But he’d also saved me from the strange shadows of this place. Twice. I might not trust anyone, but he deserved honesty. “I think Dedalus might be one of the people working against you.”
His tone shifted from angry to weary. “Why would you think that?”
I gripped my skirts, wrinkling the fine fabric, nerves firing up all over again. When I’d decided to sneak in here, I’d worried about Dedalus catching me. I never thought that Bylur would be upset. But now—
Now, I worried.
Still, he’d agreed to keep me safe and happy, and he’d made good on that so far. And he needed to know how awful Dedalus was. “I met him at the dress shop when I was there with Brielle.”
I relaxed my hands as I launched into the story, shifting them from clenching my skirts to tracing my ring. Talking always made me relax.
Bylur stiffened when I told about Dedalus grabbing Brielle first and then me, but his body went absolutely rigid when I said Bylur didn’t trust Dedalus.
Shadows swirled around him. Did they respond to emotions? Bylur’s tight voice cut into my thoughts. “Why would you say that?”
I threw an exasperated arm into the air. “He was threatening us! It was the only thing I could think of to make him go away!”
He tightened his hold on the stone framing the window. “Disgusting behavior, for sure, but not uncommon for fae. He could not have hurt Brielle, but you… Stars, Auria, if you had just called out, my soldiers would have come running to help you.”
There was a lot to unpack in that, but before I had time to explain some of the problems with soldiers, he kept going. “I may not trust anyone, but Dedalus has been a political ally to me for decades. And now that is threatened.”
Because of what I said. He didn’t say it out loud, but it hung unsaid like a blanket suffocating us both.
The silence was too much. “I’m sorry. I… I don’t know what else to say.”
He blew out a gusty breath and turned his head toward the heavens. “You lie so easily. I never know if I can believe you or if you’re just saying words to placate the dangers you perceive around you.”
That stung. Right in my chest.
And then he made it worse. He turned his shoulder toward me, stopped, and faced outside again. “I refuse to be a danger to you. You do not have to lie to me.”
How did I fix this? I’d messed up his politics without even knowing them and made his marriage a confusion of lies and trust.
His marriage. I rolled my eyes at myself. It was my marriage too. Even if we weren’t in it for love, we needed to be able to work with each other. I stepped closer to his back, carefully dodging the shadows that swirled on the floor.
I reached for his shoulder, but stopped just before I touched it. Was he the sort of person who would feel better at being touched? Or would it feel like an invasion of his space?
This wasn’t a time to be afraid. I’d messed up, and I had to try to fix it.
I bit my lip and reached up to set a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t lie toyou. Ever. At least, not ever again.” My mouth was doing its thing now, so I just let it go. “If I have lied to you already, I don’t remember, but I want to do better. I’m here to break your curse, but I don’t want to create more stress for you. I don’t know how to fix what I said to Dedalus, but I’ll—”
I stopped myself. I did not give my mouth permission to say what almost slipped out. But when I paused, Bylur set a hand on top of mine and squeezed it carefully. That gesture cracked something in me. Whatever walls I’d used to protect myself for the last fourteen years were not fair to keep between us. Notwhen I was benefitting so much from this arrangement while he kept having to accommodate me and clean up my mistakes.
I squeezed him back. “I’ll do whatever you would like. Tell me what would fix it, and I’ll do it.”
The door behind us slammed open. I startled and felt Bylur turning under my hand, so I scrunched my eyes closed, but his hands landed on my shoulders in an instant. He slowly turned me around and kept his hands on my shoulders. Just behind my ear, he whispered, “Open your eyes.”
Dedalus stood in the doorway, radiating anger like the sun radiates heat. How had Rat not warned us? The monstrous fae marched up to us, completely ignoring me, and stared above my head at Bylur. “I will be leaving,Your Highness.” He sneered the last two words in a mocking title. “I hope your council rots in chaos.”
“Dedalus—” Bylur began, but Dedalus cut him off.
“There is nothing you can say that will change my mind. You obviously came here to search my room. That tells me exactly how much you value my alliance.” He turned around and stormed to the door.
My heart pounded. This was my fault. I couldn’t let him walk away.
But he was terrible. And angry. And strong. And—
And out the door.
