I already missed the gold.
I watched her come, letting her words wash over me, determined to keep my face as impassable as possible, knowing she would see through it anyway. As much as I wanted to tell her, I was still apprehensive, and her full blown accusation wasn’t helping much.
“Tell you what?” I asked, my voice higher than it should have been for such a simple question. I guessed I wasn’t going to be able to make her fight for it as much as I wanted.
Sure enough, she rolled her eyes, her jaw clenching and unclenching in agitation.
“Oh, don’t play coy,” she grumbled as she came right up to me, forcing me to come to a full stop. “I can read you like an open book. You walking around like a goon wearing a hoodie, Ilyan binding his hair with the délka vedení královského again, and obviously Ilyan can read your mind or some nonsense. It’s not like you guys really hid it or anything.”
I knew we hadn’t; we had foolishly tried, and I supposed to anyone else it might have worked, but not to Wyn, not to Dramin, and certainly not to Ryland.
I swallowed the lump that had built in my throat and tried to come up with some form of response, but none came, so I held still and waited for the police-force-style questioning to continue, knowing full-well I had to answer her. Judging by the smile trying to creep onto her face, she knew, too. Although, I wasn’t sure if she was going to erupt into giggles or hysterics.
“When?” she asked, her voice hard even though I could still see the smile trying to escape.
I exhaled deeply and looked away; I knew I couldn’t leave her completely hanging.
“Last night. After we left your room,” I whispered, my voice breaking as if I was letting her in on some dirty secret.
“Obviously,” Wyn said as she rolled her eyes again, the action so over-exaggerated that I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, at least whatever I said worked.”
“I knew it.”
It was a lie; I hadn’t really known it so to speak, but looking back on it now, it made perfect sense. Silly, meddling Wyn just wouldn’t leave well enough alone; she never did. I should have caught onto her game sooner, however, at the time, I had been too embarrassed at having been caught in such a conversation.
Wyn smiled, breaking through the angry mask she had given herself and prancing a bit through the darkened cave, her joy at having been caught in her game infectious.
“I couldn’t let Ilyan ruin this for himself. He’s been waiting so long.” Wyn laughed as she pleaded her case, but she didn’t need to; I agreed with her
“I know.”
“I am happy for you,” she squealed in my ear as she rushed at me, the bone-crushing hug wrapped so tightly around me I was having trouble breathing, yet I didn’t care. I clung to her as she did me, the wide, goofy grin plastered to my face.
“You seem so much stronger, calm. I don’t know how to explain it, but something has changed.”
“Thank you,” I gasped, the words barely coming out.
Wyn pulled away, finally realizing I couldn’t breathe, her body practically bouncing with excitement before me.
“So are you going to let me see it?” I stiffened at her question, my nerves prickling in fear. I had no idea what she was talking about. My confusion must have been clear on my face because Wyn rolled her eyes as she pulled at the hood that was still placed on my head.
“The braid,” she clarified, her voice showing exaggerated irritation. “I am assuming Ilyan did it the right way this time.”
Her voice had gotten soft, the whisper almost pulling me back into the ceremony—the beauty of it, the feel of Ilyan’s fingers in my hair. I could still feel that secrecy, that need to keep something so beautiful hidden, something for Ilyan and me to treasure. Strangely, part of me wanted to show her, though, like a secret that you just couldn’t keep to yourself.
My heart thumped as my stomach turned, my hands lifting to remove the hood that Ilyan had so gently placed over his masterpiece. I felt the weight on my head change as I released the braid, the long, golden ribbon untangling itself to fall down my back and snake to the floor. Wyn said nothing as she stepped around me, her breath catching. I waited for an explanation, anything, but she stayed silent.
“Is it good?” I asked when I couldn’t take it any longer; her silence was too much. My hands wound around each other in agitation as I waited, her fingers pressing against the soft strands of hair.
“I have never seen one so perfect before,” she finally said, her voice unbelievably awed. “The lines… nothing is out of place. And the roses, I have never seen the ribbons bound into roses.”
The soft pressure I had felt left as I felt a gentle tug, certain she was letting her hands run down the délka vedení královského.