I swallowed down what I was feeling, determined to stay in control. I couldn’t weep and fall apart in his arms. Once I managed to get it to stop, I said, “At least this time there’s no one for you to slay. The person responsible is already dead.”
He wiped away the tears on my cheeks and then glanced at my hands. “I hope you strangled her to death.”
“This wasn’t from me trying to kill her. I was trying to save her,” I said, holding my hands aloft. Her blood had dried on my skin.
“Why?”
“Because I had more questions. She killed herself before I could finish. So she wouldn’t have to answer.” I exhaled loudly, willing myself to not start sobbing. I had been so close, but in the end she’d taken her secrets with her. “Will you promise me something?”
“Anything.”
“I want you to burn her body. I don’t want her to be reunited with the earth. She deserves to suffer and wander as a shade for the rest of time, never knowing peace.”
If he was alarmed about the anger in my voice, he didn’t show it. “I promise. I will personally make sure it’s done.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked carefully, averting his gaze.
As if he expected me to shut him out.
That would have been the wisest choice. Not the easiest, but the one that would keep me on the right path.
I didn’t do that. I told him nearly everything that I had learned, leaving out mentions of the eye of the goddess. I included what she’d said about him and our relationship. “Lysimache said that you keep things from me. Do you?”
“Yes.” His answer was immediate. “But they’re not things you need to know.”
My heart lurched. I had absolutely no right to feel hurt, because I was doing the same to him. Had just deliberately made that very choice a few minutes ago.
And the things I kept from him ... he probably should’ve known them.
My reaction made no sense. I was being a hypocrite.
He studied me and my pulse began to beat erratically. Because he looked like he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“I’m glad she’s gone,” he finally said.
“So am I.”
We lapsed into silence, and I found myself blurting out words. “You saved my life and you didn’t even know it.” I could at least give him this. Let him know that despite all my anger at what he’d done, I was sitting here because he had forced me into marriage.
“What do you mean? Because every time I’ve saved you so far, I’ve definitely known it.” That teasing lilt was back and my stomach fluttered in response.
“It’s not my fault everyone wants me dead,” I said miserably.
“No, it’s not,” he agreed.
“Lysimache planned on killing me while I was at the temple. She was going to make it look self-inflicted because of my homesickness. I was so angry with you for blackmailing me into marrying you, and it’s the reason I’m still alive.”
He watched me, his expression guarded.
“And if I’d told you no, if we’d all been at the temple when Artemisia attacked ...” The lump in my throat refused to let me keep speaking.
“Don’t think about that,” he said.
“How can I not when I literally have Lysimache’s blood on my hands? All that she has taken from me, all that she has made certain to keep away from me in the future ... I can think of nothing else.”
“Like what?”
