Chapter 14

Eimarille looked up from the reports strewn across her desk as the door to her office was pushed open without a knock, the hinges squeaking ever so slightly. Terilyn slipped inside, her clothes meant for an airship and not the Daijal court. Her trousers were neatly tailored, the material thicker for higher altitude. The flower embroidery around the collar and cuffs of her blouse were the only bits of brightness on the fabric. Her plain, fur-lined leather flight jacket was slung over one arm, hair braided tightly around her skull like a crown to fit beneath a helmet.

Eimarille glanced at the clock on the wall and the minutes that had ticked away into hours while she'd been working. "Darling, is it time already?"

"Yes. Maksim's airship departs in an hour."

Eimarille's heart lurched at that, and in the late hour where it was only the two of them, she let her concern show. "I'd send someone else if I could."

Terilyn draped her flight jacket over the back of one of the chairs angled in front of the desk before coming around to where Eimarille sat. She leaned down, and Eimarille tipped her head up to accept the kiss her lover offered.

"You know I go at your command," Terilyn said when they broke apart.

Eimarille tugged on Terilyn's belt, a wordless plea the other woman didn't hesitate to answer. Terilyn climbed onto Eimarille's lap, knees on either side of her, the skirt of Eimarille's gown stretching tight over her legs. She was still in the clothes she'd worn for court that afternoon and the meeting with the military that had come after. She'd not seen Terilyn for most of the day, the Blade's absence something necessary but one which always left Eimarille bereft.

"The emperor will send his Legion north within the next two weeks. You planned for this, and I will see your orders obeyed," Terilyn murmured as she framed Eimarille's face with cool, long-fingered hands.

Eimarille settled her own at Terilyn's waist, mindful of the pistols and knives the other woman carried on her person. "If I could trust anyone else with this task and keep you by my side, I would."

She never slept well when Terilyn was gone, and a part of her always fretted over Terilyn's safety. Rationally, Eimarille knew Terilyn was a well-trained Blade, but that did nothing to ease her fear of losing the one person she'd ever truly loved before her son was born.

And as much as she loved Lisandro—fiercely, devotedly, with every spark of starfire at her command—she loved Terilyn just as much. Terilyn had been Eimarille's port in a storm ever since the Inferno, her home, no matter the city they stood in. Terilyn wanted what Eimarille wanted—the world for themselves and her son—and they'd claim it soon enough.

Terilyn carded her fingers through Eimarille's loose hair before they locked together behind her neck. Eimarille sighed when Terilyn pressed their foreheads together, eyes fluttering shut as they held each other close.

"I will be fine," Terilyn murmured. "It's an airship flight to Matriskav and then another to the northern coast. I've been promised the Urovan navy's fastest submersible to take me under the ice and down the east coast to the forces lying in wait. They'll have your orders within a week for the coordinated attack."

Some things in war—whether an order or a warning—were best delivered in person. Only three people in Daijal outside the military high command knew of the plan created to cripple any alliance Ashion sought to make. Of those three, Eimarille could not leave New Haven for such a long absence, much less an excursion beyond Daijal's borders. That left Terilyn and the Klovod to carry out her clandestine orders because a telegram or telephone call wouldn't reach the Urovan forces waiting in the Constellation Sea.

"Make sure the captain is mindful of the Tovanian ship-cities patrolling the coastlines," Eimarille warned, fingers tightening around Terilyn's hips. "I won't have you unable to return to me."

Terilyn moved to press a kiss to the corner of Eimarille's mouth with soft lips. "You worry so. I will be fine."

She wasn't always. She'd come back to Eimarille bruised and cut and burned plenty of times before, never once blaming Eimarille for the aches she endured. She carried scars that should have been on Eimarille's skin from being her Blade and cutting where Eimarille could not. She understood what it cost Terilyn to walk this road beside her, and she would never not be indebted to the other woman. "I worry out of love."

Terilyn hummed softly before pressing another kiss to Eimarille's cheek, skimming her lips over the powder and blush there. Eimarille turned her head, capturing Terilyn's mouth for a long, languid kiss that made her hate the clock ticking away on the wall. Not enough time to divest her lover of the clothes she wore or to lick her way inside the tempting heat between Terilyn's thighs. Her airship waited, as did Eimarille's orders.

"Come back to me," Eimarille murmured when they parted once more.

Terilyn stroked her hands through Eimarille's hair, making a mess of it before she leaned in for one last kiss, fingers ghosting over the edge of Eimarille's jaw. "I'll return well before Seventh Month is over."

The calendar still had days to mark off before Eighth Month arrived, and Eimarille would count down every one like a prayer until Terilyn was back by her side. She sighed as Terilyn slid off her lap, their hands clasped for a lingering moment before Terilyn bent to kiss Eimarille's knuckles. Only then did she finally let go, and Eimarille resisted the urge to drag her back close again.

"Be safe, my darling," Eimarille said.

Terilyn quirked a smile, dark eyes full of a love no one ever saw, before she left, closing the office door behind her with a quiet click. Eimarille pressed her knuckles to her lips, staring blankly at the reports before she gave herself a shake to clear her head. She still had much reading to do for her meeting with the military brass in the morning, but Eimarille knew the next stage of the war was in good hands.