He pursed his lips. “Are you sure?”
“There’s a fire in every room.”
Roman bit his cheek, but then nodded. In minutes, warmth and light spilled through the space, coating it with more life than it had likely seen in years.
Vaasa stood up straight and squared her shoulders, careful of her composure. “How are you alive when the rest of your squadron is dead?” she asked him.
His hands rested on his knees as he knelt next to the hearth. “Still so direct,” he muttered. It held a tenor it hadn’t before, of either age or pain, even as he used a metal poker to shift the logs in the hearth. Fluidly, he pulled himself to standing and gestured for her to sit upon the couch.
Vaasa shook her head.
Roman sat upon the arm anyway, crossing one ankle over the other, but he accepted her refusal. His eyes met hers across the minimal space. “I never got along with my commander. He insisted we take one of the boats into the fighting, but I refused.”
“You abandoned post?”
“I was warned not to enter the rivers, so I didn’t. They were all killed, and I was assumed to be on the boat.”
Pride bloomed in Vaasa—of course the Icrurians bested them on the water. But it was also a testament to Roman’s cunning and perception. He had known better than to put himself at the disadvantage. “When did you resurface?” she asked, turning her body more to face him.
Roman waited to speak, perhaps gathering his thoughts, but when he did, his voice came shaky. “I was a prisoner. Rounded up like cattle and forced to work in the outskirts of Wrultho.”
Vaasa sucked in a breath and fisted her hands into her dress. Her heart ached for him, truly, as she thought about the life he must have faced. All because he had loved her.
It seemed to be a pattern.
She looked down at the floor, trying to come to terms with the renewed guilt of it all.
“The prison there is built under the ground. It’s within a set of twisting catacombs that spreads beneath the city like roots. Prisoners run into those catacombs, and no one stops them. If you escape, you live freely. Very few have ever escaped,” Roman continued.
Vaasa couldn’t quite breathe. “But you did?” She picked at a thread on her dress, desperately trying to focus on the little knot.
“Vaasa. Would you please look at me?”
Shit.Vaasa held her breath as she lifted her eyes. His gaze was tentative, searching, and if she wanted to, the look might have made her trust him.
She breathed out heavily.
Grief carved tightly into his jaw. “You’re looking at me like I’m a stranger.”
She contemplated the right words. “In many ways, you are.”
“And in many ways, I’m not.”
Biting her lower lip, Vaasa returned to the semblance of honesty they’d always shared before, thinking that in the ounceof familiarity, she might win his truth. “Who do you report to? Ozik or me?”
“You,” he clarified. “And then whoever is emperor next.”
Vaasa looked squarely at him, leveling her tone. “Lie to me some more, Roman.”
Lips pursed, his shoulders drooped. “All right. I escaped Wrultho a year ago and made my way down the Sanguine. News of your marriage spread, and I just… had to leave Icruria. I worked for a merchant who traveled all the way to Mekës. When I heard Dominik was dead, I returned, and Ozik showed me mercy. He’s asked that I make sure you’re safe and comfortable. That I keep you entertained.”
If she’d been in a mood for humor, Vaasa would have tilted her head back and laughed. Ozik had sent Roman as a carrot to dangle in front of her? Something to take a bite out of that might give her reason enough to cooperate? “He’s going to force me into another marriage, so he’s given me a lover to soften the blow?”
Roman rubbed the back of his neck, redness crawling up his skin. “I believe he’s given you an old friend. And a lead sentinel whom you can trust.”
Vaasa stepped away from the wall, slowly regaining her sense of self. Was he loyal to Ozik, or simply naive? “You believe I trust you?”
“No.” He watched as she walked closer and dropped his hand into his lap. “Not yet. I know it will take time. But I hope you come to realize that I did come here to keep you safe. That I serve at your word beyond all others’.”
