Page 28 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

“I lost so much blood,” he said, his voice flat, “that I wasn’t even conscious until a week later. When I killed my father, the bond…it…” He shook his head, eyes on the floor, and I felt the emptiness and pain that flooded him. "I thought she could fight it. She hated him, in the end, for what he had done to me. But it took her, too.”

I understood now that this was one of the risks of completing the bond. One of the reasons Caspian had refused to do it on the island. If something happened to him, I could die too. “It wasn’t your fault, Cas.”

“I know,” he said with a heavy sigh. His eyes were silver lined when he looked up, and I ached to kiss away the tears. “I’ve had fifteen years to come to terms with that. But that doesn’t mean all of my people have.”

“Arctos?” I asked, remembering the most hateful of the councilors.

“Among others,” Caspian confirmed. “The males who attacked you swore they were sent by Ilya Stormcrow.”

“You let him live?” I asked. I knew Caspian had mercy in him, but admittedly, this surprised me.

Caspian barked a sardonic laugh. “No. I broke his wings and threw him into the sea. I was sure he died.”

“Then how—”

“I don’t know how, Urchin, that’s just the thing,” he replied, running a hand through his hair agitatedly as his wings rustled. “But that piece of shit who attacked you swore it was him. That he’s hiding somewhere in Nordhavn.”

“Everything seems to point to Nordhavn,” I sighed, wishing Astraios would come back already. It would be at least another week until hereturned with my father’s reply, and then another several days for us to make the trip there by boat. “Why does he want me?”

“I don’t know,” Caspian replied wearily. “Whether it’s the real Stormcrow or someone adopting his identity, he wants you for something. Which is why I have to go. Tomorrow.”

I started. “What? But we’re meeting my father there in only two weeks.”

“I can’t wait two weeks to deal with this,” he replied, shaking his head. “If I fly overland, I can be there and back within the two weeks it will take for Astraios to return. I can find the Stormcrow and end him properly before he has another chance to hurt you.” Caspian’s eyes met mine, a fierce fire in their depths.

And I knew, somehow, that he meant for me to stay behind, safely ensconced in the cliffs with nothing to do but wait for him.

“When do we leave?” I asked casually, as if this were the only obvious conclusion.

Caspian blinked. “Weare not, Urchin,” he growled, his eyes flashing in warning. “You will stay here where you’re safe.”

“I suppose I could probably make the swim if I had to,” I mused, studying the veins of moonstone in the ceiling of the cave and ignoring Caspian’s growl of protest. “I’d probably be a day behind you, as long as the sea dragons don’t eat me first.”

“Urchin…” Caspian warned.

“Caspian,” I replied, using the same tone as I unfolded my legs to stand and climbed into his lap. He was so surprised as I straddled him that I managed to sneak in a kiss before he could protest, crowing a little in victory when his hands came to my hips and he let out anunwilling groan.

“If I am to be your equal, your queen,” I continued, twisting my fingers into his hair and tugging slightly to make sure his eyes remained locked on mine, “then you need to treat me as such. I am coming with you to Nordhavn. I will help you hunt down this Stormcrow and end him before we deal with my father. Nothing will happen to me as long as you and the sea are protecting me.”

“If somethingwereto happen to you…” His throat bobbed on a swallow, and I silenced his fears with another kiss. This one was deeper than the last, and his arm was firmly around my waist, his tongue brushing mine when I finally pulled away.

“Nothingwill happen to me,” I whispered, brushing a hand over the edge of one wing and smirking at the shudder that racked him. “I am yours and you are mine, and in case you’ve forgotten, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

As a reminder, I tugged on the raging sea outside and pulled a wall of water around us, the sound of it rushing and fierce as it soaked Caspian’s wings and flooded the floor.

Caspian raised a brow at me as I banished the water, letting it cascade out of the hidden window in the cliff and leaving everything rather soggy.

“It would be more impressive if I weren’t wet,” Caspian commented dryly, earning a pinch on the bicep.

“Insufferable.”

“Prickly.”

He kissed me again, this time pouring his anxieties and fears for meintome. I took them and held them close to my heart as I kissed him back, and he let out a shuddering breath as we broke apart.

“I love you, Urchin,” Caspian murmured. “Just in case that wasn’t clear.”

“Even though I’m prickly?” I teased.