At leastoneof my abilities works the way it should.
Thunder rumbles overhead.
The waterwielder’s eyes widen with terror.
I release my hold on her neck and sit back on the bench, knees spread wide.
“I’ll summon the storm inside the carriage, if that’s what you wish. But then you’d faint again like a sad, sniveling child, and I’d have to wait for you to wake up and start all over again. So make it easier for both of us and tell me. Why. Did. You. Come.”
Hurt flares within her gaze, her lower lip quivering.
Shit, she’s good.
Just as quickly, she clenches her jaw, tilting her chin defiantly.
All right, then. “You were going to poison everyone at the Equinox Festival.”
The waterwielder gapes at me. Skies, did no one train her for interrogation? Tormik just sent her to spread her legs and bide her time?
How willing she would have been for Faramir. Disgust needles beneath my ribs, acrid bile clawing up my throat.
“I had the tunnels flushed out. There were barrels of toxinnia ready.” I rest my chin on my hand, eyes never leaving her traitorous face. “And the wormbark oil in my chambers?”
She flinches.
“Who was it for? Your dead captain?”
Tears line her eyes, and she averts her gaze.
The sight of her grief for her lover fills me with fresh rage. “Who was it for?” I snarl, leaning forward.
Silence.
I summon lighting. “Who was it f—”
“For you!” Tears stream down her cheeks. “It was for you!”
I stare at her, unmoving.
She’s still playing her part. Even now.
No prickles. Their absence fuels my anger.
“Stop lying.” My voice is deathly calm even as violent rage surges through my veins.
“I swear by the Tides, it was foryou!”
She’s barely finished speaking when I lunge across the carriage, palms braced against the wall, caging her head between them.
“STOP.LYING!”
Thunder rattles the carriage, lightning flashing violently.
Her wrists jerk in their chains, and she gags, cowering from me.
The bitter taste of self-loathing blooms hot on my tongue.
My breathing is heavy as I plant myself on the bench across from her, staring out of the small, smudged window, struggling to regain some semblance of control.
