“Talon didn’t grow up here, then?”
He shook his head. “No. He was lucky. He only came for brief visits—a few weeks here and there—but he never had to live here.”
I stole a glance at his expression, but he kept it masked. I thought of what he had said before about his father letting him dangle from an eagle’s talons despite his fear of heights. No wonder he said Talon was lucky. Why did his mother allow him to be treated that way?
“What about your mother? Did she enjoy palace life?”
He glanced back at me once. “My mother died giving birth to me,” he said.
I froze midstep. To be raised without a mother was unimaginable for our people. To us, our mothers were everything, the heart of our people.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said.
“You sound like you actually are,” he commented with some surprise.
“I really am. I can’t imagine being raised without a mother,especially when your father was…” I trailed off as he came to a stop in front of an open archway.
“My father was what?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
A tyrant. A murderer. Cruel. Sadistic.“He didn’t seem to be the most loving man.”
Altair laughed, but it was without humor. “That’s an understatement. What was your father like?”
“I’ve never met him,” I said, and he gave me a look that was equal parts disbelief and envy. “Queens may take any number of suitors, and I’m not sure my mother knows exactly who sired me.”
I thought of the conversation I had with Ama before I left. How she refused to tell me more about my sire or even entertain the idea of finding him. Talon had arrived soon after with the peace treaty, and we hadn’t had time to talk about it again.
“I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like without my father,” he said, interrupting my disturbing thoughts, but it wasn’t with a sweet, nostalgic tone. He seemed to ponder it with longing. “But here we are. The place I wanted to show you.”
He held out his arm for me to go through the archway. The moment I entered, I stood motionless as I took in the beauty surrounding me. We must have been at the center of the palace, for there was no ceiling, only open sky. There were enormous trees, and flowers with a riot of color—pinks, purples, even blues. A white bridge crossed over a mountain stream, and there were banks of green grass. The wind came and greeted me like a friend as a warm breeze enveloped me.
“This is incredible,” I said. “You can almost pretend we aren’t at the palace anymore.”
Altair smiled, and this time, the expression reached his eyes. “That’s why it has always been my favorite place.”
Our gazes caught and held for a moment—he was truly beautiful when he smiled. He turned back to the stream. “The palace can be a dangerous place, especially for outsiders, but I honestly thought you would be well protected by the guards. Lady Corvina and Lady Starling are being stripped of their titles and exiled from the palace.”
I widened my eyes at him. For the two of them, as much as they spoke of their high status, that would likely be a fate worse than death.
“I didn’t think they were capable of such violence,” he added. “But I will not tolerate any attacks on my future wife.”
Talon most likely already told him what I had witnessed, but I still wanted to see his reaction. “I’m not sure it was entirely their fault. Before they tried to drown me, I saw shadows pour into them.”
He glanced at me, expression unreadable. “And what do you think the shadows were from?”
“I think it had something to do with that creature I saw the first day in your throne room. The one Talon calls the Devourer.”
“That’s impossible,” he said dismissively. “Ozul never leaves the west wing. No, though it embarrasses me to admit it, those women wanted to kill you just to try and take your place.”
“Then how do you explain the shadows I saw? The way their eyes turned black?”
His expression softened with sympathy. “By all accounts, you had a near-death experience. It’s hard to trust your memory after such a traumatic event.”
He delivered this line so smoothly I almost believed him. But I knew better. I knew what I had seen.
He had obviously decided to deny the Devourer’s role in theattack on me, but I wanted answers about the creature. “Emperor Altair, in only three weeks, we will marry. I think I deserve the truth from my future husband. Who—or what—is Ozul?” I pressed.
After searching my face for a moment, he said, “A powerful sorcerer. Your people were gifted with magic, but mine have none. The war would have stretched on forever had I not evened the field.”
