’s cold. Do you have a coat?”
“I’m already numb from crouching on the chapel floor and I’m used to discomfort. Indulge me for five minutes, won’t you?”
“Easily done.”
In silence, she led the way to the stairs that wound upward through the west tower, closest to the chapel. There was nobody stationed on the wall, but she likely had motion detection drones deployed that would sound the alarm in the security room. Too dark to see the sloping hills, and above, it was all blackness and stars. Even in Pine Ridge, they didn’t shine so sharp and clear, too much light pollution.
“It’s breathtaking,” she whispered. “But at the same time, it makes me feel so small…and I need that, so I don’t get lost in my own nonsense.”
“What do you mean?”
“Perspective. I can’t believe my own propaganda, or I’ll become a queen people fear, not the leader they need.”
Maybe it was the late hour, but that just seemed so wise and profound that he couldn’t figure out what to say. So he offered, “I didn’t mean to upset you, before. With what I said about needing protection here.”
“You didn’t say anything that was untrue. I let you come to harm after I promised safe shelter.” Her lips compressed on more words before she shaped them into a smile.
“Sod that noise. I’m alive and I’ve got another pretty scar to show off. You know how rare that is?”
“Is it? I didn’t realize. If I’m honest, I haven’t spent much time among your people.”
“Or your own for that matter, if stories can be believed.”
“Pardon me?”
“I understood that you weren’t allowed to leave Riverwind for quite some time, after you openly opposed your father.”
“That story is circulating everywhere, I suppose. Damn Gavriel. He thinks I’m a martyr to the cause.” She whirled away from the wall and headed down.
Just as well, she must be chilled to the bone.
“Princesses locked in towers always suffer,” Raff said. “It’s enough torment to
