Which… now that I think about it… Thaden might very well be aware of that.
It could suit him to leave us in some village and pursue Asha on his own…
I find his gaze on me and I’m worried I haven’t controlled my expressions.
He shakes his head at me. “Why would you hurt her like that?”
The rebuke I was expecting. The response I prepared flows from my tongue. “Because she’s dangerous,” I say with all the conviction I can muster. “You may feel safe around her, but I don’t. My power isn’t like Gallium’s and it’s certainly not a match for Asha’s power. I’m a healer. I can’t fight. If the darkness overcomes her, she could kill me at a moment’s whim.”
Thaden’s expression softens. “You’re hurting, Tamra. You must feel like you lost your sister when you were finally reunited with her.”
I let my eyes fill with tears because now I have an excuse to shed them without betraying my true emotions. “I hate what this power has done to her,” I whisper, speaking the truth this time. “I hate all of it.”
He nods earnestly. “Of course you do.” His thumb brushes my cheeks, easing my tears away. “Nobody wants to feel powerless. But I promise you we will reach safety soon.”
With that, he turns to Gallium. “We need to move quickly if I’m to have any chance of doubling back and catching up with Asha. The journey to my old village will take three days each way, so my chances are already slim. I don’t have time to waste.”
I don’t want Thaden to reach Asha at all and I’m certain Gallium won’t, either.
I consider coming up with an excuse to delay our departure, but the reality is that there are threats here, too.
Asha made a deal with Queen Karasi to secure our safety: Asha would hunt and kill Milena Ironmeld, and in exchange, the Queen’s healers would save the Vandawolf’s life. Asha also bargained for our safety. We are free to move around the fae castle and encampment and to leave whenever we want.
But the fae made it clear that Blacksmiths have been their enemies ever since Malak himself assassinated their former Queen.
Now that Asha is leaving, I don’t doubt that Queen Karasi will have plans for us. For the last two days, she has been whispering poison in my ears about Asha—which Thaden is fully aware of, so at least he can assume my apparent hatred toward my sister was encouraged by the Fae Queen.
Gallium speaks up before I can interject. “The sooner we leave, the better,” he says. “The fae play games with each other. We can’t risk getting caught up in their trickery.”
Just this evening, we witnessed the game they played with one of their own: a fae woman named Dusana attacked Asha out in the mountains. The attack happened after the Queen had given Asha amnesty. Instead of punishing Dusana when she returned to the castle, the Queen invited her to dinner, gave her a beautiful dress to wear, and had her beaten in this very dining room when Dusana didn’t see it coming.
If it weren’t for the fae who cleaned up, there would still be blood on the floor.
But, oh, how it must be stabbing Gallium’s pride to continue subduing his strength. To play to Thaden’s intentions and allow him to take the lead when Gallium’s true power is…
Breathtaking.
Gallium hasn’t shown Asha even a tenth of what he can do.
I sometimes wonder if he has even shownme.
“Thank you,” Thaden says to Gallium, giving him a quick nod, and then he casts me a quick look. I read the assessment in his eyes. He’s analyzing me so closely that I can hardly breathe.
“The sooner I leave my past behind, the better,” I say, my shoulders slumping as if I were defeated.
Some of the sharpness in Thaden’s expression fades. “Then we’re agreed. Let’s move.”
Half an hour later, we’ve navigated the castle’s vast corridors and managed to evade any inquisitive fae on the way back to our rooms.
Gallium and I have our own separate rooms side by side, but mine adjoins Thaden’s with an interconnecting door between his room and mine.
The Queen, it seems, thought that Thaden and I might appreciate that. She seemed disappointed when it became clear that the door between our rooms remained closed at all times.
Thaden himself made a show of pulling a piece of furniture across the door on my side, blocking it from being opened from his side. It was right after the Queen had shown us to our rooms, and she’d watched him do it with pursed lips.
After which, he murmured to her,“With respect, Queen Karasi, don’t make assumptions.”
Only moments after that, a swarm of fae staff confiscated the packs we’d brought with us and all the supplies within them. They called it ‘tidying up,’ although it was clear that they didn’t want us to have what we would need to easily leave this place and venture back out into the dangerous wilderness beyond these walls.
