At this point, four years after her rescue, everyone had accepted her as a member of the revolution except for Solar. He still held her away. The laughing, gentle man he was around the campfire with the members of the Surgere didn't ever make it to Zara. With her he was always as cold as he'd been today in the clearing. Annoyed.
But that didn't matter now. She had to face him now and get a promise. Her life depended on it.
Zara straightened her shoulders and gently slid the door to his hut to one side. She was silent as she moved across his space. She’d always been able to be quiet. And she was good at hiding. At blending in. It had been her only way to protect herself from the king when she’d been trapped at the castle.
She used those skills now to melt across the floor of his hut, only the splashes of moonlight she had to step through giving her away. He lay across his cot, standard issue for members of the Surgere. Being the leader, he could have demanded something finer, more comfortable. But that wasn’t Solar’s style. He didn’t believe in being higher than anyone else. He believed, deeply, in the equality of the people.
For a moment, Zara just looked at him. Took him in. He looked so young while he slept. His dark hair tousled, and one arm flung up over his head. A single sheet was twisted across his bare chest, a concession to the heat of the jungle around them. His face was calm in repose. The severity of his typical expressions gone while he slept. Something skittered through Zara’s breath when she realized, looking down at him, that he was actually rather handsome.
Normally, she thought of him simply as severe or stern. Never handsome. But it couldn’t be denied; his strong jaw and hollowed cheeks in the shadow of the moonlight were beautiful. Even the scar that cut one eyebrow in half, ran down his cheek, looked almost elegant. His crooked nose bent the elegance toward interest instead.
It was almost a relief to look at Solar when his eyes were closed. Generally, his deep, midnight blue eyes haunted her. She found herself skittish when she was caught in their gaze. Almost as if they were searing her with their natural heat.
But there he lay, completely relaxed, looking so much like the boy who used to come down to the courtyard to push her on the swing or play hide and seek with her. She felt like she hadn’t had a glimpse of that boy in years and the sight of him had her heart clamping in her chest.
She knew she should just reach down and shake his shoulder to wake him up. She should just tell him what she needed to tell him and get the heck out of his hut. But instead she followed an impulse that rose up inside of her. And standing next to him, she gently reached down to brush the tousled hair off of his forehead.
His hair was so soft, surprisingly soft. That was the last thought she had before she was suddenly ripped off her feet and smashed down onto the floor. She saw stars as her head rapped the wooden floorboards, but it didn’t keep her from seeing the flash of steel in the moonlight as a knife sliced toward her throat.
The utter wind was knocked out of her as Solar’s full weight landed on top of her. He pinned her to the ground with his hips over hers, one forearm pressed against her chest. His other arm raised the knife to her neck. She tried to breathe but couldn’t. She was utterly compressed, not to mention completely stunned.
He breathed heavily over top of her. Zara watched as recognition, surprise, confusion, and then anger all took their turn playing across his features. The boy she’d seen while he was sleeping was once again gone, replaced with the severe, fierce man who made her feel so out of place and uncomfortable. His arm lowered the knife and his hand flattened on her chest, directly over her heart.
“Zara,” he whispered angrily. “What the hell are you doing? I could have gutted you like a pig. I was this close to murdering you!”
He waited for an answer from her, his brow furrowed and his mouth turned down into a fierce frown. But Zara could give no answer, as she had not a speck of air in her lungs and no way to gather any. She gave a slight wheeze and wiggled her hips, trying to shake him loose.
Something darkened in Solar’s eyes for just a flash before comprehension broke over his face and he instantly rolled off of her.
“God, Zara, I’m crushing you. Come here.” He scooped her up off the ground and moved to his cot as she coughed her breath back, one hand pressed to her chest.
“It’s ok,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “You’re right. That was really dumb of me. I should have knocked. I know better than to sneak up on you.”
Her breath came back, sure enough, though her head still ached. She shook it gently and reached back to feel for the knot that she knew would be growing there. His fingers instantly tangled with hers in her hair as he sought out the same thing.