Stellon’s face fell as I spoke, but he needed to understand the truth.
“What I didn’t know was why,” I said, swallowing hard. “Now I have a suspicion it was becausehelovedmeand thought he was bad for me. He has a lot of shame stemming from your mother’s death. Your father’s treatment of him made him feel defective, and he’s always struggled with this feeling of not measuring up to you.”
“And you… how do you feel abouthim?” Stellon asked in a bruised sounding tone.
I love him.The words billowed up from my soul, but I didn’t share them with Stellon.
“I fell for him,” I admitted. “But I can’t be with a man who won’t let himself love me. That would be worse than being alone.”
Stellon reached for my hands, holding them and stroking the backs of them with his thumbs.
“Then come home with me. I can’thelpbut love you, no matter howyoufeel.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as strange?” I asked. “We spenttwo weekstogether before we were discovered by your father.”
There had always been a question of whether he was under a love spell. His father believed it was the case, and so did Pharis. Stellon’s increasingly irrational actions seemed to support the idea.
His face quirked, and he was quiet for a second. Then his expression cleared, and he smiled.
“All I know is that I love you. It’s that simple. I love you, and I want you. Isn’t that enough?”
I was about to say no, that it had to go both ways, but the cottage door flew open and Tindra ran inside, followed closely by Kem.
“Raewyn, Raewyn—Turi is gone! An old lady took her!”
I ran to her. “What?”
“Yes, my lady,” Kem confirmed. “The woman in the red gown who came here with the King.”
She darted her eyes at Stellon.
“She rode onto the beach just after I got there, got down from her horse, grabbed your sister, and then the rest of us fainted. When we awoke, the two of them were gone. I’m so sorry.”
My legs gave out, and I crashed to the floor on my knees, holding my head.
“No. No no no. This is my fault. The Earthwife’s bargain.”
My sister pointed behind me to where Stellon stood. “It’shisfault. He brought her here.”
I felt Stellon’s arm wrap around me. He pulled me to my feet and guided me to sit on the settee.
“I’m afraid she’s right,” he said. “I did strike a deal with Caitriona so she’d help me find you. I knew this was a possibility, but don’t worry, Firebug. We’ll get your sister back.”
I twisted to face him, horrified. “How? How do you propose to do that? The woman has magic. She caused everyone to pass out and disappeared with my sister.”
He blinked, his brow furrowing. “I can’t say exactly at the moment, but I’m King of Avrandar. I can accomplish anything I want to. And I am telling you, Raewyn, Iwillget her back for you.”
I pushed at him, getting up and scrambling to the other side of the room. I couldn’t stand to be near him for another second.
“After all Sorcha did to me, I can’t believe you would strike a deal with an Earthwife—with my sister’slifein the balance.”
When I’d made my naïve and foolish bargain with Sorcha, I’d been trying to save my family from starvation. I’d had no idea what the cost of my failure would be until much later.
Stellon said he was aware of Caitriona’s “price.”
“How could you do it? What were you thinking?” I demanded.
He stood and began walking toward me, but I held out both palms in astopgesture.
