“Why don’t you tell me why just seeing it seemed to upset you so?” he asks, rather than answering my question.
“You aren’t owed any insight into the workings of my heart,” I fire back. If he isn’t answering then neither am I.
“Ah, so itisa matter of the heart.” He folds his arms and leans back slightly, as though he’s looking down on me. That expression reminds me of every cruel jeer, every side-eye and whisper of “oath breaker” I endured in Dennow. Instinct renders my face passive. “I should have known a man was likely involved.”
“Excuse me?” I arch my brows, intentionally making my expression muted.Don’t show that you care. Don’t let them know their words hurt.
“You said you owed a debt to protect your family and I assumed it was your parents, or siblings, perhaps.”
“That is exactly what I—” I can hardly get a word in.
“But now I see clearly that you have a lover you wish to get back to. It makes sense, such a lovely ring and all.” Fascinating that the idea of an ex-lover doesn’t seem to cross his mind at all.
I twist slightly. I’m not sure how I don’t sink to the ocean floor with how heavy my entire body feels. I am pulled down, weighted. And yet I still am suspended—in the same stasis I’ve been for years. I want to put Ilryth in his place. To tell him how this is all his fault because there was one bond his magic did not undo.
But doing so would require me to explain myself to him. To explain Charles and those raw complexities I don’t think I could handle baring before him. So I resort to the same cool indifference I worked to maintain around my family and crew; that way they never had to see how deep my hurt was. How long the scars run.
I smirk slightly, almost mischievously. Ilryth’s eyes narrow slightly, as if he can’t see so clearly anymore. “So what if there is a lover? What does it matter to you?”
“It would just be another tether to this world to unravel. The less you have holding you back, the better,” he says curtly. “Love just makes things unnecessarily complicated.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I say, my sincerity surprising even me.
“Then, you don’t have a lover?”
“Not even a man I’m remotely interested in,” I say with all the confidence in the world. For good measure, I gesture to the ring, “This is nothing more to me than a worthless trinket.” Then, I decide to turn the question back on him. “And you?”
Ilryth bristles. “That’s hardly your business.”
“It’s not fun when someone puts their nose where it doesn’t belong, is it?” Hopefully this puts an end to discussions on matters of the heart.
He purses his lips, knowing I’m right. Yet, he makes an excuse anyway. “You are the offering. I must know about the ties that bind you.”
“Well, now you know, and you should leave it at that.” My tone is laced with wariness. I level my eyes with his, holding his gaze with determination. Allowing my expression to caution that this is not a topic for him to pry further into.
Ilryth’s expression shifts; apparently he’s seeing me in a new light. “Good.” There’s a hint of resignation in his tone that feels like victory in my mind. “Well then…take what you need and let’s be done with it.”
“That’s the problem.” I ignore how thick the water has become with the discomfort of Ilryth’s presence and thoughts of Charles. I’m so close to securing my family’s safety. I won’t let anything stop me now. “There is nothing in here evencloseto covering what I owe.”
“But—”
“I know these are your treasures,” I say gently. “But I owe…alotof crons. Even if we took down every one of your strands, it wouldn’t even make a dent.”
“What would we need? What do your people value so much that could pay the debt?”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. It miraculously doesn’t knot under the waves. “There are only a few things that are worth as much as twenty thousand crons…diamonds, rare and precious metals—” I stop short.
“You have an idea.”
“I do…but I don’t think either of us are going to like it very much.” I slowly turn to face him. He’s waiting. Well, let’s see just how far I can push this siren’s good will. “I know where a whole ship worth of silver is—one of the most precious commodities we have—and it’s all just waiting for the taking. Easily triple the amount I owe.”
“Where?” He’s piecing it together as he asks. A frown crosses his lips.
“The bottom of the Gray Passage.”
CHAPTER11
“If this issome ploy to escape—” he starts.
