Nymiria shook her head before turning back out to the scenery. "It just needed a little pink." She smiled. "Is he the king here?" She asked.
Trio laughed and shook his head. “Aziel? Gods, no. He’d be a horrible king. Hedidlead an entire revolution, though. That must count for something, I suppose.”
“But he has a palace.”
“Yes, he does. The people here wanted to show their thanks. All he asked for was a home.”
Nymiria thought of him, of the story he told of him and his mother being sequestered to servants quarters and basement rooms. And then, upon her death, him being stuffed into the tower that doubled as storage space. He’d never had a place to call home. He was treated as baggage, as an item that was worth just as much as the junk they’d filled that tower with. Not a boy. Not a son.
She turned her head the moment tears began pricking at her eyes, her stomach hollowing. She wondered what it was like for him to finally have a home. To be surrounded by people who appreciated him—whosawhim and didn’t run away. People who loved him enough to build him an entire palace…
Trio took up the space beside her, bracing himself against the railings and his eyes following her gaze. "Don't tell him that I lifted the veil. He will have my neck if he finds out." Noticing the solemn look that had spread across her face, Trio released a sigh and turned to her fully. "You lived here, didn't you? This was your kingdom."
Nymiria nodded slowly, tilting her head to hide the tears falling down her face. It was bittersweet. While she'd only dreamed of ever returning, there was still that memory of her final days here that loomed over her—the hatred, the anger, thepain.
Don't.
The voice rattled her again, straightening her posture and forcing the thoughts from her head. She blinked out at the horizon, the realization of Aziel's magic striking her. It wasn't that she couldn't feel the pain, but that he wasblockingher from feeling it. Warmth spread over her body, like a warm blanket being placed on her shoulders. She drew in a deep breath and forced a small smile. "Can I tell you a secret?" Nymiria asked.
Trio took a step closer to her, placing his hand on the small of her back and pulling her to his side. He didn't know why he did it, but he believed she needed that—that comfort. "I am morally obligated to advise you not to share anything with me." Nymiria frowned and Trio just chuckled in response. "I gossip when I drink."
Nymiria couldn't hold back her laugh. She shook her head at him, nudging his side. "I'll take my chances." She drew in a long breath, bracing herself for the truth that was about to come out. Words she hadn't whispered to a soul in nearly three years. But Trio was kind. He wasgentle. And even if she'd only met him one time before, she felt like she'd known him her entire life… or that she wasgoingto. "My mother was the queen here." She said. "She vanished a few weeks before I was captured. To this day, no one knows where she is. I've talked to every guard and camp warden in Yaar and no one has seen anyone that fits her description." She gave a small shrug, her fingers trailing over the chiseled grooves of the railingin front of them, her eyes focused on the pretty pink flowers. Trio smiled down at her, releasing her from his embrace before bending at the waist. A bow.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, princess."
Nymiria scoffed, slapping at his arm. "Don't dothat." She grumbled. "I'm hardly the type of person who is deserving of a bow."
His brow furrowed. "And why is that?"
She gave another shrug. Words evaded her for a moment, her teeth nibbling at the inside of her cheek before she released a sigh. "I made a bad decision when I was fifteen. One that got my people captured—gotmecaptured."
When her mother went missing, Nymiria didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to lead a kingdom or govern thousands of people. Even with the most skilled and intelligent advisors, she was not prepared for the job that she'd inherited. Out of fear and desperation, she'd turned to the very people that captured her—bartering for her mother's freedom. Much to her dismay, she discovered that Yaar hadn't taken her. And she'd given up the location of her kingdom and her people by that one very bad, stupid choice.
She failed them. And when that man came out of the woods and cut her from the post she'd been tied to, she didn't warn her people of Yaar's arrival.
She just…
Ran.
"Why would you tell me something like that?" Trio chuckled. "Either you have a spectacular judge of character or you really don't care about someone knowing your deepest, darkest secrets."
On the contrary, shedidmind. But Trio seemed harmless enough and, truly, she owed it to him. So maybe he might understand her. It had worked with his sister, after all. "I just wanted you to know. And I want it to be clear that you have nothing to fear in regard to me telling anyone about this. I've made that mistake before."
The way her voice dropped at the end made Trio perk up, his eyes roving over her from head to toe. "You think that no one here has ever made a mistakebefore?" Trio asked quietly. His voice was sympathetic, telling of something that he, too, also would regret until the day he died. He pinched another bloom off of its vine and then tucked it behind her ear. Nymiria gave him a half-smile. An understanding one. "I abandoned my best friend at the most vulnerable time of his life. And even though he hasn't ever held it against me, I always will have this nagging thought that things would have turned out differently for him had I been there to help guide him."
Nymiria felt her chest tighten with a deep ache that was not her own but very familiar. "You're talking about Aziel?"
Trio only looked at her with sad eyes. They stared at one another for a moment before he cleared his throat and looked back out at the growing kingdom. "Don't tell him about that, either. I will never see a day of peace—he'll tease me relentlessly."
She could only shake her head at his comment, that warmth settling back on her shoulders once again. "I do have one more question about Aziel." Trio tilted his head, his curiosity piqued. "Is heeverhappy?"
He opened his mouth to respond before jerking his head in the direction of the doors that led out to the balcony, his amused smile slipping and his back going straight. She felt a slight panic at his change in posture, her hand immediately going to her thigh for her dagger, only to remember that it was probably still laying somewhere in her overgrown garden.
"I would be happier if Trio actually followed directions."
She turned, prepared to make a smart retort, but was left feeling breathless when she saw him walking towards them. His gloved hands were stuffed into his pockets, his eyes squinting against the bright rays of the sun and his hair fluttering against his brow in the breeze.
He was wearing his ranger suit again, the black jewels and silver chains that hung from one lapel to the other gleaming in the light. His gaze flickered over her form, lingering at the curve of her waist before flickering back to the flowerbehind her ear. "I hate to put a damper on the day, but I believe we must be returning you back to Yaar, Nymiria."
