The look made my pulse jump, just for a second. I quickly smoothed the reaction away.
“You are welcome to remain here,”he said, “Until you make your decision. You and your children will be safe within these grounds.”
“What’s the catch?”
“Why does there have to be one?”
“Because there always is.”
“Well,”Shaelith mused. “Perhaps humans aren’t the complete buffoons we thought.”
I arched a brow at her. “And perhaps fae aren’t as clever as the stories portray.”
Darian let out alow whistle, grinning between us. “I like her.”
Varyth sighed, the entire exchange clearlytesting the limits of his patience.
I turned back to him and fixed him with a level stare. “So, what’s the price?” I asked again. “What does it cost?”
For a moment, he said nothing, studying me with that samecalm intensity.Then, finally, “When you crossed the Veil, I sensed a power.”
A breath of ice blew down my spine.
“It is not uncommon for humans who cross to develop… minor magic. Traces of the Veil left within them,”he continued. “But with you, I sensed something greater.”
My gut clenched like it wanted to run without me.
Something greater.I didn’t want greater. I didn’t want any of this. But the way he had said it slithered beneath my skin into a place I didn’t want to examine.
Because I had felt it, hadn’t I?
That moment, at the Veil. When the world had split open around me. When the air pulled at me, reached for me, singing.
Varyth didn’t waver. “If you choose to remain, I would have you explore that power. Train it.”
I had been forged once before. I wouldn’t be someone else’s weapon again, not even if it came wrapped in silver promises and velvet chairs.
Varyth watched me, his eyes glinting with quiet calculation, waiting for me to react, to recoil. To give myself away. I wouldn’t.
“And,”his voice was light but laced with a tension I couldn’t decipher. “You could work for me.”
Silence stretched between us.
I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms. “And what exactly does working for you entail?”
“That would depend on your power, and what experience you have.” His fingers tapped against the table. “What sort of education did you receive in the human lands?”
I hesitated, debating how much to share. But there was no point in hiding it.
“Extensive training in combat.”I shrugged. “Hand-to-hand, archery, blade work.”
For the first time since I’d sat down,Cindrissian turned toward me. It was brief, nothing more than a glance, but it was thefirst sign of interest he’d shown in anything since the meal began. He said nothing, gaze moving over me as though he was a blade measuring where to cut, then he returned to his meal.
Varyth appeared mildly intrigued. “That will be helpful.”He took a casual sip from his goblet. “Perhaps a military role might interest you. But we can assess that.” His eyes locked on mine. “When you make the change permanent.”
Not if.
When.
