Bri peeked one eye at her and then begrudgingly closed them.

“Imagine ten years from now, to a moment in time. You’re happy, the happiest you could possibly imagine,” Lina whispered. “You’re surrounded by friends and loved ones. A party. Focus on this celebration. Can you picture it?”

“Yes,” Bri murmured.

“Is your mother there?”

Bri’s eyes opened at Lina and she frowned. “No.”

Lina’s face turned wistful. “Then maybe the fear of not having more time with her isn’t a good enough reason to bring her back into your life.”

Bri’s eyes flickered. “But Tal’s there.”

Lina stroked the hair off Bri’s forehead one strand at a time, absently playing with it. “I think you have that answer then too.” Bri frowned and Lina traced the lines with a grin. “You hate that I’m right, don’t you?”

Bri reached up, snaking her hand around Lina’s neck and lifting up as she pulled Lina down in a brief, soft kiss.

Lina chuckled against Bri’s lips. “I think this is the only acceptable way to be silenced.”

Bri pushed up higher on her elbow and kissed Lina deeper before pulling away. “I wish we had more time to be Lina and Bri before our Fates and meddling destinies tore us apart.”

“We always knew we had only a heartbeat,” Lina whispered, tracing Bri’s lips with her fingers as she searched her eyes. “From before even that moment in the cellar, we knew it, didn’t we? One blink and it would all be gone.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to say goodbye to you.” Bri’s eyelids grew heavy as she tucked her cheek against Lina’s soft, warm flesh.

“First Murreneir,” Lina whispered back, though they both knew they were only delaying the inevitable. “Then the rest.”

*   *   *

It was another day of slow travel through the Northern Court before they arrived in Murreneir. The region was still gripped by winter’s chill, and small patches of snow and ice clung to the shadows, but the terrain had shifted from a blanket of white to rolling hills of green. Spring flowers bloomed in yellows and creams along the hillsides. The shaggy cattle had been sent out to pasture, where they grazed the new shoots.

A hawk screeched high above them, and Bri pulled up the velvet sash. Peering out the window, she searched for the bird circling the carriage. She knew at once it was Ehiris—Thador’s hawk. The beautiful bird belonged to Aneryn now that Thador had passed.