“Treacher said you were tortured.”
“He exaggerated,” Saxon says, but he turns his gaze away from me, making me wonder.
“You’rehurt.” Saxon’s finger gently touches the X shaped scar on my belly that’s already healing.
“It’s nothing.” Considering the pain it caused at the time, the wound sealed almost instantly, and I forgot for the moment it was there. “What did the klericks do to you?” My finger brushes over a bruise.
“Mostly, they tried to starve me, but Treacher brought me fresh bread and clean water. And he occasionally snuck in a scrap of cheese or meat.” He shakes his head. “I was sure it was a trick. I thought he was trying to manipulate me. I’m still not convinced that he wasn’t.”
Saxon looks back into my eyes, and I nod in agreement. I’m still finding it hard to believe that Treacher has become an ally.
“Roule is dead,” I say.
Saxon’s eyes widen, but then quickly narrow as he shakes his head side to side. “Wish I could say I was sadder about that. How did it happen?”
“Nyxarious dropped him. He was impaled on the Shrine of Othrix in the courtyard.”
Saxon chuckles darkly, and lust rushes through me as I watch the laughter ripple across his chest and stomach muscles. If anything, the ridges of his stomach are even more prominent now.
“And Nyxarious?” His expression fills with concern. “Has she been across the veil? Could Nyx fly without Roule on her back?”
My heart fills with sadness, and my eyes with tears.
“What happened?” Saxon straightens and wraps one of his arms around my shoulders.
“Nyxarious stayed in the air but couldn’t see or hear well. Zogar was helping her. Guiding her, but—” My voice breaks.
“You don’t need to tell me.”
“It’s okay.” I shake my head. “It happened such a short time ago—but so much happened today that it’s hard to process it all.”
He nods, his face full of understanding.
“She flew directly into a mountain peak. Zogar seems sure she did it on purpose, out of shame for killing Roule.”
“Whydidshe kill Roule?” Saxon asks. “I mean, I know whyI’dwant to kill him.”
“What’s been going on here?” I ask, thinking of Roule. “How did the klericks seize control?”
“I don’t know for certain.” Saxon’s eyes narrow. “A lot changed, while we were all in Lymbo.” His expression softens for a moment, and I can tell he’s recalling the time we spent together.
“When Tynan and I returned,” he continues, “the klericy had taken control of the camp, and it seemed as if Khotor had conquered the other kingdoms.”
“I’ve been back in the Light for less than a day,” I tell him, “but that’s how it seems to me, too.”
“The dragon-shifters say that Othrix is a false god,” I tell Saxon. “They say his image is of a superi creature called a manticore. Have you ever heard of a manticore?”
Saxon shakes his head slowly.
“Do you know what’s happened to Tynan?”
Saxon draws a long breath. “I don’t know much. Only what my inquisitors—including Roule and Treacher—told me.”
“And?”
“Both say he’s in Khotor, and Roule says he’s joined forces with the King.”
“I doubt anything Roule told you, but I think we can trust Treacher.”
