Chapter
Fifteen
In his chambers within the mountain, he keeps a small satchel of river stones. When I touched one, I saw her as if through his eyes: laughing, her hair dripping water as she pulled herself onto a rocky shore. Her face, I have seen for centuries, both in my dreams and on my lost friends. It is a mockery that Fate should draw these two together. Something must be done.
—Ana, Priestess to the Usurper King, Arcadia
A few hours later,Nya retreated into the caves from the open cliffside she’d been curled on. Her entire body was shivering from the cold winds outside, her eyes dry from the tears she hadn’t been able to stop, from watching the bright plumes of lava beneath her. She desperately needed a bath—preferably a warm one—and when she found herself in the same cavern where she had gotten ready with Imeria before the marriage ceremony, she thought she’d finally had some luck. At least, until she saw the figure half-submerged in the water and realized she was not alone.
“I need to bathe.”
Morgen snorted softly, the water splashing as he shifted in his spot near the edge of the pool. “No one is stopping you.”
She tried to keep her voice firm as she said, “You should leave,” but it wobbled pathetically as she shivered.
“Believe it or not, this ismybathing room, and you are the one who is trespassing.”
She squared her jaw. “F-f-fine, then. I’ll go.”
In the dim light, she saw him tilt his head. “You’re trembling. Did you go outside?”
“It’s n-not like anyone s-s-topped me.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “It’s freezing this time of the day. You need to warm up.”
“Not with y-you here?—”
“Nya.” He started to stand, and she was not sure if he was wearing even a stitch of clothing. “You’re being unnecessary stubborn?—”
“Fine,f-f-fine,” she snapped, turning away. “Jus-t-t sit down. And look a-away.”
The splashing settled, and she glanced over her shoulder to see he had listened to her and was facing the wall. Quickly, she stripped down to the flimsy shift she wore under her dress and then slipped into the water on the opposite side of the pool from where Morgen sat.
“Am I allowed to look now?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.
She didn’t understand. How could he tease her now? Wasn’t he angry? She had said awful things to him today, and she hadmeantthem. Yet, he wasn’t being cold with her. In fact, he was acting almost like he had during all their meetings in the forest in Mise.
“Fine,” she bit out, settling against a stone ledge as the warmth seeped back into her muscles.
He turned his head, his expression shifting into something almost soft as he looked at her. Perhaps this brought him back to swimming in the creek. She was certainly remembering those times, when Varax had splashed like a child downstream and Nya dipped underwater for river stones before handing the ‘pretty ones’ to him.
But she couldn’t get lost in the bittersweet nostalgia of the past. She had questions.
“If you knew what my mother looked like after seeing her in Kronos’ throne room, how could you claim not to know who I was the day we met? Everyone says I look just like her.”
Morgen cleared his throat. “You do—except for your eyes.”
“Yeah, they’re my father’s,” she muttered, guilt eating at her as she recalled the horrified expressions on her parents’ faces when she had left them in that room. She hadn’t even stayed to make sure her father was alright or make sure Carus truly wasn’t going to try and hurt them.
“I imagine,” Morgen began, “that I ignored my immediate suspicions in the same way you ignored yours.”
She said nothing, and he added, “I know you saw the embers in my eyes that first day. I can usually feel it when they’re visible, and, most of the time, I’m able to keep them under control if I want. When I couldn’t?—”
“You’d turn away,” she finished for him. He nodded, and she forced herself to look at him. “Everything you just told my parents about the embers and the palace… Were you lying?”
She wasn’t sure why she was even bothering to ask. If hewaslying or trying to trick them, it wasn’t like he would reveal the truth to her now. Perhaps it was because here, this felt so similar to all those times she’d thought he was always honest with her.
“Most of what I said in that room was the truth, yes.”
