He nodded, unsurprised by my resourcefulness. “Did they know about these talents?”
“No.”
“So they put you in there to die, afraid and alone?”
“I suppose.” I was intimately familiar with the story. Dwelling on its horrors did me no good. Dwelling on its horrors might get Grayson killed, and despite the occasional homicidal inclination, I didn’t want him dead.
“The others?”
Grayson puffed his broad chest. “They didn’t know she was theirs. I didn’t know.”
“Doesn’t matter. You were guards. Your job was to protect. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as Haven.”
“As guards, we protect Legacia.” Grayson drew himself up to his full, annoyingly impressive height. “Not individuals.”
If I was reading the thunderous expression on Remy’s face correctly, Grayson was lucky to still be alive. “Given how Legacia treats women, it doesn’t deserve protection.”
Grayson rolled his eyes at Remy’s excellent point. “I just saved Haven from an assassin.”
“Knowing Haven, she would have saved herself without you. You just sped up her victory.”
A soft gasp from the doorway made us all turn. An older woman stood in the hallway, her hands pressed against her chest. Silver threads glimmered in her dark hair, and time had marked its passage on her pretty face. But her eyes … They were the same color as Grayson’s and filled with tears.
The desperate longing and pain in those eyes made my breath catch.
Grayson went perfectly still, his face draining of all color as he stared back at her.
“Gunn?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Grayson stood mute, apparently unable to speak.
The woman winced, lowering her gaze. When she lifted her head, she dropped a small curtsy. “Your Highness.”
“Marian, allow me to present Haven Ford.”
The woman dropped a second curtsy without actually looking at me; her gaze had returned to Grayson. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ford.”
“Likewise.” May had used Grayson’s mother’s name. Marian. This woman with her heart in her eyes had to be his mother. She’d been abused, and he’d betrayed her to his father. But I saw no anger in her gaze, only love and hope.
“Gunn.” One word filled with aching need and regret.
A moment’s raw vulnerability flickered across Grayson’s face—then his features hardened into a mask. “What are you doing here?” His words snapped, harsh and brittle.
“You will address the women in my court with respect.”
Marian’s hands fluttered near her skirts. “It’s all right, Your Highness. He learned from his father.”
“Who else was there to teach me? You left.”
“I begged you to come with us.” She was stating a fact, not defending herself.
Grayson sneered.
“Your father promised you a bright future. You wanted to stay with him. I understood. I forgave you.”
“You forgave me?” Grayson sounded disbelieving. “You left your only son.”
“I saved my daughter. And myself. I won’t apologize for that.”
