Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3)(107)

And Septimus.

They lay in one another's arms much later, the moon now settling down, though dawn was nowhere near. Isana could hardly believe what was happening to her. Her arms tightened on Septimus in languorous wonder, feeling the warmth of him, the strength of him, the beauty of him.

He opened his eyes slowly, smiling at her the way he smiled at nothing and no one else, and it made Isana feel deliciously smug, delighted.

She closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into his chest. "My lord, my love."

"I love you, Isana," he said.

The truth of it rang in Isana's heart. She felt it between them, flowing like a river, running endlessly through both. "I love you, " she whispered, and shivered in pure delight. "This is... this is like a dream. I'm terrified that if I open my eyes, all of this will be gone, and I'll find myself in my cot."

"I couldn't bear it if this wasn't real," Septimus murmured into her hair. "Best you stay asleep then. "

Isana opened her eyes and found herself in a strange bedchamber.

Not in the moonlight.

Not young.

Not in love.

Not with him.

Septimus.

She'd had the dream before-memories, really, perfectly preserved, like a flower frozen in a block of ice. They made the dream so real that she could never remember, while it happened, that she was dreaming.

It hurt just as much to awake from the dream as it had all the times before. Slow, slow agony pierced her, taunted her with what might have been and never would be. It was pure torment-but to see him again, to touch him again, was worth the pain.

She didn't weep. She was long since past the tears. She knew the memories would fade before morning, washed away into pale ghosts of themselves. She just held on to those images as tightly as she could.

The door opened, and Isana looked up to find her brother leaning in the doorway. Bernard entered at once, strode to her bedside, and gave her a warm smile.

She tried to smile back. "Bernard," she said in a weary voice. "At some point, I would like a few weeks to go by in which I do not faint during a crisis."

Her brother leaned down and enfolded her in a vast hug. "Things will settle down again," he told her. "Lord Cereus says its because your watercrafting is so strong, without being complemented by enough metalcraft to endure your own empathy."

"Lord Cereus," Isana said. "Is that where I am?"

"Yes," her brother answered. "In his guest quarters. Cereus has offered the hospitality of his citadel to the Citizen refugees trapped here."

Isana lifted both her eyebrows. "Trapped? Bernard, what is happening."

"War," Bernard said shortly. "Lord Kalarus marches on Ceres with his forces. There will shortly be battle joined here."

"The fool." Isana shook her head. "I take it there is not time to leave?"

"Not safely," Bernard said. "You were particularly targeted by the assassins who attacked the restaurant, and there are agents of Kalare in the city and advance forces already in the area. You're safest here. Giraldi will stay here with you, as will Fade."

Isana sat bolt upright. "Fade. He's here, in Ceres."

Bernard hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "In the hall, in fact. And armed. And I've never seen anyone fight like he did." Bernard shook his head. "I always thought him just a disgraced legionare."

"Why is he here?" Isana demanded. "Why is he not with Tavi?"

Bernard blinked mildly at her. "Tavi? I know Gaius took Fade to the capital to serve as a slave in the Academy..." His frown deepened. " 'Sana? You're upset..."