Darian shifted in the saddle, and I could practically feel him weighing his words. “Varyth can sort of... travel more instantly than most. It’s a High Lord thing.”
“Instantly how?”
“Think of it like...” He made a vague gesture with one hand, the other gripping Caorath’s reins. “Like folding a piece of parchment in half. Normally, you’d have to walk from one end to the other, right? But if you fold it, suddenly those two points are touching.”
My blood turned to ice. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying Varyth can fold space. Bend distance. What feels like a thirty-minute walk to you was actually... well, it was actually a four-hour journey that he compressed into thirty minutes.” Darian’s voice was casual. “He brought you through the world, not across it.”
I stared at the back of his head, my mind reeling.
The strange disorientation, the way the forest had seemed to shift around us, the feeling that we were walking through a dream.
He’d been manipulating the world itself. With me inside it. With mychildreninside it.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Please don’t,” Darian said cheerfully. “Caorath hates it when people vomit on his scales. Very undignified.”
But I barely heard him. My mind was spinning, trying to process the implications. If Varyth could fold space, bend distance, manipulate the very fabric of the realm...
What else could he do?
What elsehadhe done?
The ground was rushing up to meet us now, Caorath’s wings spread wide as he prepared to land. Thessarian touched down first in a spray of dirt and pebbles, Varyth dismounting with fluid grace.
Caorath landed a moment later, and I slid off his back on unsteady legs, my mind reeling from Darian’s revelation.
Varyth approached, taking in my expression with uncomfortable intensity. “Everything alright?”
I stared at him—this insufferable, world-bending bastard who had the audacity to look concerned.
“Oh, everything’s fantastic,” I said, dripping with enough venom to poison a small army. “Just found out you can apparently fold the fucking realm like laundry. Really adds a special touch to our working relationship.”
Varyth’s expression didn’t even flicker. “Ah. Darian told you about the fold.”
“The fold,” I repeated, letting out a laugh that could have cut glass. “Is that what we’re calling it? How wonderful. Next you’ll tell me it’s perfectly normal for High Lords to casually tear holes in realms for convenience.”
“It is, actually.” He said it like he was discussing the price of bread. “Most High Lords can bend space to some degree. It’s hardly unusual.”
I wanted to throttle him. Actually, genuinely, wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until that infuriating calm cracked. “Right. Of course. Silly me for not realising. I suppose next you’ll mention you can also manipulate time? Stop the sun? Maybe juggle a few moons for entertainment?”
Behind me, Darian made a sound that was absolutely not a cough. When I whirled to glare at him, his eyes were dancing with mirth.
“Sorry,” he said, not looking sorry at all. “You’re just... you’re handling this exactly like I thought you would.”
“And how exactly is that?”
“Like a feral cat someone just told the laws of reality are suggestions.” His grin was pure evil. “It’s entertaining as hell.”
I turned back to Varyth, who was watching our exchange. “So when you rescued me from the Veil that first night?—”
“I didn’t rescue you,” he said mildly. “I extracted you.”
“Oh, well, when you put it like that, it sounds so much less traumatic.” The black fire stirred beneath my skin, responding to my spike of fury. “And then you decided to take me and my children on a lovely stroll through your personal pocket realm without mentioning it might be slightly fucking relevant information?”
“Would it have changed anything?”
