Lina pressed her lips together tighter to keep more tears from falling. Okrith was at war and the years had been hard for everyone, but these were the moments that hurt the deepest—not the sweeping battles and daring escapes. This was raw, delicate, precious, the emotions cutting right down to the bone. Whether Lina’s tears were from frustration or sorrow, Bri didn’t judge Lina for letting them fall, not when she didn’t have the courage to let herself break like that again.

“My people love Darrow,” Lina whispered. “Their family is woven into the very fabric of the Western Court. The Wystrons have been our closest allies forever. When you suggested it was him, I just snapped. . . . I’m sorry.” She dropped her head in her hands. “I want so badly to do what’s right for my people. I feel like aligning with a strong family would do the most good for my Court, whether I like it or not.”

“Sacrifice will bring honor and glory,” Bri whispered, repeating the blue witch prophecy from the day of Lina’s birth. “I wish the Fates had never whispered such things. I wish we could have lived without the looming storm clouds of who we were meant to be.”

“My mother always said that a Queen should love her people more than anyone else.” Lina plucked a weed from the silty stream bed and tossed it into the current. “When what you want and what’s right are at odds, people suffer.” Her eyes tracked the weed as it floated away. “I think I understand now.”

Bri’s eyes scanned her face, pain bracketing her expression. “I do too.”

Lina turned and held her stare as Bri swallowed, unable to say the words but feeling them dying to be spoken. Her eyes finally dropped to Bri’s lips and Bri sprung forward. She grabbed the back of Lina’s neck, pulling their mouths together in a burning, desperate kiss. Those warm lips felt so familiar against her own, the taste of Lina’s tongue branded into her senses.

“I’m sorry,” Lina murmured against Bri’s lips.

Bri’s kiss cut Lina off, her mouth telling Lina the words she so desperately wanted to say. The proclamations deep in her soul rose to just below the surface—one breath, one slip, and they’d be out, damning her forever.

Nothing mattered in that moment but the taste of Lina’s lips, the relief of her forgiveness, and the fear that flowed into frenzied desire.

Lina’s arms wrapped around Bri as Lina turned to face her, and Bri’s foot glided across the mossy, wet earth as she slid her leg under Lina’s. She pulled Lina tighter, needing the press of her body, the comfort of her skin. She dipped her nose to Lina’s neck, breathing deeply that jasmine scent as her lips skimmed to Lina’s ear.