She nods at that, looking pleased. ‘Then you are blessed by the Gods to have found one another. I am extremely proud of all our men and women who answered Etta’s call. Ultimately,’ she says, looking pointedly at Kyor, ‘it is only the Gods that we should answer to.’
Benny grimaces and drops his voice once more to offer an explanation of his grandmother’s acerbic comment. ‘My grandmother’s great-grandfather was the ruler who sought a unification with Morathka,’ Benny tells me. ‘Before then, we were an independent kingdom.’
‘I wasn’t aware that the Eastern Isles were ever independent,’ I say in surprise.
The Dowager sniffs. ‘King Korvane treats truth like an optional accessory – splendid when it suits him, conveniently absent when it doesn’t.’
Tension ripples through the air, yet no matter how uncomfortable I’m starting to feel, Kyor remains completely relaxed.
‘I would happily take back with me any documents or books you feelour records may be missing.’ He smiles. ‘It has been lovely to chat with you again, Dowager. I hope to see you on the mainland soon.’
She sniffs again. ‘A pretty face and tight arse aren’t enough to win me over, young Kyor. You can tell your father that too.’
‘I’m sure my father would be honoured to hear you think he still has a tight arse,’ Kyor replies without missing a beat. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I believe there are some other people Rose has been hoping to speak to. It’s been a pleasure, Dowager.’
Despite herself, I see a flash of amusement cross her face, followed by consternation. I get that all too well. I hated Kyor once upon a time too, but his charm – and other parts of him – won me over.
I offer a fumbled farewell and another curtsy before leaving the Dowager.
‘You know, for someone who insists they’re nothing like their father, you can sure be a prick like him,’ Benny mumbles to Kyor when he catches up with us a moment later.
‘Really? I thought I was just accepting compliments.’ Kyor smirks back.
Benny leads us to a small room off the ballroom, where a woman and a young girl who need no introduction are waiting. It’s the girl who was brave enough to call me bad-ass in front of the whole court. Llin’s baby sister.
‘This is Rose,’ Benny introduces me softly. ‘Llinos loved her.’
Just having those words spoken aloud makes my throat fill with rocks.
‘Carys.’ My voice trembles as heat burns behind my eyes. A miniature version of Llinos, she looks so much like her sister it’s enough to break my heart all over again. I slip out of Kyor’s grasp and bend down to the child’s height. ‘I’ve heard so much about you. Llinos adored you.’
The young girl nods, suddenly silent, no doubt battling her own tears.
‘You picked such beautiful dresses for Llin to wear.’ I’m not sure why I say such an inane thing, and all it does is rouse images in my mind. Images of Llin dead in a ballgown. Dead because of me. I close my eyes, waiting for whatever punishment, physical or verbal, she’s about to unleash on me.
Instead, I find myself engulfed in an embrace.
‘She wore them?’ Carys asks in a small voice.
‘She did.’ Tears leak down my cheeks as I open my eyes. ‘She wore them all for you.’
‘She was so beautiful.’
The girl’s eyes glaze, and all I can do is nod as I stifle the sobs that want to break free.
‘She was,’ I choke out, ‘the most beautiful person I have ever known, inside and out.’ My hand rises and brushes against Carys’s cheeks. ‘And you look just like her.’
The young girl’s lips tremble, and I’m struck by the overwhelming urge to hold her and never let go. But before I can, a throat clears above me.
There, standing over us, is a woman I have never met, yet I know with my whole heart who she is. ‘Go now, Carys,’ she says. ‘Let the adults talk a moment.’
‘But Mother?—’
‘Go!’
A slight huff leaves her pouted lips, but nonetheless Carys goes.
As silence threatens to take hold, I bite my lip, not sure where to start. In the end, I go with the words that have been bursting within me from the moment I knew this moment was coming. ‘I’m so sorry.’ I gulp in breaths as I stand face to face with Llinos’s mother, Morwenna. ‘I am so, so sorry.’
