Adonis noticed, pulling her against him once more, stroking her hair. “It’s alright. You’re with me now. Whatever happened, you’re safe now.”
She relaxed into him, tears welling in her eyes. He smelled like Torheim—like fresh pine and lemongrass. He smelled likehome. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” He backed away, letting his hands travel down her arms and clasped her hands in his. “You should sit. Gods, Kamira are you alright? How did this happen?”
He helped her take a seat back in the chair before releasing her hands and motioning to her nose, which she knew had to look even worse by now.
“I’m alright. It was just an accident,” she said, touching the back of her head, where her fingers came away red with blood. “Although, whoever brought me here could have been a bit gentler.”
Adonis’ nostrils flared, a darkness falling over his features. “They will be dealt with, I assure you.”
Kamira ignored that statement. Adonis had always had a bit of a temper. “Where are we?”
“The catacombs. It’s a system of tunnels hidden beneath the city,” he said, suddenly taking her hand in his once again, placing his other hand atop it. “Kamira, why were you traveling with that man? Is he the reason for your nose?”
“Jaario?”
“Yes, did he kidnap you?”
“What? No! He was helping me find you! Why would you think he kidnapped me?” That suddenly had her mind reeling. “Where is Jaario? What did they do to him?”
“Nothing, he’s fine,” Adonis said, giving her hands a gentle squeeze.
She furrowed her brow. “Why did they bring me here? ”
“To question you. They want to know why you were lurking outside our gates and why you were with Jaario.”
“Where is he, Adonis?”
“He’s fine, Kamira. I promise you. He and the Brothers just have a history. Don’t worry, they won't harm him.” He dropped her hand and sighed. “Can you please answer my question? Why are you here?Howare you here?”
“I…” She looked into her brother's face, the perfect mix of both their father and mother, and suddenly the entire weight of everything came crashing upon her. Tears fell into her lap, soaking through her pants. “I left Tarkiin.”
“What?! Why? What did he do? Do mother and father know?”
“I…he was a pig. I just couldn’t be with him. He was a truly horrible man, Adonis.” She paused, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she regained some of her composure. “I thought I saw him in the square earlier. But it couldn’t have been him. He’s haunting me because of what I did.”
Adonis kneeled in front of her and gently asked, “What did you do, Kamira? What made you come all this way?”
She looked him in the eyes, his love and concern shone brightly in the deep blue of his irises and she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell him the truth and watch that love turn into disappointment. She had killed a man, taken someone's life, and she would live with that for the rest of her own, but she couldn’t live with her family's disappointment, too.
She sighed. “Nothing, I just had to see you.” She smiled and brought a hand up to his cheek, rubbing her thumb along it. “I need your help.”
He frowned slightly, but didn’t pry further. He had always been good about giving her space and letting her come to him when she was ready to talk about something. “With what?”
“The crew I traveled here with, they need something.”
His frown deepened and he narrowed his eyes. “Why would they send you for what they need?”
“They need to know where the Temple of Gorria is, and they think the Brothers might know.”
Adonis backed away, rising to his feet. “They don’t,” he said quickly. “I don’t know what I expected you to say, but that certainly wasn’t it. Why do they wish to go to the Temple?”
“It has to do with why they couldn’t come here themselves. They are stuck in the ocean, some kind of curse from a Sorceress.”
He turned his back to her. “Curse? What does that even mean?”
“They think this Sorceress made it so that they can never walk on land again. It didn’t make any sense to me either, but they really can’t. They have been stuck on the sea for ten years.”
