For some reason, I found myself looking to Iver as if asking for permission to leave.
He jerked his head to the side, gesturing for me to go. “Hope you two have a lovely evening. And do yourself a favor and don’t involve yourself in future Lysian conflicts. Unless you happen to have a protective form of conjuring.”
Somehow, I managed not to stumble at his choice of words, schooling my expression into a mask of calm. I did not respond.
He watched us as we made our way through the small field.
“What in Spirit’s name were you thinking? Just because you helped Erik the other day does not mean that Iver will let you behave as you wish towards him,” Eislyn hissed when we were nearly back at the building where my room was.
“He was hurting you,” I pointed out, surprised at her anger.
“He would not have broken my arm. I would have been fine.” Her gaze cut to me. “I have known him for a long time. He uses words to torment others. He does not enjoy inflicting physical harm.” The two of them had been friends at some point. That was news I needed a moment to get used to.
“Why does he speak that way to you and Kole?” I asked. Iver enjoyed pushing getting a rise out of them most often.
“Iver speaks that way to everyone. But he is perhaps upset with the two of us.” She looked back over her shoulder where we came from, but he was gone.
“Upset?” I asked.
A deep sigh escaped from her. “The three of us used to be close before what happened. Well, I guess if I were to include Erik, then it was the four of us. But, after everything, Kole and I became cruel to each other. Iver ended up being, in a way, stuck in the middle, which he hated. So, he removed himself from everything altogether.”
So that was Iver’s pain, the root of his anger. He lost two of his friends without physically losing them. Just as that loss tormented him, he now tormented them in return.
Eislyn stopped at my door, waiting for me to enter.
“I’m sorry,” I said to her, feeling guilty.
“Just don’t get between Lysians again. That’s not wise,” she said, still waiting for me to enter the room.
“Thanks for training me.” I finally opened the door.
“Get some rest,” she said by way of goodbye, turning and walking back the way we had come.
I entered the sitting room to find Kole lounging in one of the chairs, clearly waiting for my return. He looked up from the book in his hands. He slouched to the side, comfortably passing the time while I was gone.
A forced smile in his direction was all I could manage in response to his greeting nod.
Icy blue eyes tracked me as I made my way through the small space before finding myself in front of my room, unable to go in.
A pang of strange guilt pulled at me, for I now knew a personal story of Kole’s, and he hadn’t the slightest of clues. If not addressed, then the guilt might quietly drive me mad. I needed to air everything out. With a deep breath, I turned to face him.
“Mind if I sit with you a minute?” I asked, already crossing the room to take the open chair near him.
Crystal-blue eyes glinted, and he shut the book in his hands, placing it on the small shared table between the two chairs.
“Sure,” he said, with a look of confusion passing over him.
I licked my lips, not knowing where to begin. “There is something I need to let you know.”
Kole shifted in his chair, sitting upright and squaring his shoulders. It was likely clear that I was uncomfortable, and that piqued his interest. All his attention settled on me.
I swallowed my discomfort. “I was told something that I have no right to know, for it was neither you nor Eislyn who shared this information with me, and I cannot in good conscience go on pretending I know nothing of your story,” I stated, waiting for his response.
Kole’s breath left him, and he leaned back in his chair, away from me.
“Iver?” he asked, his voice low.
I nodded in answer, and he cursed. “Ashes, that idiot can’t keep his nose out of things that have nothing to do with him.” A wave of anger spread through the room, stemming from the Lysian. Kole’s hands balled up into fists on his lap. It was as if it was all he could do to not destroy something in the room.
