Why?
As if there were a simple answer to that question.
As if there were a simple way to explain he was left behind in a realm he wasn’t born in to be forced into a position without a choice.
As if Cethin weren’t at the center of all of that.
No, there wasn’t enough time to answer that, and she may be more comfortable with him, but Wren was wrong. He didn’t need another person to care about.
So he said simply, “Ask your husband,” and he left.
Chapter 31
Kailia
She was never one for pacing.
It involved too much movement. Gave away too many things. Exposed too many weaknesses. No, instead she’d been trained to stand still. So still, even her ashes had no reason to drift or flutter. No movement drew no attention. It was easier to observe. To blend in. To disappear into the shadows and smoke when the time came. No one missed what they never noticed to begin with.
Even when she heard the door open, she didn’t move from her post near the window in their bedchamber. Still able to see the sky, despite the moon being hidden behind clouds tonight, she’d been waiting in here on purpose. It gave her time to gauge his current mood, even if it was only for a few seconds.
She’d come to differentiate their footsteps now. Knew this was Cethin and not Razik returning for some reason or another. And she could tell Cethin was still upset from earlier today. His footfalls were harsher, more pronounced than usual. Those were the types of footfalls she’d feared as a child.
Those types of footfalls signaled unacceptable failure.
But she was no longer a child, and now those types of footballs had her descending into a place of focused calm. Theworld quieted. All her senses honed in on the approach, waiting to see if this was a threat. Was this prey coming to her? She much preferred the hunt, but sometimes, they came straight to her anyway.
Cethin didn’t even pause when he entered the room, going straight to the dressing closet. She knew he’d seen her. He always seemed to know where she was. That much was evident today when he’d found her at the small dance studio with Razik.
I’m glad to see Cethin has finally figured out you are getting lonely.
Razik’s words had rolled around in her mind these last hours while she’d waited. She wasn’t lonely. Was she?
No. She definitely preferred solitude and being alone. People were too…complicated.
Like right now. She needed to learn to dance appropriately, and Razik had offered to teach her. She didn’t understand why Cethin was so upset by that. It was a solution to a problem and one less thing for him to handle.
He emerged from the dressing room some time later, having changed into a soft grey tunic and fresh black pants for dinner. His silver hair was pulled back, half of it tied up, and this time, those silver irises glanced over at her. Briefly. As if simply scanning the room.
As if she were that easy to dismiss.
Most of the time, that was what she wanted. She wanted to be the one that blended in so seamlessly, it wasn’t noticed whether she was there or gone.
But for some reason, she didn’t like being dismissed byhim.
When Cethin started to leave the bedchamber, she found herself calling out, “That’s it?”
He paused, not even looking back at her when he asked, “What?”
“You’re going to say nothing to me?” she asked, still unmoving.
This time, he did look back over his shoulder when he said, “No, Kailia. I have nothing to say to you right now.”
She frowned. “I do not understand why you are angry.”
“I know,” he answered, turning away and attempting to leave once more.
He knew?
