Despite her anger at him and the fact that she had every intention of finding a way out of all of this and leaving him behind, his expression hit her like a punch to the gut. She had never seen him smile like that, without any check on his emotions. Withoutcontrol.
“Riiight,” he said, the expression holding even as his eyes fluttered shut. “I married you, and now you’rereallymad at me.” He sighed, the sound oddly contented. “But you came back. I knew you would,oíche rionn.”
Nya opened her mouth and shut it twice before she actually spoke, trying and failing to make sense of the way he was acting. “Carus? What…what is happening?”
Carus rubbed at his temple. “Thanks to you, he is drunk off his ass, and now I will have to deal with his caterwauling until he hopefully passes out.”
“I didn’t give him anything?—”
“Not on wine. On his own magic.”
“I don’t understand?—”
“Carus!” Morgen groaned, slapping Carus in the face. “You should kick me in the head again before it explodes like last time.”
“Nope,” Carus said, attempting to drag him towards the tunnel entrance as lightning cracked across the sky in the distance. “Not this time. I told you not to do this again, and you are going to live with the consequences, migraine included.”
Nya watched, unsure of how to make sense of the strange scene. She followed Carus, and as soon as they were inside, Imeria appeared, laughing softly.
“Gods, really?” She sighed. “I thought he learned his lesson last time.”
Morgen was muttering something now, over and over again, his voice slurred but insistent. It took Nya a moment to realize it was hername.
“Look, Ima, can you just take care of Nya while I getHis Majestyto bed before he causes too much of a scene?”
Imeria rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
Carus nodded and turned his attention back to Morgen. “Alright, you big, dumb fucker, let’s go.”
Morgen opened his eyes, still saying her name. His irises were completely flooded with both silver ether and the bright gold of the embers, the strange light broken only by pupils that were dilated a concerning amount.
“He’s really just…drunk?” Nya ventured, glancing at Imeria.
Imeria snorted. “Essentially. When he uses too much magic too fast, the strain of it nearly kills the part of him that’s mortal, and then the embers come to the rescue to keep him from dying. But his internal magic tends to overdo it, and it goes to his head. Don’t worry, he’ll be back to his normal, broody self within a couple of hours.”
“Does this happen often?” Nya asked, her eyes on Morgen, who appeared to be trying to crawl away from a very irritated looking Carus.
Imeria shook her head. “No, only a handful of times. He knows his limits and doesn’t usually push them like this. It leaves him far too vulnerable.” She raised a brow, watching as Carus fought off Morgen’s haphazard slaps. “Obviously.”
“Nya!” Carus called. “Will you please come over here and assure Morgen you are still breathing, have not fallen off a cliff, and are not going to hate him forever—all things he will not shut up about, by the way.”
She bit her lip, and Imeria nudged her arm. “If you want some peace today, you’d better do as Carus says. Take my word for it.”
“Right,” she muttered before approaching tentatively and kneeling on the floor where Morgen was half-propped up against the damp tunnel wall. As soon as he saw her, he stopped flailing and trying to hit Carus in the face.
“Nya?”
Oh gods. He sounded so…scared, almost boy-like in a way she was sure he really never had the safety to be.
“Carus said you were worried,” she said softly. “But I’m fine. You should probably try to go and sleep this off.”
His brow creased. “Everyone is angry with me.”
“Damn straight,” Carus muttered.
But Morgen didn’t look away from her. She was caught, trapped by his wide-eyed gaze.
“I’m used to it,” he whispered. He still wore a crooked smile, though it was sad now. “No one has ever loved me, not even you.” His eyes fluttered shut. “I just don’t like it when you look at me like youhateme.”
