Because she watched another kiss me and I did nothing to stop it? Because I didn’t reveal to her that I was betrothed? She would have spit it in my face time and time again. I never would have gotten out of the eye of her storm.
And now that I had once…
I was anguished to do so again.
“Do you want some virelthorn or not?”
She halted immediately.
Loathing battered my insides. She cared more about consuming those fucking leaves than any explanation I could give her.
Slowly, she turned toward me again. Her face was placid, though that didn’t mask the tempest of emotion inside her. Thethick barrier between us cracked and leaked information I was desperate to snatch from her.
“You’d really give me some?” The question, the disbelief in her tone speared into my gut.
From my pocket, I produced a small vial I’d snatched from the empty storeroom. The herb had other uses than suppressing visions, so it was around, but not in large quantities.
To source more, I’d need to trek into Sivy. I’d slink away in the night if that was what it took for her to stop hating me. If she ever looked at me like I was hers, I’d fall to my knees.
I hadn’t appreciated the contrast until after Sylaira had told me to Command her to listen to me in that hall.
“It’s yours,” I told her, holding the virelthorn out for her to take.
She glanced between the leaves and me like she didn’t trust I wasn’t going to snatch my hand back the moment she reached for it like a cruel joke. I wouldn’t do that to her. But I wasn’t sure she’d show me the same respect.
Not now at least.
A long moment passed. Then another. With tentative suspicion, she plucked it from my palm. Her skin barely brushed mine with the motion, but it was enough to send a shockwave up my arm and straight to my heart.
I watched her every movement as she uncorked it and popped the few virelthorn leaves into her mouth.
“This doesn’t mean I trust you,” she said once she finished chewing.
“I know,” I sighed, raking my hands through my hair. “But will you listen now?”
Her tongue dug into the side of her cheek as she considered. I crept down our connection, trying to snatch a glimmer of her thoughts. But they swirled too fast for me to keep up.
Maybe this would be the first surrender of the war between us.
Maybe she’d finally let me explain.
Maybe I hadn’t lost her completely.
“No,” she finally said, tearing me back to reality.
“What?” I spluttered, but she was already turning away from me again.
I snatched for her, like halting her might stop the entire collapse of our relationship, when the healer popped his head out of the door again. “Herr Räviel, I couldn’t find the soldier. Did he come in with you?”
My hand retreated, fingers curling into a fist. One I very much wanted to swing into the male’s face. “No. He must have found the support lacking and disappeared.” Anger threaded my tone despite my attempts to remain calm.
Sylaira floated forward, and I trudged after her. She wasn’t leaving here without my escort. I could force her to listen then.
I sat on a chair, bringing me to a more reasonable level for the healer to work. Truly, my black eye wasn’t terrible. I’d had worse. Only the bottom part was bruised and puffy. In minutes, it was shrinking from the potion he’d given me to accelerate my natural healing abilities.
Sylaira didn’t so much as look at me the entire time the healer worked on my swollen skin.
“No sympathy for me, little fugitive?”I asked down our mental connection because I couldn’t help myself.
