He stared blankly at the walls, and she sensed he had fallen back into that time. Sharing that part of himself softened Lucenna’s anger. She imagined what it was like for him as a boy, bearing his father’s beatings.
Klyde rubbed his face again. “I share no kinship with him anymore, but admitting we share blood isn’t something that is generally taken well. It kept me from revealing the truth, because, well, I wanted to avoid the confrontation that inevitably happened.”
They fell quiet for a moment, and she could almost feel the memories here. Maybe that was a reason the room always felt so cold.
“Does your family know?” Lucenna asked him.
His brow creased questioningly.
“That Tarn is alive.”
His mouth thinned. “Everyone knows … except Tavin. It must remain that way.”
“Because you don’t want him to know you plan to kill his father?”
Klyde stared blankly at the twin beds. “All I want is to prevent Tarn from accomplishing his plans. If stopping him requires taking his life, then so be it.” He faced her. “Regardless of all the lies, my intentions were never impure.” He took her hand. “Not with you. I … wanted to tell you that before we leave. So you know where I stand.”
Lucenna looked down at their linked hands, and her pink diamond ring caught the light. She pulled away. “But it’s irrelevant, isn’t it? You are who you are, and I am who I am.”
He was only a stranger, joining them for a brief time. She had her mission and ... a betrothed awaiting her return. It didn’t matter what she might have felt or what his intentions were, because nothing could come of it.
Lucenna turned away and resumed packing in the silence. Sighing, Klyde turned for the door.
“I understand why you lied,” Lucenna said without looking at him. His footsteps paused. “But as of today, that is the last lie you will ever tell me.”
She hadn’t fully forgiven him yet, but it was a start.
“You have my word.”
She didn’t move until Klyde’s steps retreated into the hall. His voice had been faint, only four words to bridge the gap between them.
But somehow, she had heard his smile all the same.
CHAPTER 8
Rawn
Rawn knew he was dreaming when he found himself listening to Aerina’s dulcet voice as she read aloud to herself. He stood at his post in his Castle Guard uniform in the courtyard below, near her terrace. King Leif, his Kingsguard, and his father walked past, discussing the garrison report. Generally a topic of interest while he was bored on duty, but his attention had focused on something else now.
“Princess,” Aerina’s lady’s maid called. “It’s time for your Magi studies.”
“Coming!” Her soft footsteps padded away as she went inside.
He sighed.
A sudden force swept Rawn’s legs out from under him. He hit the ground with anoomph. Pushing up his helmet, he glared up at his sister.
Nisa grinned, looking rather pleased with herself in her imposing Royal Guard uniform. Her blonde hair was pulled away from her face in a coronet braid, exposing the Greenwood emblem of a dynalya flower tattooed on her cheek.
When an elf came of age, they chose where to place their tattoo, and his sister had proudly chosen her face.
The sound of boisterous laughter had him glowering at his best friend standing behind him. Sylar held his stomach as he laughed, the sunlight catching over the golden embroidery of his grand velvet green Magi apprentice robes.
“Oh, find this amusing, do you?” Rawn tripped him, and Sylar fell beside him, still snickering.
Nisa helped them up. “If you had been on alert, instead of swooning over the princess, you would have heard me coming.”
“I think you mean I would not have noticed Sylar using magic to conceal your presence.” Rawn brushed the dust from his armor and shook out his dark green cape. “Nor was I swooning.”
