“You’re not a monster.”
I meant it. When had that changed? When had I stopped seeing him as my captor and started seeing him as… this? Someone who’d defied a king to show mercy, who wished he could’ve saved a child from being whipped. Someone I was starting to trust.
“Tell that to the families in Skalgard.”
His thumb stopped its circles on my hip.
“You must miss it,” he said quietly. “More than you let on.”
My stomach tightened. “I don’t.”
“Everyone misses home, even when it was cruel to them.” His eyes searched mine, sharpening. “What about the people you left behind?”
“I did everything I could for them.”
“There’s no one else?”
My pulse quickened as we stopped dancing. Kairos reached into his tunic, yanking out a folded note. He opened it, and then Vaeris’s delicate script caught the firelight—fuck. He held it gingerly, like it was a sodden rag.
“I wondered why your room smelled like him.”
I jerked back. “You went through my things?”
“He’s my enemy. Of course I did.”
“We had a deal, Kairos. You agreed—no one enters without my permission. Not even you!”
“You wanted privacy so you could hide your schemes.” He flipped the paper over, eyes flicking down the lines. “‘You were never a distraction to me. You were everything.’”
My face burned. “That’s private!”
“‘The only light in a world that’s been dark for so long.’” His hands shook. “He writes to you like a lover.”
“I didn’t write back!”
His eyes met mine, and the pain in them stole my breath. “‘Those nights we spent together were the only times I felt truly alive. I love you, Aelie. I always have.’”
I smacked his chest. “Stop it!”
He laughed bitterly. “Does it hurt hearing it out loud? Knowing he loves you and I—I’m just the bastard who took you.”
He crushed the letter in his fist and a flame ignitedin his palm. The paper smoldered, then caught fire. Ash fluttered between us as he let the charred remains fall.
“He loves you,” Kairos snarled quietly. “But he didn’t show up when you were about to die.I did.”
“I know.”
“Do you?You kept his letter.”
“I shoved it in a drawer, Kairos!”
He looked at me like I’d stabbed him.
“I don’t—why does it matter?”
“Why does it matter?You’re keeping love letters from the male who used you. Do you actually believe this nonsense?”
Tears spilled from my eyes. “I used to. Yes.”
