Dyna sucked in a breath, and they all fell still. Cassiel landed beside her.
Tavin’s pale blue eyes shone with angry, unshed tears. “For the entirety of my life, you lied to me. You told me my father was dead.”
Agony crossed Klyde’s face, and he moved a little closer. “I’m sorry, lad. I chose to tell you he died because I couldn’t admit to you that he had abandoned us.”
“He didn’t abandon me. If he knew I was alive, he would have stayed.”
Klyde shook his head. “No, Tavin. Your father…” His face crumbled. “He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. I told you he was a hero, but that’s not him.”
“How would you know?” he demanded angrily. “You haven’t seen him in fifteen years. You don’t know anything about him. You don’t know what he would have done if you told him I was alive. You kept me from him, and I can’t forgive you.”
“Tavin—”
“You’re a liar!” Tavin shouted. “Mum, Von, and the lot of you all lie to yourselves and to each other. You’re allliars!”He took a gasping breath, and all emotion melted away to a familiar frosty indifference that sent a shiver down Dyna’s spine. “It’s only fair that I return the favor.”
Then a new rider joined Tavin on the hill, and horror stole the ground from under her.
A cool smile crossed Tarn’s face. “You’ve grown, Dale.”
Klyde’s breath shuddered at the sight of his brother. “Tavin, get away from him!”
But the boy simply reached in his coat and handed his father the bronze key to Mount Ida, along with a scroll.
Pocketing the key, Tarn unrolled the scroll, and his mouth hitched with a cool smile. His pale eyes fixed on Dyna. He showed her the page with a drawn copy of her map. “Thank you for your contributions, Maiden. They will serve me well.”
Her heart pounded wildly against her ribs.When did he…?
“Well done.” Tarn nodded at Tavin. “I am proud of you … son.”
“He’s not your son,” Klyde growled.
“Quick to temper, as always, little brother.” Tarn rolled up the scroll and tucked it away into his coat. “You have no right to feel angry about this when it was you who hid something precious from me. Imagine my surprise when he pulled me from the sea after my ship went down.”
That’s how Tarn had survived? Tavin must have followed her to Argent.
“Would it have made a difference if you knew about him?” Klyde demanded. “Would you have stayed to raise him?”
Tarn didn’t answer. A unit of Raiders on horses rose up on the hill with him, all armed. Tarn merely glanced at his son wordlessly, giving some signal. Obediently, Tavin mounted onto his father’s horse.
He trusted him. That had to mean Tavin had been communicating with Tarn all this time. The water mirror, she realized. He had been in her room…
“I raised him, Tarn,” Klyde said shakily. “He’smyboy. Please don’t take him with you.”
Traces of sadness briefly crossed Tavin’s face, but it faded beneath his resolve. “I am choosing to go with my father, uncle. Let me go.”
“No, you can’t go with him!” Klyde rushed the field, but ice sprouted from the earth, creating a blockade of frozen spears.
“Thank you for seeing to his well-being,” Tarn said, tugging on the reins. “But my son will stay with me now.”
Dyna exchanged a look with Von, and he nodded. “How did you find us?” she asked. To Cassiel she said in the bond,Be ready.
As if he couldn’t help himself, Tarn smirked at her over his shoulder, “You really should learn how to properly use a water mirror, Maiden. It’s a tool that could easily be turned against you.”
You never know who is listening.
A cold rush crawled over her skin. Her mind flashed with a memory of Cassiel dumping out the water and wiping down the mirror after using it. A habit she had never practiced. She was supposed to clean out the salt. This whole time the mirror had been activated even when it didn’t glow.
Tarn had heard every conversation and sound when the mirror was in the room.
