She shook her head. “Maybe, but not happier. Of the many things she needs and of those that can be given by these free traders, none of them will equal the presence of her father in her life. None of them.” Tears made her eyes throb and she blinked them away. “Trust me. I say this from experience.” A day hadn’t yet gone by in which she didn’t miss her father, even now when she knew his spirit had moved beyond this world and found peace.
Gharek tugged on her hand, drawing her closer until she pressed against him. He released her hand to splay his across her lower back. “And you?” he said. The terrible anguish had faded, replaced by cautious hope tinged with a touch of dread. “What will you do?”
The easy answer would be to counter his question with one of her own: what do you want me to do? But Siora had never known easy in her life, and in her opinion, the difficult roads had the most satisfying endings. It just took courage to travel them. Terrified, she walked this road too.
She slid her palms up to cup his face. “I will beg you to keep me and Estred with you. To make the three of us a family, one where we protect each other, befriend each other, love each other. Where we feel the safest and most cherished. Estred and I don’t need an entire free trader band to have these things. We just need you, Gharek.”
Her heart thundered so hard and fast in her chest, she was afraid she might faint. She’d spoken without pause or hesitation, no stutters or hints of uncertainty. Inside though, she was like the walls of Domora, breaking and tumbling before the hammering of his silence. For one terrible moment, his features shuttered closed, and Siora feared she might retch. She was a breath away from jerking out of his arms when he crushed her to him, nearly breaking herribs. The hand not pressed to her lower back buried itself in her hair as he pressed the side of his face to hers. He loosened his hold long enough to allow her an inhalation, one cut short by the hard kiss he planted on her lips. A kiss no longer flavored with bitterness or rage but joy. When they finally separated, Siora’s lips throbbed and both she and Gharek panted as if they’d raced up and down the hill on which they stood.
His eyes were soft as he stared at her, a stunning expression she thought never to see on his features. “I can never go back, Siora. Only forward and strive to be worthy of you and Estred.”
She stroked his cheek. “Is that not a kind of redemption?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is you make me better, make me whole.”
“And you make me brave.”
She laughed when he lifted her in his arms and twirled her around before setting her down. They kissed again, ending the moment at the sound of Estred calling their names as she raced up the slope toward them. Gharek gave her a quick wave before turning back to Siora. “Will you stay with me beyond the rising of the sun and the fall of the Empire, shade speaker?”
This time she felt no fear in answering his question. “Beyond the life of stars and the end of days, cat’s-paw. When we’re all ghosts and the only voice I’ll want to hear is yours.”