Is that how he sees me, truly?
“Lyra was not afraid of me either.”
“What makes you think I’m not afraid?”
“Are you?” he asks, brows raised.
“At first, I was, yes. You terrified me, with your cold countenance and your spear. I thought you cruel.”
“Ah.” The skin around his eyes pinches, like furrows in cloth. “You hid it well.”
With that, Boreas drops my hand, moves to the chair before the revived fire, gripping its back as he watches the wood blacken and crumble into coals. “The first time we met, she called me a pompous ass.” A sound escapes him. Whatever it is—laughter, a scoff—it is fractured. “I knew then I could not ignore her presence, as I had done with previous wives.”
It’s absolutely pathetic of me to envy a dead woman. But I hear how wholly he loved her, how it destroyed any shred of humanity he might have possessed when she and his son were taken from him. I suppose I’d hoped I might fill that void. Stupid.
“The Shade needed her blood, of course. She fought like a wildcat, threatened to cut off my manhood.” He gives me a sidelong glance. “Another similarity.”
I clear my throat. “Fond times.”
The shadows in his eyes, in his face, begin to turn inward. “Rare it was for a woman to stir such emotion in me. I didn’t know what to do with her. She likely didn’t know what to do with me either.” A shake of his head. “The first two years, she tried to poison me at every turn. Sheran away more times than I can count. Her purpose was to bring about my end, and I cannot fault her for that.
“About five years following her arrival to the Deadlands, however, she grew severely ill. Alba did her best, but whatever sickness had taken hold, it was impervious to her remedies.”
“What of the Shade?” I ask. “Did you force your wife to give her blood during that time?”
“I did not.” He stands with rigidity, the blades of his shoulders thrust back against his coat. “The barrier weakened, but surprisingly, it held firm. An unexpected stroke of luck.”
There is a pause before Boreas gathers himself.
“I spent many months by Lyra’s bedside. She managed to recover, after a time, and by then, we had formed something of a tentative friendship. And then that friendship deepened,” he says, voice softening, “and I fell in love with a mortal.”
My heart slams so hard against my sternum I’m certain it’s audible. I never thought I’d hear that word from the North Wind’s mouth:love.But of course he is capable of love, just as he is capable of compassion, kindness. This, I nearly saw too late.
“When I learned she was with child, my life changed again. I did not think there was anyone happier than I. It had been so long since I’d had a family,” he whispers, “and we would build one together.”
The urge to comfort him is so strong I have to physically restrain myself from doing so. It’s in his voice, this pain. His voice and his posture and the skin drawn tight across his face, the white press of his lips. For I know how this story ends.
“Zephyrus would visit occasionally,” he continues. “Naturally, he spent time with my wife while I was away. I didn’t think anything of it. I had no reason to.”
The hair lifts on the back of my neck. I wasn’t aware Zephyrus had known Boreas’ late wife. He’d never mentioned it.
The king’s fingers flex around the chair. A hard, heavy breath punches past his teeth. “I should have known his intentions were nefarious. At his core, he is a trickster, driven by jealousy and greed.Lyra grew distant in the years following the birth of our son, Calais. To this day, I do not know why. Then one day, I discovered her missing. Abducted, as it turns out. And our son…” His throat bobs.
Disbelief clangs through me. It’s not possible—
“There was an ambush. Bandits in the mountains. By the time I reached them, it was too late. They were gone, and Zephyrus was nowhere to be found.”
I stare at him, horrified. “Zephyrus abducted your wife and son?”
“He did.”
My stomach feels moments away from expelling bile up my throat. “Why?”
“I wish I knew.”
All this time, Zephyrus has been using me. He never cared about being my friend. He only cared about painting Boreas as the villain. And I nearly fell for it.
“I’m so sorry,” I croak. My heart aches for him, for I, too, know what it is like to lose those who are most precious to you. “I had no idea.”
