"Are you gonna let me read it?" I asked.

"If you would like," he said, his cheeks still flushed. "My penmanship and my prose are mediocre, but perhaps you will find it in your heart to overlook such things." Dain swallowed. "There—there is a second one, in case I don't... come back. Alluin has it in his care, and he has promised me to strive for your safe return to your family if I..." His lashes fluttered, his brows pulling together. "If I die, or if I cannot return to you before our time is spent," he finished, his voice rough and throaty, as if he might cry.

"Don't die," I said softly, blinking away tears. "There's orchids and hot springs to look forward to."

"I will try not to," he said, brushing his thumbs against my skin.

I nodded, my throat feeling tight and sore. "And... Dain, if it's the latter, come and find me, afterwards. I'll even abide the sight of you glamored if it means I get to see you again."

His eyes gleamed, golden and wet. "That is an easy promise for me to make," he said shakily. "I will come back to you after this, if I can, whether you are in Faery or in the mortal world."

"Good," I said, answering tears wetting my eyes. "I'll be waiting for you."

31. A Written Farewell

Chapter 31

A Written Farewell

Dear Leah,

I know you are probably still standing in judgment of me, and I know that I deserve it. Everything you said about me in that meadow was true, and though it laid waste to me to hear it, it was right of you to tell me those things. I only hope that you will not simply throw this letter into the fire, and that when you said I had a choice, you meant for me to have a chance for redemption.

There will probably be a thousand and one rumors and half-truths about what I have done since, and I want to lay it out for you in stark words, so that you won't have to wonder. The story of what I did in open court, and why, has surely flown on swift wings across the landscape. Words will never be able to combat such a lurid tale on their own. People always love to retell the dramatic story, even when it is dripping with blood and hot with anger. Especially then.