“It’s both.”
“COOL!”
“Wen,” Mal said from behind me.
I didn’t turn around. “Killian, keep telling me about the flowers.”
“This one smelled really good but this one didn’t smell like anything and...”
“Wen, please.”
“I’m listening to Killian right now.”
I let his chatter wash over me as I stood, taking his hand. “Let’s go look at these in better light. Come on.”
I walked deeper into the gardens. They were beautiful and I was having a complete identity crisis. Perfect combination.
Killian was showing me each flower individually, rating them by difficulty level and explaining his strategy. He was taking this very seriously, which would’ve been adorable if my entire world wasn’t imploding.
“And THIS one,” he said, holding up a particularly bedraggled specimen, “was the hardest. I had to climb. Well, not climb climb, but step-climb? Onto a rock? It was very dangerous.”
“So brave,” I agreed automatically.
Not fully human. How was I not fully human? I’d lived all my life thinking I was just a regular person, boring and normal, and Mal had known or suspected the whole time. For five years, he’d said nothing.
“Mama, are you listening?”
Damn. Kid was too perceptive.
“Sorry. Tell me again.”
He launched back into his explanation while I tried to focus on him instead of the spiral happening in my brain.
Torin was following at a respectful distance, giving us space but keeping watch. After Killian had shown me his flowers for the third time, Torin approached carefully.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
“No,” I said honestly. “I’m about one second away from screaming into the void.”
“Understandable. Is there anything I can...”
“Captain. Step back.”
We both turned to find Mal approaching across the garden, looking like he’d aged ten years in the last ten minutes.
Torin looked confused. “I was just...”
“I said step back.”
“Excuse me?” I rounded on Mal. “What the hell?”
“He is too close to you.”
I looked at Torin, who was standing a completely normal distance away. “He’s standing three feet away.”
“That is too close.”
“Are you serious right now?”
