“I know you understand,” she said softly. “Out of everyone I’ve met here, I knew you would understand best.”
We stayed like that for some time until my eyelids started to grow heavy.
“When do you leave?” I asked.
“I’ll do one last night tomorrow. I’ll leave the following morning,” she said.
My expression sobered. “So soon?”
She nodded. “I’m eager to get away from this place. Though I’ll miss you the most.”
“Did you tell Lesana yet?” I whispered.
Her body tightened against mine. Briefly.
“Yes,” she said. “This morning. She wasn’t entirely pleased. I didn’t tell her I was leaving due to a couple of her patrons. She doesn’t need to know yet. She’ll find out eventually, I’m sure, but I won’t be around when she does.”
A soft laugh left me. I straightened from her shoulder, feeling a tight crick in my neck from the prolonged position.
“The rest of us will face her ire,” I joked. “Thanks for that.”
Grace smiled, but it was only half-hearted. “Millie, I know you and she are close,” she started, “but just…be careful.”
“You never did like her,” I pointed out, shrugging. Though I didn’t let slip the side of Lesana that I’d witnessed this last week. A side of her I’d never seen.
“They’re all cut from the same cloth,” Grace said.
“Who?” I asked, brow furrowing. Laughing, I teased, “TheKylorr?”
“No. Nobles.”
“Lesana doesn’t come from a noble House,” I said immediately. Then I paused when I saw Grace quirk a brow. “She doesn’t. She told me her father worked the ports.”
“You do know that her mother’s line is House Arada, right?” Grace asked.
“What?” I asked in disbelief. “But Hanno…”
“Yes, Hanno is her cousin. He gave her the credits to start RaanaDyaan, but he’s bleeding this place dry. I heard them arguing one night in her office. I almost feel sorry for her. He’s a greedy little worm. And she’s obviously desperate to get out from beneath him, given how successful she’s made this place, but he owns nearlyeverything. Not Lesana. Not Draan.”
I couldn’t believe what she was telling me.
“You must be mistaken,” I said quietly. “Youheardall this? When?”
“A few months back,” she said, shrugging. “Ask Illaira. She heard it too.”
I didn’t know what to say. How to respond. I was too busy processing the new information and having a difficult time with it.
Silence stretched between us again. Even still, distracted as I was, I noticed when Grace’s gaze eventually turned back to the letters on my desk.
“Who are they?” she asked, voice hushed. “Your parents?”
I sighed. I followed her gaze to the letters. Softly, I said, “My father, Joss. They are his letters. He…died a few months ago.”
“Oh,” Grace said. She reached out, taking my hand. “I’m so sorry, Millie. I wondered. Grief…it’s easy to recognize, you know?”
I nodded. Clearing my throat, I added, “He loved a Kylorr female named Ruaala. He used to live here. In Erzos. A long time ago. They loved each other deeply, but she was from a noble family and was duty-bound to marry someone else.”
“Oh,” my friend breathed. “How terrible.”
