She proceeds to tell us about the time Azur beheaded Zorwal, and how she ended up in the Shadow Lands with Renel, Tarlia, and Azur.
Even though I know they survived, my heart gets tight thinking about Tarlia there, and even tighter when Lidiane says they faced hundreds of ghouls after sunset.
“How did you survive?” I ask.
“Cherry Cake.”
The reply astounds me.
She then explains that the unicorn showed up in the Shadow Lands, scared away the ghouls, and led the group to the Desert Keep, the same prison where Marlak was held, where they spent the night.
The following day, they all walked south, then parted ways, and then she and Tarlia were captured in the Fae Territories.
Azur glares at her. “How come I didn’t sense it?”
She half shrugs. “I didn’t want to disturb you, so I sent only good vibes through our bond.”
So they do have a bond? And it’s possible to block it?
“Why?” Azur asks.
“Because I feared we were bait for you,” she explains. “And we were. Otavio was the one who captured us, and he said he wanted something from Renel.”
“He did,” I confirm. “He wanted me to seduce him.” It should be awkward to confess it, but I think everything that happened rendered me numb.
Renel grimaces, while Marlak squeezes my shoulder. I’m not sure if he wants to comfort me or claim me as his. I don’t mind either.
“Yes.” Lidiane glances at Renel. “Otavio was happy Tarlia seduced him, but I don’t think she was pretending.”
Renel slams a hand on the table. “Iknowshe wasn’t.”
His voice has so much emotion, so much… Is he in love with Tarlia? Is Tarlia in love with him? I’m a little stunned and quite confused, but I don’t dare ask anything, as Lidiane continues.
“Otavio told Tarlia about the other substitute.”
“Sayanne?” I ask.
“Yes, and what’s happening to Krastel. The queen and the princes are dead, and apparently that’s Sayanne’s work. He could be lying, of course.”
“No,” I say. “I met her. I went to the human castle, looking for clues about my own origin, and she found me.”
Marlak stares at me wide-eyed. I hope he’s not wondering what else I’m hiding. “There’s too much to tell,” I explain. “And I didn’t think it was important. But she bragged that the princeswere dead, and the queen too, and suggested that maybe she had something to do with it.”
Lidiane takes a deep breath. “According to Otavio, yes, it was her doing. She also seduced the human king, so I guess she’s about to become queen or at least consort.”
My stomach turns as I imagine Sayanne in bed with the king. Her ambition has no limits. And it explains the jewels she was wearing, why she was giving orders to the guards. Oh, Sayanne! I can barely focus on Lidiane’s next words.
“But what caught my attention was that Otavio said he had been her lover.”
“What?” I ask, certain that I misheard her.
“Yes. He said she hadambition, unlike Tarlia.” Oh, gross. My stomach turns as I listen to Lidiane. “But that’s not the detail that stuck with me. He said he was considering having a child with Sayanne, so that his heir would inherit the human kingdom. Tarlia told him he was too old for that, and he said people like him can sire children when they’re five hundred years or more, and he wasn’t there yet. I’m wondering what he means bypeople like him,but it’s true that he can lie.”
“He’s Tiurian,” I say. “But we don’t live that long.”
Renel taps his fingers on the table. “Fae used to live for hundreds of years, so he could be an old fae.”
“But he can lie,” I say.
