Page 83 of To Fight and To Fold

"Sure," Thea said, and cleared her throat again.

Aaryn held the loose corset to her chest and turned to see her out.

"Yeah—yes." Thea continued, eyes lowering to Aaryn as she stepped back. Her bravado was gone, gaze caught on the way Aaryn clutched the corset to her chest, despite the lack of additional skin showing. "I'll just be—" She hiked her thumb over her shoulder and turned abruptly, scrambling for the knob on the door before she let herself out.

Aaryn's cheeks were hot as the door closed in Thea’s wake. Then she chuckled softly at the ridiculousness of Thea playing brave and suave and cool and then knocking into the frame.

How could she be so terribly endearing after everything she'd done?

The thoughts did not stop spinning as she undressed and redressed, and then even still as she slipped into the shoes Thea had loaned her. The tunic was a bit too large in the shoulders, but the pants fit.

She draped her dress over one of the two kitchen chairs, and the jewels of her hand wrap winked in the low light. The passing seconds were heavy with the weight of her decision, but the chain felt heavier as she unhooked it, and unwrapped her wrist and fingers. She stretched them out and felt the emptiness at the back of her hand… and placed the jewels atop her dress.

They belonged on her hand even less than Aaryn belonged in Evergale.

And yet she mourned them, if only because the jewels had matched Starspark's scales. Aaryn had so clearly belonged to him, not Evergale.

She cracked the door open. Thea was turned away, hands held behind her back.

"Alright, I'm ready to get back to Starspark," she announced.

Thea turned, and Aaryn watched her gaze trace her frame not just once, but twice. It lingered on her hand.

"They fit," Thea said, and swallowed. "The clothes look great on you."

"Thanks," Aaryn murmured, shoving her hands into her pockets and followed after Thea as they retraced their steps to the center of the small town.

"Was this all built with magic?"

"Yes. Druids brought the land itself from the earth, and little by little we made it… this."

What did that even mean? Aaryn felt silly for not knowing. "You've been here a long time?"

"Since I was a kid. Before it was this, when the circle was just one isle."

Aaryn turned her shock onto Thea. "You saw all this come about?"

Thea chuckled, and glanced away as she ran a hand through her hair. "There's a lot to learn about us. In time. We can't go giving away all our secrets on the first night."

"I guess I'll have plenty of time to figure it out, hm?" Aaryn asked.

There's no going back.

"Regret it yet?" Thea asked, motioning for her to step into the teleportation circle.

Aaryn bit the inside of her cheek as Thea activated the runes, and the landscape before her shifted, changed in the blink of an eye. So easy, so… magical.

Starspark was waiting for her, close enough that she could find him as soon as they arrived.

"No."

She stepped off the circle without even asking, making her way to him.

"I told you we'd be fast," she said as Starspark wiggled his large tail and shook his head back and forth in excitement. He bumped his snout into her as she drew closer, happy little whines slipping from him that she'd never even heard before.

No. She didn't regret it. She doubted she ever would, if she got to greet Starspark like this every day.

It was dark. There were… things gripping at her legs, a band of pressure around each one. She tried to flex the extensions from her back, instincts screaming to flee, but her wings didn't move. Her mouth couldn't open, something biting into the skin around her snout to keep her from doing so.