‘She’s lying,’ he said, under his breath. ‘Everything she says is a lie.’
‘What’s that, Asmar? Speak up. It’s so rude to mumble. Ifan walk forward.’
Matthias let go of my hand and scooped up his sword, the water lapping our calves.
‘My king?’ Asher hovered behind us, his voice trembling.
‘Now…stop!’ she called to Ifan, who stood a few paces ahead of us, his eyes set on his brother.
‘Take your top off, Ifan.’
‘What the fuck?’ I asked as Ifan obeyed, shirking off his tunic, which disappeared under the growing tide.
‘Show off that tattoo of yours.’
Ifan spun.
I turned to Matthias. The blood leached from his features.
‘Now.’ She clapped her hands. ‘Here’s the good bit. Eat the sand, Ifan. Don’t spit it out.’
Without a second of hesitation, Ifan fell to the ground, shoving handfuls of sand into his mouth. I cursed as he didn’t flinch or gag, swallowing the sodden grains.
‘See, he does everything I ask of him. Everything,’ she shouted as she stepped further back into the waves. ‘He’ll slice his own throat without question. Kill you or Mrs Asmar. And it’s not because I wiped his snotty nose for six long years. Can you guess why, Asmar? Why does your little brother do every despicable thing I ask without question, even when he loathes it?’
‘The tattoo,’ I whispered.
‘The tattoo,’ she shrieked, turning in a circle, kicking up the spray. ‘I control the tattoo. Let me prove it.’
‘Run,’ Matthias said, shoving me aside.
‘What?’
‘Run, go to Asher, run.’
‘What?’ My heart hammered as he jerked away from me. ‘Matthias? Why?’
‘GO!’ he screamed.
‘Sorrow.’ Asher splashed through the waves, and something in Matthias’s expression forced me to grab the captain’s hand.
‘Remove your shirt, Asmar.’
I glanced back, grabbing my skirts in my clenched fists as I fought my way through the rising waves. Matthias tugged the tattered remains of his shirt over his head. He hadn’t? Surely, I’d have seen it when we made love? But he’d kept his back to the wall. He’d killed hunters, carried me miles and then, he’d deliberately kept his back to me.
‘Turn around!’
Slowly, Matthias turned.
I wanted to race forward, pummel my fists into his reckless chest, at a mark nestled at the base of his back, slightly to the left. What the marks said meant nothing to me. It was what the tattoo was made of that mattered.
Vyrium.
He’d gone against me and tattooed the Vyrium onto his body. Despite my worries, he’d seen his brother’s strength and chosen that over me. Overus.
Asher grabbed me. ‘Come on. The boat.’
‘Matthias,’ I whimpered.
