Page 80 of Elemental Becoming

Sera chuckles, shaking her head, but there’s something softer in her gaze when she looks at Rowena. A warmth there. An understanding.

Rowena leans over and presses a kiss to Sera’s cheek—casual, effortless, yet somehow lingering.

“And to good company,” she murmurs.

Sera hums, tilting her head slightly, as if considering something. “Careful, Rowena. Keep that up, and I might start thinking you have a soft side.”

Rowena arches her brow. “I have layers.”

Lyra groans dramatically. “If anyone else in this room starts making eyes at each other, I’ll finish this bottle myself.”

Sera swirls her wine, watching the dark red liquid. “My turn, I suppose?”

Lyra nods. “No getting out of it now.”

Sera hums, then says, “I ran away once.”

The table stills.

I blink. “You did?”

Sera nods, her gaze drifting. “I was sixteen. My parents wanted to arrange a match for me—someone with power, with standing. I didn’t want it, so I left. Took one of my father’s horses and rode as far as I could.” She lets out a quiet breath of a laugh. “Didn’t get far, though. My father’s guards found me before the night was over.”

Rowena shakes her head. “Of course they did.”

“What happened after?” I ask.

Sera smiles faintly. “They brought me home, but I made my choice clear. I wouldn’t be bartered away like some political token. After that, my father stopped trying to control my future.”

Rowena’s hand settles on her wife’s leg, her thumb brushing absently against the fabric.

“It caused a lot of friction in my family,” Sera continues, her voice even. “Especially after I met Rowena.”

There’s the smallest shift in the room at that declaration.

“My family couldn’t accept my choices.”

She glances across the table at Lyra and me, her gaze quiet,her features set.

“My family had already chosen the shape of my life,” Sera continues. “A suitable husband. A useful alliance. A daughter who did as she was told.” Her mouth curves without humor. “They expected something . . . more traditional.”

Rowena lets out a soft breath. “Mine didn’t.”

Sera’s gaze drops briefly to Rowena’s hand. “No. They didn’t.”

Rowena leans back, one arm draped over the back of her wife’s chair. “We just had so much going on at the time between Kastiel’s death, my mother’s illness and then her death.”

Sera stills, adjusting her sleeve. “Yes, the timing didn’t help.”

I glance between them. “You’d just declared yourselves.”

Sera nods. “Publicly.”

Rowena huffs quietly. “And everything else fell apart at the same time.”

Her voice stays even, but I hear the weight in it.

“And then my father fell ill.”