The Order of the Eternal Sun

by Jessica Leake

  With that, he leaves the room, and I already know—without the gift of a vision—that he won’t be at supper, nor even in London after tonight. The thought bows my shoulders with regret.

  “Everything all right?” Alexander asks, coming quietly to my side.

  “I hope so—in time,” I say, still watching the doorway where James exited sadly. I turn to Alexander and place my hand on his arm. “But you were kind to let him have a word with me.”

  He pulls me close, and I suddenly find myself rather distracted. “It wasn’t easy,” he says. “I could see you were upset, but I also would hope I’d be given the same courtesy were I the one to lose your affections.”

  “That,” I say as I wrap my arms around his neck, “is a problem you will never have to face.”

  He smiles just once before pulling me flush against him and kissing me until I forget my conversation with James, my own name, everything but the feel of Alexander’s body against mine.

  “I love you desperately, you know,” Alexander whispers huskily into my ear.

  “I love you, too,” I whisper back. “And I do know. It only took a visit to another world to realize it.”