“Is it as difficult as you thought?” I asked. “Being back?”
Ava paused in her tour, standing at the dresser for a moment before turning around to lean back against it, staring at the floor. “Yes,” she answered, so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear her from the opposite end the room, “and no.” When she paused again, I strode across the empty space to where she was, and leaned back against the dresser at her side. “I thought I’d be afraid… terrified, like that day, to think of what happened.”
“But you’re not,” I guessed as I wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned closer into my side.
“No,” she confirmed. “Being here already, I’m finding that I’m finally able to separate myself from what happened. From everything he did.” She looked up at me, a sense of surprised wonder in her eyes. “I don’t know when it happened, Kiena, but… I think I’ve mostly forgiven myself.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead, to tell her that I was glad for it without saying it out loud, and felt her arm go around my waist in gratitude. “I do feel some sadness,” she admitted, leaning her head on me, “but it’s that my father’s not here to see how happy we are, or how great a queen Nira will be.”
“He knows,” I assured her. If there was one thing that my brush with death made me certain of, it was that death wasn’t the end. That those we’d lost to this war weren’t entirely gone. “He sees.”
Ava’s arm squeezed me a little tighter, and we stood there for a few moments in silence. “I think,” she began eventually, hesitating before taking in a deep breath. “I think I’d like to go back there at some point during our stay. To that room. To face it and let go.”
“If you think it will help,” I agreed.
She glanced up at me again. “Would you go with me?”
“Yes,” I answered, nodding. Ava had forgiven me long ago for leaving her that day, and she’d never so much as hinted that she blamed me at all for what happened to her father and stepmother. I’d have gone with her anywhere, no matter what, but I also believed that she wouldn’t be the only one to benefit from facing what happened that day. “Of course.”
“Thank you.” She stretched upward to kiss my cheek, and we both stood there for a bit longer before she turned toward me. “You know what I’m looking forward to?” she asked, appearing ready to be in brighter spirits.
“What?” I prompted, and because the tone of our conversation was lighter, I pushed myself backward and up to sit comfortably on the dresser.
“I’m looking forward to making new memories here,” she said. She moved to stand between my legs, and set her hands on my knees. “It’ll be even better with your mother and brother here, though, I am suspicious of Nira’s surprise…”
“Knowing her,” I chuckled, “it’s probably a party.”
“For us?” Ava asked in confusion. “She said the surprise was for us, but we don’t know enough people here for a party.”
I shrugged. “I suppose we’ll have to wait a bit and see.”
Ava hummed with further suspicion, but glanced around the room to change the subject, her eyes falling on the bed. “I wouldn’t mind remaking some old memories too…”
I thought I knew exactly what she was implying, and began to ask smugly, “Old ones like what?” Only, I hardly got out half the sentence before she reached up and threw a small red berry into my mouth. I don’t know how she always timed it so perfectly, but it stuck between my teeth and spilled sour juice over my tongue, and Ava burst into laughter at the way my face puckered up. “Were you holding that this entire time!?” I asked through a laugh of my own.
“Perhaps,” Ava snickered.
“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” I teased, swallowing down the rest of the fruit. She immediately tried to back up, but I hooked my legs around her hips, holding her where she was. “You’re not going anywhere,” I said, taking her face in my hands. “Not before you kiss me.”
She let out a giggling squeal as she tried to squirm out of my grasp. I leaned forward, attempting not to laugh too hard so I could keep teasing while I aimed for her lips. “Kiena!” she shrieked with half-hearted protest, leaning back away from me.
But I wasn’t holding her hard, nor was she really trying, and she was laughing so thoroughly that her mouth was hanging wide, making it perfectly easy for me to take her in an open-mouthed kiss. I only kissed her for a few moments, feeling the vibrations of her laughter against my tongue when I licked briefly into her mouth, just enough for her to get a taste of the sour berry. I let her go then, and she was still giggling even though her nose was crinkled with dislike at the taste.
“Are you quite satisfied?” she asked.
“Aye,” I said with a grin, leaning forward again to press a kiss to that crease in her noise. “Extremely.”
There was a knock on the door then, and one of the staff who’d brought us here opened it and stepped in. “My ladies,” she greeted. “Your bath is ready.”
Ava and I followed her out the door, through the castle and to a familiar room where the bath was drawn. Like our first time here, the bath was a large area that was bigger than two of the bed in our room, where the floor was indented and filled with water. The wonderful scent of oils reached my nose the moment we walked in, and the steam rising from the surface of the hot water was calling to the travel-fatigued muscles in my body. Unlike our first time here, however, I was no longer hesitant about bathing with Ava. On the contrary, I was rather looking forward to it.
After asking if we needed anything, and then telling us to call out if we did, the woman who’d brought us here left us alone. We both undressed, hurrying to tie our hair up and then slipping toes first into the warm bath. Ava let out a heavy, content sigh as she sat down on the lip underwater, her eyes drifting closed and sinking in up to her chin. I couldn’t help smiling at the pleased look on her face while I waded to the deeper center.
“Why have we decided to raise horses when we could live here?” I teased, running my hands over the surface of the water, stirring up the color of the oils floating there.
Ava smiled, opening her eyes to look at me. “You couldn’t live in a castle,” she said. “You’d miss the woods.” She swatted a soft splash of water at me. “And the dirt.”
“Maybe,” I laughed, bending at the knees enough for the water to reach my chin and wading toward her. “I’d do it for you, though, if it was what you wanted.”
“I know you would,” she said, “if it was what I wanted.” I neared where she was sitting, and she curled her arms around my neck so I’d stay in front of her. “But I like our cottage. I like our barn, and our horses.” I lowered myself to my knees, and the bath was just shallow enough here that it put us at eye level. “I like going hunting with you,” Ava continued, setting her forehead against mine. “I like our nights under the stars.”
I felt a smile pull at my lips. I wanted to kiss her, but I held off, sliding my hands up her thighs instead and asking, “What do you like most about our nights under the stars?”
Ava let out a thoughtful hum, and though I wasn’t looking at her mouth, I could see the smirk in the sparkle of her blue eyes. “How you keep me warmer than the fire does.”
“You know what I think?” I asked, bringing my lips in close to hers to prepare for that kiss. She murmured her curiosity. “I think we should start remaking those old memories right now…”
Ava smiled, giving me a chaste peck on the lips. “Do you remember when you were afraid to even kiss me? And now you’d like to do more than that right here?”
“No, actually,” I teased, “I don’t recall such a time.”
“Sure you don’t,” she said sarcastically, but she returned it openly when I kissed her. I used the opportunity to slide her off the edge of the seat, and she was light enough in the water that it was easy to guide her legs around my hips. All it did was make her smile a bit wider and pull away from my lips. “You really can’t wait until we’re alone tonight?”