Eventually Tzsayn undid the last one and slid his jacket off. He raised his shirt over his head, revealing his body, half-scarred as his face was.
“Not so pretty, but I hope you can bear it,” he said.
Catherine smiled at him and traced the line down his slim stomach between the scarred and unscarred skin. His muscles twitched. He was beautiful.
And now he turned her round and slowly undid the ribbons of her dress, kissing her neck after every pull. And all the while, Catherine could feel her dress loosen.
“I love you,” she said as he undid the final bow.
AMBROSE
NORTHERN PLATEAU, PITORIA
IT WAS pouring rain, and Ambrose was up to his knees in mud. The mission had gone badly wrong and was getting worse. It had been two days since they had reached the demon hollow—only to discover that it wasn’t a demon hollow anymore. Since then, they had been marching across the Northern Plateau in search of another, to no avail. The men were tired, cold, and hungry, but all they could do was keep plodding on. Ambrose wanted to scream with frustration, except he was too exhausted.
By the light of a low fire that night, Ambrose looked at his soldiers and could see that they had begun to lose their belief. They were quiet, and even Anlax had run out of jokes. Was this where Ambrose’s fight would end? Lost on the Northern Plateau and starved to death?
Geratan looked particularly miserable as he approached Ambrose. “I’m sorry I’ve led you into this mess.”
Ambrose shook his head. “You couldn’t have known that the hollow would close up.” And Ambrose hadn’t even thought it might happen. He was the leader; he should have considered all possibilities when he was planning the mission. He was responsible. Had he been too caught up in his own misery, his own personal problems?
It was up to him to find a solution. “We have just enough food to make it back to the camp if we turn round now. But if we reequip and come out again, it could still take a week or longer to find a demon hollow. We’ll be too late to prevent the Brigantines getting the smoke to their boy army. However, if we stay out here, we risk starving before we find another hollow.”
Geratan winced. “Poor choices both. Which way are you leaning?”
“I don’t know,” Ambrose replied. But he did know. They’d have to head back. His mission had failed.
EDYON
CALIA, CALIDOR
EDYON WAS standing with Byron on his terrace, which overlooked the sea. The white of the buildings of Calia stood out brightly. He looked out and then to Byron. It was a glorious day and a glorious view—Byron was incredibly handsome. “Thank you again for taking the smoke and saving our lives,” Edyon said to him.
Byron smiled a little shyly. “Your father asked me to. He said it might not be necessary. I’m sorry that it was.”
“As am I,” Edyon agreed. Though perhaps not very sorry. He was now the hero of the day, and his father was safe from the traitors.
“There’s something I still don’t understand about your side of the story,” Byron said.
“What’s that?”
“The bit about stealing the mirror. I mean, why were you really in Regan’s room? Did you suspect him?”
Edyon shook his head. “Alas no. I really was in there stealing a mirror.”
“But . . . I can’t believe you’re a thief! Did you not have a mirror in your room?”
“You believe in my vanity more than my thievery?”
Byron smiled and shrugged.
“The truth is that I have a compulsion to steal.” Edyon hated to even admit it. “Obviously I’m not proud of it and it’s hard to explain, but I get an urge to take things sometimes. And I don’t know if it’s because I’m so weak, so flawed, but I give in to it. Every time. I’m never sure when it’ll happen. But I’ve stolen for a long time—since as early as I can remember. I stopped recently, for a brief time . . . There was a person . . . He helped me to not steal.”
Byron raised his eyebrows. “A person?”
Edyon took a breath. Now he had to be really honest. Now he had to say it out loud. “A boy. I loved him.”
Byron didn’t scream in horror, so Edyon continued. “He used to be a servant to my father. It’s a long, complicated story, but fate threw us together in Pitoria. We went through many trials, and I fell in love with him.”