Empire of Ashes

Chapter LXXXIII - Skin of the Teeth

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked.

My boots lay discarded on the floor, but I was fully clothed for a change. We had been talking for a few hours, and the fire had burned down to ashes, so it was cold again. We were sat on a sheepskin rug, watching the moon make its nightly trek across the sky and toasting our toes in the last dregs of warmth from the fireplace.

Tem snorted. "You tell me, Lyra. Can I?"

I prodded him with a bare foot, trying very hard to look annoyed. "Will you, then?"

"That rather depends on the secret," he murmured.

"Melia is with child."

It took a moment for my words to hit home - for the scowl to cross his lips. "She swore to me-"

"She didn't know," I cut in. "And you can't tell Anlai."

A sharp nod. "You're right about that. I can't get her out of the city before dawn."

We sat in silence for a moment. I almost regretted adding more shit to the pile already sat on Tem's plate, until I saw the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm going to be an uncle," he said. "No, wait..."

"There isn't a word for it," I told him softly. "The child would be your cousin, too."

"Well, that's horseshit. There's a Cambrian word, I'm sure..." He went silent, and I could feel him shifting restlessly beside me as he tried to recall it.

I smirked, absolutely delighted. "And you don't know it, do you?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not fluent, little one. Few people are, these days."

"Yet another thing the Anglians have taken from us," I muttered, my good mood ruined all of a sudden.

"We will put a stop to that in the morning," Tem said. "Not for good, perhaps, but we can buy a few years before they invade again."

I allowed myself to smile. "There's an empire across the sea looking to invade them. Before long, they'll be too busy fighting for their lives to bother us."

"That is excellent news," he breathed. "Where did you hear it?"

"The king told me yesterday."

Tem frowned. "He has been speaking candidly with you, then?"

I looked at him from under my lashes and nodded.

"Trying to buy your loyalty, I would imagine," he sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Has it worked?"

"No. I am not easily bought."

"Don't I know it," he muttered. "Two moons and you have yet to admit that you like me."

"Perhaps because I don't," I offered.

Tem slipped his hand into mine. I let him, if only because he was warm and I was beginning to feel the night air nipping at my skin. He squeezed my fingers between his. "There you go again. You're fortunate that my self-esteem is not fragile."

"I'm fortunate?" I asked incredulously.

"Mm," he said. "I would even say that you are blessed."

I slapped his arm, and that made him laugh, and then I had to spend a minute kissing him just to shut him up. Afterwards, while we caught our breaths, there was a moment of rare silence. It wasn't like the silences there had been before Belmery - the difficult, unhappy silences when I had known he was hiding something.