Talen’s.
Let everyone believe I’m dating the very symbol I’d burn given the chance. But while I play along, I try and get some answers—what the hell he wants, why the truce, why I’m still alive. The envelopes, the tailor’s shop. The dragon…
He called it away. He must know something about the Veils—why they’re attacking. I’m certain of it. I need that information before I leave, I’m not going home without it.
Last month Ashvale had more attacks than the whole damn year before. Bren’s out there nearly every week putting out fires.If something bigger’s coming, the Outerlands doesn’t just need to know—they deserve to.
But if I agree, if Idatehim, even if it is fake, does it make me complicit?
He isn’t just a symbol—he is the machine that grinds Outerlanders like me into dust. The Citadel’s blade and shield. It wouldn’t just be a lie—it would be likekneeling. Kneeling for the same tyrants I’ve spent my life resenting.
If I do this, I’m a traitor. If I don’t, I’m dead...
I set the duck on the table and drop on to the bed, the note still heavy in hand. The handwriting’s unexpectedly elegant, but the letters wrap around my head like barbed wire, cinching tighter with every line.
Maybe I should just rip it in half and tell him to go to hell, that I don’t belong to him, and I sure as hell don’t belong to the Citadel.
Or maybe I could just be honest and tell Ezzy the truth, tell her everything.That I saw him in the tunnels that night. That he offered me a truce, as long as I kept quiet. That he saved me from the dragon. That the kiss was fake, the whole relationship is fake. But that I don’t know what he wants, or how the hell I’m supposed to escape him.
She’s smart, she has connections, maybe she could help? But deep down I know that’s a gamble I can’t afford to lose.
They’ll come for me—Reassignment, dragons, and who knows what Talen might do to me, to her, if he found out I talked... I just need to survive. Keep her safe till I’m gone.
I don’t trust him, not for a second.But god help me, I need him. He’s the only one who has the answers I want...
Fuck, am I really doing this? I’d rather swallow glass, yet here I am actually considering dating aVeirmont.
But if I’m doing this—if I’m putting my neck in his petals, his noose—I want to know exactly how tight it’s going to pull.
I drop Talen’s note beside the duck and snag the Codex off Ezzy’s desk, thumbing past Treaty terms, tax amendments, and a section on magical conduct boring enough to knock me out—until I land on the Union Clause.
To foster cohesion, strengthen field performance, and preserve magical integrity?—
Okay, boring...
Love, when focused, becomes loyalty. Connection, when structured, becomes strength....
Blah, blah, blah, more propaganda shit, but then?—
My eyes flare wide.
Consequence: Any attempt to fabricate, falsify, or exploit the Union Clause shall result in immediate Reassignment.
I stare at the line until the words stop meaning anything. Immediate. Reassignment.For both parties.
Holy crap.
No, seriously?
If anyone proves this relationship is fake, they won’t just drag me to the dragons... they’ll drag him too.
A sudden jolt breaks the rhythm in my chest. That's it.All my questions, what he wants, why he's risking himself to keep me alive, the truce, the dragon. Finally, finally I have real leverage. A way to trap him. Trap the Nightrose. To get answers.
Heneedsmy silence as much as I need his protection, and now I have Ezzy’s stupid, but bloody wonderful, duck back.
I curl my fingers around the bird until its broken wooden wing digs into my palm.
Time to play his game… and oh, I’m going to enjoy every second of it.
