The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)(73)

The fierce tenderness that swelled in his chest when he was with her expanded, pressing against Kol’s skin until it almost hurt to be so close to her. I never told you about my father’s disappointment in me. Or about my friends following me to Ravenspire without me asking.

She bit her lip. I’ve seen your thoughts, even the ones you didn’t mean to share.

I’ve seen yours too. He met her eyes. For example, I know that you think you’re too serious, but that you wouldn’t change it because it will help you be a good queen. I know you miss growing up with your mother to take care of you. And I know you hate the good memories you have of the time you spent with Irina after your mother died.

It’s weird to know so much about each other when we aren’t even friends.

Who says we aren’t friends?

We hardly know each other.

He raised a brow.

I mean . . . we know each other better than we should for the time we’ve spent together, but we only know the big stuff.

The stuff that usually doesn’t come up in friendships for a long time. He bumped her shoulder again and gave her a smile. How about if we make up for that?

How?

By asking the questions that people usually ask when they want to get to know each other and don’t have the pesky benefit of a magical mental bond getting in their way.

She laughed. Fine. What’s your middle name?

He groaned inwardly. It’s Eilertolvanisk. His words were accompanied by the image of Master Eiler standing beside his father, smiling proudly while Kol took his first steps.

You were named after the headmaster who expelled you from the academy?

He sighed.

Ouch.

I know it. What’s your middle name?

Rosalinde Tatiyana. Rosalinde for my father’s mother and Tatiyana for mine.

Favorite food?

Strawberry tart cake. Yours?

Cheese. Every kind of cheese. He looked up at the carpet of stars above them and searched for another question. Another detail to round out what he knew of Lorelai. How did you get a gyrfalcon as a pet?

Sasha would peck out your eyes if she knew you’d just called her a pet. Lorelai grinned at him.

Then please keep that breach of bird etiquette to yourself.

She leaned back, her shoulder still brushing his, and stared at the sky. It was a few weeks after we’d run from the castle. There was a darkness beneath her words, and Kol didn’t have to look far to see images of her terror and grief when her plan to expose Irina fell to pieces and left her orphaned and homeless. We were staying with an old woman in the Falkrains who was doing her best to treat Gabril’s leg. I wasn’t supposed to leave the cabin, but Leo convinced me to sneak out one afternoon so we could explore the woods close by. Sasha was just a baby, and she’d fallen from her nest. Her wing was crushed.

I picked her up. She turned her hands over, palms facing up, and examined them as if she could still see the gyrfalcon lying there. I held her in my bare hands, and the magic was just there, waiting. I spoke an incantor, and my magic entered Sasha’s body and healed her.

And that’s why you share a mental bond with her?

She nodded. I took her back to the cabin because she would’ve died out there on her own. She was too little to hunt. That’s when Gabril decided I needed to start wearing gloves. He didn’t want my magic to touch anything else in Ravenspire in case it had been bespelled by Irina.

A wise man.

She smiled. Yes, he is. But enough about that. What’s your favorite memory?

He thought it would be impossible to find an answer, but a memory rose to the surface unbidden. He was six, standing on the field behind the academy, the rest of his class lined up to his right, receiving a ribbon for the best flight time out of all the first-year cadets. Father was smiling proudly, his hand on Kol’s shoulder, while his mother winked at him, her arm around Rag, who looked as superior and unimpressed as a nine-year-old could manage. Brig played at his mother’s feet, unconcerned with the honor her brother was receiving.

That’s a nice memory. She smiled at him.

It’s the one time I remember my father being proud of me.

She met his eyes. I’m sure he was proud of you far more often than you ever realized.

He shrugged as though her words didn’t matter, but he knew she could see the truth. So what’s your favorite memory?

An image of Lorelai as a child sitting outside on a blanket eating berries while a woman with Lorelai’s pale skin and brown eyes knelt behind her, braiding the princess’s long hair. A boy who looked remarkably like his sister slept on the blanket beside Lorelai.

Your mother and Leo? he asked, though he could already see the answer.

She nodded, and they sat in companionable silence listening to the ebony boughs creak gently while somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. Finally, she stirred restlessly, and he could already see the plans taking shape in her mind. Wake Gabril. Pack the tent. Destroy the intersection and spread the damage wide enough to prevent anyone from traveling to the capital until the road was repaired.

Before she could say the words, he stood and leaned down to offer her his hand. She took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

I’m glad we’re friends. Her tone was serious, her smile shy.

I am too. He watched her turn back toward the tent and let the warmth of their friendship push against the whispers that wanted him to destroy her.