“I thought you were disgusted by me.That first night after the claiming rite when I took a bath, you seemed so annoyed.”
He let out a small laugh.“I was trying to control my urge to turn around, throw you over my shoulder, and take you to bed.”
“That would not have gone over well.”
“You made that clear.I kept my back to you, but then I looked straight ahead and realized I could see your reflection in the window.Pure torture.”
I couldn’t believe I had misinterpreted his feelings so completely.Now I would have understood him better.Now I would have gone to him and sat on his lap and...
“The second reason,” Taio said, moving his thumb against my cheek, “is you are a skilled warrior.I could see you were one of the best simply by the way you moved, and the deference others gave you.You had earned their respect.And then we spoke...”He smiled and gave a soft laugh.“You were so fierce.I knew you could withstand the shock of a new people and a new culture.”
“Omira said she wanted you to choose Finnrey.She’s strong and beautiful and fierce.”I swallowed.“She was.”
“But your sister was like so many of your people.I do not know how to say it.”He frowned then made a square with his hands.“She was in a box.”
I shook my head.“That makes no sense.”
“The way she thought, Mara.She could not believe the world was not as she had been led to believe.But in you I saw the capacity to question and doubt.”
I nodded.“My questions and doubts have caused me quite a lot of trouble over the years.”They were causing me pain now, but I was coming to accept a new dark reality.
“They are your greatest strength.I must tell you something, Mara.Something you will question and doubt.”
I drew back slightly.“What is it?”
Taio pulled his shoulders back and met my gaze directly.“Your brother Jolen told the truth.We have seen evidence that the Twilight Men may coordinate.”
My first impulse was to argue, to deny.I tamped that down and tried to open my mind to the possibility that Taio was not confused or mistaken.“Tell me more,” I said.
“The reason I was adamant we not travel through the mountains, besides the extra days it would add to our trip, was because there is a gathering of Twilight Men in the valley.Your countryman Leed has traveled there and seen with his own eyes the way the creatures behave.I told you Zleyval is protected by rivers.”
I nodded.“Hollows hate water.”
“Yes, but Leed has seen them systematically attempt to cross the river.When that fails, they seemed to be working together to build a means to cross.”
“Like a boat?”
He shook his head.“Nothing that”—he moved his hand, searching for the word—“clever?”
“Sophisticated,” I offered.
He inclined his head.“But they are working together.What your Jolen calledcoordination.”
“Oh, gods.”I thought of the hundreds of thousands of Hollows reported to be at the Barrier.If those Hollows ever learned to work together, we were doomed.
“When Leed saw this, he told the leaders of Zulen about a rumor of a cure for the Twilight disease.”
I sat straighter.“A cure?That would change everything.”
Taio watched me closely.“Yes.It would.In fact, Leed has this cure written down.He stole it when he escaped Earsleh.”
I stared at Taio, his words making no sense.I shook my head.“I don’t understand.”
“You do, Mara.”
I shook my head harder.“No, I don’t.How could he have stolen the cure from Earsleh?We don’t have the cure.If we did, we would have cured the disease.Every year, our people are in danger and some are killed.If my father knew a way to cure the Hollows, he would do it.”
“Mara—”
