Chapter 20

Eventually, Solna touched his arm again, light and easy, but Vius still kept his eyes trained on his horse’s mane. “Thank you.” Solna’s voice was solid, yet soft. It lifted Vius spirits to hear that tone. Like Solna meant it.

Vius carefully cleared his throat and braved a look at his husband. There was no trace of anything like blame or recrimination in Solna’s face or storm-gray eyes, so Vius allowed himself a deep breath of relief to escape. “At any rate, when are we stopping to set up camp?”

“Soon,” Solna replied. The big horse his husband rode chose that moment to nicker an agreement, which forced a smile from Vius. He may not understand languages of other creatures, but he could pick up the general impressions of sounds from subtle shifts in those innate strands of life energy. A little band of bright happiness and excitement amidst such a twisted place was a balm to Vius senses. Solna echoed his smile and patted the horse’s neck with an affectionate hand. “Quite right.”