Tate waited, knowing this wasn’t the kind of thing you could force. Roslyn would either pretend she hadn’t seen what she had or she’d face it head on.
“I always remember what you said when we faced the mad minor god,” Roslyn mused.
Tate looked at her, trying to remember what exactly that was. She’d said a lot of things when Roslyn’s father helped Christopher kidnap her.
“You told me there were many paths to greatness. That it’s what you do and what you stand for that counts.”
Not knowing what to say, Tate settled for an awkward. “Ah ha.”
The corner of Roslyn’s lips tilted up in a halfhearted smile. “I always knew there was more to you than you let on. I admired you and I thought if I could be near you, maybe some of your strength would rub off onto me.”
“You never needed my strength. You’ve always had your own. A little different than what your family probably wanted, but no less vital.”
Rosyln’s head dropped and her shoulders started shaking. Tate stiffened, thinking the other woman was crying. The peals of laughter rolled through the air. Did she finally break Roslyn? If so, where was Dewdrop? He was so much better at the emotional stuff.
Just as Tate was about to go find him, Roslyn lifted her head, wiping the tears from her face. “I won’t ask if you don’t want to tell me. I trust you, Tate. Your mysteriousness won’t change that.”
Those words held the echo of another’s, leaving Tate feeling like she was hearing someone else’s voice through the ages. The words weren’t the same, but they held the same warmth.
“Jax would have been proud of the person you are,” Tate said suddenly.
Maybe it was foolish. Maybe hiding Tate’s connection to Roslyn’s ancestor would have been smarter. It certainly would have been easier. But something made her feel like Roslyn needed to know that. A ghostly touch that compelled her to reveal her true thoughts.
Vulnerability filled Roslyn’s face. “Really?”
“Yeah, he would have loved you.” Tate’s eyes smarted as memories slipped through from where they normally hid. She’d gotten so lost recently thinking of how things ended and forgetting that there’d been good times once. They were the best of friends for a reason.
Tate sniffed, forcing the memories and emotions back into their separate boxes. Now wasn’t the time.
“I need to convince your father to let either the guardians or me look over Jax’s records,” Tate said, gazing at the horizon, not wanting to see Roslyn’s expression at this request.
She was asking a lot; she knew that. Unfortunately, she suspected this was the only way. Roslyn had a much better chance of convincing her father than Tate.
“You’re just like Jax, aren’t you? Asking for the moon and everything beyond without a second thought.”
Tate didn’t answer.
Roslyn blew out a long breath. “I’m not sure how successful I’ll be. My father was not happy about my leaving. I’m afraid at this point, even you would have a better chance at this.”
Tate clasped her on the shoulder as she started past her. “If you fail, then you fail. We can always go from there.”
Her business finished on the balcony, Tate headed inside. Roslyn needed time to process and decide on her next steps. Rushing her wouldn’t do Tate any good. Reaching out to her family for the first time since the split was nerve wracking enough but add in the rather extreme request Tate had given her and you were talking impossible.
The hum of voices wrapped around Tate as she stopped just past the door, scanning the room for familiar faces. As usual, she found Ryu first, as if drawn by a magnet.
He still guarded the emperor. His obvious distraction was concerning, given the way his eyes locked onto hers as soon as she glanced his way. It told her he was as aware of her presence in the ballroom as she was his.
It was how he’d known the moment Keel put himself into her path and they stepped outside.
His curiosity had to be killing him. Ryu was one of only three people who knew everything—Dewdrop and Night being the other two. Others had been given pieces of the puzzle while Tate held back the parts that would help them connect the dots. Given how much Ryu enjoyed ferreting out even the smallest of details from his informants, he had to be itching to find out what they’d talked about.
Tate smirked even as warmth over the concern she could see hiding behind his eyes filled her.
It was nice to have someone who cared—not that Dewdrop and Night didn’t, but it was different with Ryu. They were each other’s person. That bastion when the world turned cold, able to drive off the loneliness that sometimes ate them up from the inside. People rarely realized how corrosive loneliness could be. It could eat away at a person as surely as acid, leaving them a skeleton of themselves.
Tate had felt its touch and she knew Ryu had too. Truthfully all the dragons had. It was why she knew Ryu would be a force of destruction that would annihilate everything in his path if she was ever harmed—because she was the same way.
She sent him a reassuring look that he returned with a somber chin tilt.
