She scoffs and then playfully slaps at my shoulder as she rolls her eyes. “I’m sorry I doubted your skills, my ‘brave and dashingly handsome guard.’”
“Thank you,” I grin, and then my expression turns serious. “Now, I need you to acknowledge that I did not act alone in saving us.”
Her small brow furrows deeply. “What?”
I lean forward, holding her gaze intently as I take her hand. “You killed one of the men before I could even do anything. It was not just my actions that saved us, Kyra. You are not weak.” Feeling bold, I address her as I would have in our other life. “You are my queen and you are strong. We both saved each other today.”
She gently squeezes my hand as a smile crests her lips. “Thank you, Cael.”
I nod. “I’ll keep watch while you rest.”
She looks up at me. “Right now, you don’t hear anything out there that could be a threat?” She gestures to the surrounding forest.
I shake my head.
Her gaze drops to my hands. “How did you know how to… make fire like that?”
I lift my hand to my face and flex my fingers as I study my palm. “I’m not sure how I did it. I only know I was enraged at those men and what they were doing to—” I stop myself short, not wanting to remind her of what could have happened. Instead, I continue. “It just… came to me.”
Her brows go up. “It just came to you?”
“I can’t explain it, and I’m not sure if I can repeat it.” I try to force the flames to appear again, but to no avail. My shoulders sag in defeat. “I can’t reproduce it right now for some reason.”
She blinks several times. “Maybe the more your memories return, you’ll discover how to… make fire again.”
“I hope so. That was a very handy ability to have.” I flex my biceps at her and then grin. “But for now, I’ll have to rely on my impressive muscles to defend us because I am a ‘brave and dashingly handsome guard,’ feared throughout the entire realm.”
She laughs and my mouth drifts open in mock offense. “Really, Kyra. You wound me,” I tease.
She laughs even louder and I’m glad. I love seeing her smile.
After a moment her expression sobers. A tear slips down her cheek, but she quickly brushes it away.
“I’m sorry. I’m not normally this… fragile.”
“You’re not fragile, Kyra. You were attacked. It’s only natural to be upset.”
“Yeah, but according to Willow and Talina, I’m supposed to be some sort of reincarnated queen who can harness these amazing powers and somehow save this world and ours.” She shakes her head in frustration. “How am I supposed to do all that if I can’t even fight off a few bandits?”
I take her hand. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m supposed to be your guard and protector, and I…” I clench my jaw as guilt rushes through me. “I let myself get distracted, and knocked out. It’s my fault you could have been killed and I—”
She puts a finger to my lips to silence me and presses her forehead to mine.
“You saved me. That’s all that matters.”
“We saved each other,” I correct.
She nods softly and closes her eyes. “Yes, we did.”
An image flashes through my mind—a memory of us sparring with each other in the woods. She kicked out at me. Knocking me off balance, she rushed forward and held a blade to my throat as she grinned down at me, pride shining in her eyes. “Do you yield?” she asked.
I laughed. “Only to you, my queen.”
Kyra’s eyes snap open to meet mine, and I know by her expression that she saw the same memory.
“You saw it too?” she whispers, astonishment lacing her tone.
I nod.
“We really were them, weren’t we?”
“Yes, we were.”
She lies back on the blankets and gestures for me to lie down beside her. She turns on her side to face me.
The smell of the surrounding forest is strong, earthy and damp, and the warm, soft mint of her breath fans across my face with the cool night breeze. My heart begins hammering in my chest. I remember being this close to her in our past life.
“Tell me everything you remember.”
I’m reluctant to tell her everything. She has asked that we be open and honest with each other and I want to respect her wishes, but I’m not sure I am ready to admit to feelings that I had in the past and still have even now. I’m certain, even though we were guard and queen, we were lovers as well. Our love was forbidden and somehow… it led to her death.
Her blue eyes search mine as she takes my hand. “Please, Cael. Tell me.”
“I…” I stop, not wanting to admit to her what I feel, but I also don’t want to hold back. My feelings for her grow stronger with each passing moment. I do not know if it’s because of this place or because of the way she’s touching me, but I’m struggling to fight the urge to pull her to me and crush my lips to hers. Shaking my head softly, I force myself to focus as I meet her gaze.
“I remember enough to know we were more than just queen and guard to one another. And even though I cannot access the memories entirely, I know that this love was forbidden and it—” I stop, not wanting to tell her.
“What is it?” she presses.
I clench my jaw. “Somehow it led to your death.”
Her brow furrows. “How?”
“I don’t know.” I pause. “I only know that I failed you and… you died because of me.”
She cups my cheek. “You cannot blame yourself for something that happened then.”
My eyes snap up to hers. “But if we are them: Bryndon and Alora… then how can I not?”
She moves closer to me. “Just because something happened in our
