I hadn’t wanted to argue on the ship, and I hadn’t wanted to see Elariya first. It would’ve made it harder. So, I’d left her with someone who could make her feel safe and comfortable, preparing her for the moment the shit hit the fan.
Arielle stepped closer. “You made me your royal advisor, and you call me part of this Veythral, yet you don’t share important information with me.”
“Arielle—”
She held up a hand. “No, Wolfe. If you bore any love for me, you would have told me where your heart lay.”
“I excluded you because you wouldn’t have agreed.” I exhaled hard. “You would’ve known straightaway that I was going to keep Elariya.” The guys knew, too. They just didn’t say anything. They waited for confirmation. But they knew.
Arielle pressed a hand to her heart. “Wolfe, I have so few friends. The other mages loathe me because I’m advanced beyond my years and I work with you. I’ve known Elariya for a little over a month, and she’s probably the best friend I’ve ever had.” Her voice cracked. “And you… you just made me look like someone who couldn’t be trusted.Again.”
“That was not my intention.”
“I promised her she could go home, and she believed me. She put hertrustin me with no memory of who I was,” she stuttered. “How will she see me now?”
I’d be a bastard if I didn’t agree with her. I felt the pain in her words, and worse, her disappointment in me.
“I went to hell and back to find you, and you treat me like shit,” she snapped. “You have no idea how worried I was when I thought you were dead, yet I held on to hope that we’d find you. We did, and all you can do is become this asshole dictator who tells us toleaveif we don’t agree with you.”
The door opened, cutting off any further conversation.
Bastian entered—always following Arielle. She looked back at him, the scowl on her face deepening.
“Did you know about this?” she demanded. “Did you know he was going to keep her?”
“I did. But not because he told me,” Bastian replied, his gaze flicking between us.
He went to put an arm around her, but she flinched and moved away, disappointment flickering across her face, at him too.
“Love,” Bastian said, using a gentle tone I’d only ever heard him use with her, “let’s go back downstairs and give Wolfe some space. He’s still healing.”
“No.” Arielle waved a fist at him. “You always do this to me. You always let him get away with everything. Even when you know I’m right.”
“Sweetheart, we are bound to follow Wolfe.” Bastian’s voice stayed calm. “I assume you still want to follow him because you’re still here.”
Arielle scowled, her eyes blazing. “And if I changed my mind and left now?—”
“Iwould leave with you,” Bastian said before she could even finish.
I wasn’t surprised by his words, but it still knocked me off balance. I’d known him for as long as I’d been alive. He’d been more than my best friend; he’d been my brother.
“So, if we leave now, Wolfe loses two more members of his family,” Bastian continued. “The mage he thinks of as a sisterand his second-in-command. If anything were to happen to him and Alaric, Galaythia would fall.”
Time slowed to a crawl as I waited for her response. Was I about to lose them both?
When she looked back at me, I saw it in her eyes, something I’d never seen before: a shimmering cloud of indecision. It told me that even if she stayed, I was still on the brink of losing her.
“I’m staying.” Her voice quivered. “But so help me, if anything happens to Elariya’s family, I will hate you forever, Wolfe Nightblade.”
I pressed a hand to my heart and dipped my head. “Namaröli,” I said, using the mage endearment formy chosen one. Among the mages, it was a rare honor—especially coming from a member of the Royal House. Her eyes welled with tears, my intention hitting the mark. “Do you truly believe that Elariya should go home?”
Her breath caught, and she lifted a shoulder in a helpless shrug. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I feel like I’m out of my depth and everything feels wrong.”
“It feels wrong because we’re stuck. And we’ve never been stuck before. One ill-favored decision could tip the scales the wrong way. Then all would be lost. If nothing else, I owe it to the kingdom to keep Elariya.”
“I agree, but you also want her here because you love her.”
“Yes. Yes, I do.” I would never lie or pretend otherwise. I looked at Bastian, whose gaze was still fixed on me. “You would have made the same decision if you were me. Don’t even dare try to deny it.”
