“Weren’t you, though?” She narrowed her eyes a little. “Jesus was born of God. You guys were born ofthegods.”
“We were born of Chiomara and Erc.”
“With a bit of help from the gods.”
While slightly put off by the conversation, he sensed her inner druidess was at work. That who she would ultimately become would mince words no less than he would. Which, honestly, he appreciated...usually.
“I mean no offense,” she said softly, catching herself. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“’Tis all right.”
“No, it’s not.” She frowned and sighed. “I don’t know what came over me other than a need to understand your brothers. King’s Heart. King’s Roar. The other locations. But most especiallyyou.”
“We will get to me.” He squeezed her hand. “I promise you that, Madison. And we will get to you.Us.The friendship I hope to form.” He gestured that she follow. “But first, we must get home so that my people know they have not been abandoned again.”
“Of course.” She nodded. “Lead the way.”
He sensed her confusion and frustration as they continued on. Her awkwardness in general when it came to dealing with people. Coping with them. Something he tried to feel out, understand, but it was buried too deep by magic she had yet to understand.
“I want you to understand, though,” she murmured moments before he led her out of the tunnel. “I want you to understand why I’m not like Riona. Like normal women.”
Was Riona so normal then?
While eager to get to his castle, he sensed this was more important. She needed to say this before being around his people.
“Tell me.” He manifested a skin of whiskey and handed it to her. “Take a moment and tell me.”
“Right now? Here?” While she seemed a little startled that he’d manifested something out of thin air, she made no comment. Rather, she sniffed the skin’s content and scrunched her nose. “Weren’t we in a rush?”
“Nay.” Not when they rushed toward something that made her so tense. Not when she looked so uncomfortable. “All will be well until we arrive.” He urged her to drink. “Just a few sips to soothe your nerves?”
Because they had become exceptionally tight in short time.
She nodded and took a few sips before she swallowed hard and said the last thing he expected.
“My gift is broken.”
Unsure what that meant, he narrowed his eyes. “Broken?”
“Yup.” She took another sip and grimaced. “For about six months now, I’ve been...different.”
“How so?”
“More blunt.” She sighed. “Painfully blunt.”
“What does that mean?”
She thought about it and took another sip. “It means, for lack of a better way to put it, that I’m an unfiltered psychic.”
“And that means?” he prompted when she hesitated.
“It means I’m pretty much unhinged. I tell the bad with the good no matter how hard I try not to.” She leaned against the wall and sighed. “Which really upsets people when I'm foreseeing their future. I do it quickly too. Within minutes of meeting them.” She shook her head. “And it works in both directions. I tend to comment on their pasts and bluntly at that. As though I’m trying to get to the root of something.Them, I suppose. Kind of like I just did with you.”
While tempted to dive deeper into what she might have seen, it was best to keep things on track for now. “Tell me more. How can I help?”
“I don’t know.” Worry lit her eyes. She bit her lower lip. “What if I walk into your castle, strike up a conversation with someone, and feel the need to tell them things they don’t want to know? That they’re not ready to hear, either about their past or future?”
“So this happens regularly?”
