Whatever it was causing this—it was beautiful. And as he lay on his back, he felt Aket-ten’s hand close over his, and hold it.

“I think you did a good thing for Nofret by helping her, and letting her go out to Coresan,” Aket-ten said softly. “She needs to prove herself to Ari. She told me that she thinks he’s seen too many spoiled noblewomen with nothing but idle time on their hands; that he thinks she was a lot more pampered than she was. She wants to prove to him that she can do things, that she can be his full partner in just about everything.”

“She doesn’t intend to fight, I hope,” Kiron replied, staring up at the falling stars with a sinking heart. “If it comes to that, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I know that being on a dragon evens things out a lot, but—”

“If she has to, she’ll fight, just like everyone else here. If Ari fights, I know she intends to be there. And it’s because she can’t bear the thought of something happening to him, and her not being right there to do whatever she can if it does. It’s horrible, being left behind, not knowing what’s happening. It’s worse than going out to fight in the first place. When you care about someone, it’s unbearable.” A pause. “I feel the same way about you.”

His heart stopped sinking, and with a jolt, seemed to leap into his throat. “Uh—you do?” he managed, sounding stupid even in his own ears.

“Of course I do! It would be horrible to watch you fly off and not know if you were coming back!” She sounded indignant. “I care more about you than—than anyone. Even Orest. Even my father. There isn’t anyone I would rather be with, for the rest of my life.” She squeezed his hand. “I don’t know if it’s right, making promises before we know if we’re all going to get through this without being killed, but I told my father he might as well not bother making any betrothals for me, because if I couldn’t marry you, I wouldn’t marry anyone.”

“Aket-ten!” he exclaimed, with trepidation, delight, and a touch of horror. “You didn’t! When?”

“When he first got here, of course.” She laughed into the darkness. “I told him that night we all had our welcome dinner together. I didn’t want to take the chance that he’d get all worried about what was going to happen and decide that he wanted to see me safely married. And he said he wouldn’t dare make any betrothals after such a declaration, because I’d probably tell Re-eth-ke to eat him if he tried.”