Ryon frowned. Felix had told him that Lee was killed during the attack. As if Kira hadn’t suffered enough already.
He pulled a hand out from under the quilt and placed it on Kira’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”
Kira’s expression constricted, then smoothed with obvious effort. “I . . . just can’t believe it.” She sniffled and swallowed. “He was only here because of me. To find me. To protect me. If I hadn’t left—”
“Hey. This is not your fault.” Ryon slid his bandaged hand up to her soft palm and squeezed it until she looked at him, ignoring the pain. “This was Zamara and the Emberhawk and Sa’alu and the Empire. We will make them pay. I swear.”
Kira’s gaze lit with blue fire. “And Lysander?”
Ryon grimaced. “I don’t know. He tried to warn me, but there wasn’t enough time.”
Kira took her hand back and selected a spiny aloe leaf. She crushed it between her fingers, massaging gel from its flesh. “So he was involved.”
Ryon considered his words carefully. “In some way, yes. Zamara was controlling him, but obviously he tried to stop her. It’s complicated.”
Kira took his hand and carefully unfurled the bandage. “If he hadn’t tried to help Mom, I . . .”
A long moment of silence passed as Kira squeezed juice from the leaf and gently smeared it across his burned palm. Instantly the cool touch relieved a portion of the ember’s kiss.
“I don’t think Felix found him, so he might not have survived,” Ryon murmured. “But if he has, he’ll be arrested. Brooke will question him and ensure justice is done.”
Kira glanced at him for a moment before returning to her work. “Are you okay with that?”
“I’ll do it myself if I have to.”
Tension in Kira’s shoulders released as she reached for his other hand. He offered it to her.
“Thanks for doing this,” Ryon said. “I heard you were the one who killed Zamara.”
She shrugged, and he thought he saw a smile ghost across her full lips. “What? It’s not like she was a god or anything.”
“Mmhmm. Why am I not surprised?” Ryon noticed a handprint-shaped burn on Kira’s neck as she moved. “Let me help you with that.”
Her puffy eyes blinked as her face reddened. “Oh, uh, I can do it. Your hands are burned.”
“Really?” Sarcasm dripped from his tone. He grabbed a leaf and crushed it as she had. “Come here.”
“I . . . but my tunic—”
“Just sit down.” Ryon carefully sat up in bed as Kira hesitated, then perched on the edge. She pulled her curls over one shoulder, revealing her slender back.
Ryon willed his pulse to calm. He squeezed aloe juice into his palm and raised it to Kira’s neck, where her otherwise flawless skin was discolored and marred.
“It’ll probably scar,” Kira said. “At least I can cover it with a scarf in the winter time.”
Ryon had difficulty focusing on her words. The tunic Yesha had given Kira had a gold metal band that encircled her neck, and the skin under it was slightly burned as well. She needed treatment lower than his hand could go. But skies, it was tempting.
Finally he thought of something to say. “I wish Zamara would be resurrected so I could kill her again for this.”
Kira looked over her shoulder, and he drowned in her aqua gaze. “Why did you leave me?”
Ryon’s breath stalled in his lungs. “I thought . . .” He removed his hand from her neck and swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I was just angry—I never should have left you like that. Maybe you can forgive me one day. But Tekkyn . . .”
“Tekkyn was only fighting you to maintain his image to Sa’alu. And because he thought you burned down our hay barn on purpose,” Kira said curtly. “Both problems have been rectified.”
Ryon studied her expression—was that stubbornness or frustration? Or desire hiding behind a mischievous smirk?
“Well, in that case, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be courting.”
Kira bit her lips to prevent a smile, but it didn’t work. “You’ll have to ask my dad,” she said as thumping from the distant stairs signaled the approach of hurried feet. “But I’ll make sure he says yes.”
Unbridled joy burst through him. “Are you sure? If he’s an Imperial officer, I don’t want to—”
Kira leaned in and kissed Ryon on the cheek. He blinked at her, and she grinned and stood up from the bed.
Ryon reached out to grab her just as the door swung open, and two children piled in.