“We’ve only just met? You haven’t known each other forever like us?”
I ignored his mistake on who he was talking too. In all honesty I wanted his focus settled on me. “No. But it’s like we’ve always known one another. I can sense it.”
“That’s how we are. Like I know when you are going to speak, or I turn to answer a question before it’s left your lips.” His gaze wandered to my mouth once again and my tongue tingled with anticipation.
“And you and him. You are close?”
I nibbled on my lower lip. “The way I feel is the same for both of you. Everything is the same.” I shook my head. “I know that sounds crazy.”
His fingers gently squeezed mine. “No. I think I understand.”
“Tristram. You have to let me go. It’s so important that I learn who I am, what power I have. If you try to stop me again then we will both die.”
“I can’t let you go. Her, you, both of you. It’s inconceivable to me.”
“You have to learn. Look at me. I’ve stepped through thousands of years and you’ve sat the other side of the stones and watched me go.”
“I must be soft. The other me.”
“You aren’t. Let me go. When I’m done, hopefully, if I succeed in whatever it is I need to do, you and Mae will get to live happy long lives together.”
“And what will happen to you?”
I hesitated. I hadn’t even thought of that. If I succeeded, learned who I truly was and stopped Mae from dying on the stones… what would happen to Tristan and me in the present? Would I step through to find he no longer existed because we were no longer cursed to meet again at Fire Stone?
“What’s the matter, you’ve gone pale?” Tristram leant closer, forest and warm skin filling my senses.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen. What if I don’t see you again? What if I step through and you aren’t there waiting for me because I’ve changed everything?”
“I can’t believe that. I’ll always be with you.”
“But I don’t know. What if I leave and your Mae comes back and then you are with her, but I, but I…” The end of my sentence tangled in my throat. The thought of Tristan Prince not waiting for me on the other side of the stones slayed me to my core. The prospect of never discovering how far his kiss goes, where we could end up, what we could be… There was no worse prospect in all of existence.
“Mae?”
“Yes?” My voice wobbled, unsure and unsteady.
His fingers brushed against my cheek, wiping away a stray tear. My breath caught in my chest, rasping slightly. I could see his kiss coming before he’d even thought of it himself. “Don’t, please. I’m her, but I’m still not the real woman you are in love with.”
His chest caved slightly, dropping under the pressure of his sigh. “This is complicated.”
“It’s not. You have to let me go. Don’t try to save me. Save our people; keep them far from the enemies grasp until I get back.”
I wished I could reach inside Mae’s memories and find out what led to Mae’s death on the stones. If I could warn Tristram what was coming, his job of protection would be easier. I did know one thing though. “Don’t trust the Druid.”
“Your father?”
“Let him think I’ve been blindly taken. He can’t know I’m here. He wants me, now more than ever. He’s been waiting a long time to see me again. If he if got wind of what I was doing, it would be the end of everything.”
“What are you doing?” His hands were still on me, warm and firm.
“I’m trying to learn my magic to know who I am.”
“Then I should come with you, find out what this is between us.”
“No.” I pushed him away, ignoring the flash of betrayal in his eyes. “No. We die together. It can’t happen again.”
“But, Mae. I’m meant to protect you. I’ve known it for as long as I’ve known anything.”
“This time I’m protecting you. And then when you see me again, it will be your Mae and you can love her, live with her.”
His mouth opened to protest but I stole his words with a kiss. Hungry and desperate, it made the gold in my veins shimmer and burn so bright I could see it everywhere I looked. Screw it! I kissed him harder, my arms winding around his neck, my body flush with his. He sighed into my mouth, his breath warm and enticing, his body responding to mine like a fire on a summer’s day. This could be the last time I saw either of my Tristram’s, I’d make it count. His tongue danced deep with mine, tantalising short probes followed by long and slow licks that made the pit of my stomach ache.
At our feet the trees responded to my silent request, curling roots up his legs, tethering him down with my love. They’d set him free just as soon as I was on my path. The right path. The one that would lead to me to somehow saving those I loved both now and in the future.
When the roots of the trees told me it was time, I broke the kiss. For a long moment I stared at him, my gaze sweeping over his beauty one last time: his long lashes resting on his tanned skin; his lips still pursed, plump from our kiss. Then with a gasp in my throat, I ran from him, my feet flying over the earth that pulsed beneath my soles, the whole time hearing him shout my name.
Out of sight, I paused. I wasn’t going to be able to run the entire way to the red army. I needed a sensible plan. Finding the nearest tree, I placed my hand
