“Yes, thank you.” I stand there for a moment, unsure of how I’m supposed to say goodbye after I showed so much of myself to him.
“Would you have dinner with me tonight?” he asks.
I open my mouth to reply, but I’m not sure how to answer. Every time I’m alone with him, it’s as if walls are breaking down between us. I get more confused about what I’m supposed to do, and my resolve seems to be melting away.
“Please say yes so I have an excuse to tell Ludis I’m busy. He’s been trying to have dinner with me since I returned. We’ll be spending enough time with him on the trip to Iskvaland as it is.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I almost forgot about the trip. Are you sure you really need me to attend?”
“You’re the heir, remember? Ludis was disowned. He needs you to win over the king. I really need the king to agree to work with me, but it would be easier if Ludis is there. He’s determined to have me as an ally.”
“Why are you doing this?” I’ve asked before, but things have changed between us since then.
His expression hardens. “That’s really not your place, is it?”
I scoff. “So, you shut me out again. Every time I think maybe there’s a decent person in there, you remind me of exactly why I can’t drop my guard around you.”
“Taylan, that’s not what I’m trying to do. Just—can you just trust me on this?”
“You haven’t earned my trust, Caiden.” I can’t deny that my feelings have changed for him, even if I can’t explain how or what they mean. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s going to do what’s best for himself no matter the consequences.
“What have I done in the last few weeks that makes you think you can’t trust me?” he demands. “I saved your friend; I’m helping you learn to defend yourself; I’m trying to be what you need me to be.”
“You’re the one who put Anya in danger in the first place,” I remind him.
“And I learned from that. I will never allow anything to happen to you or any of your friends. But you still don’t trust me.” He lets out an exasperated breath.
“Why should I when you’re hiding so many things from me? Why Iskvaland? Why the obsession with the Shatterlands? And what about the poison? You haven’t said a word about that. You don’t seem concerned.”
“I can assure you, I’m very concerned about all the various poisonings taking place. I’m working on it. Just because you don’t see me doing things, doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” he says.
“And Iskvaland? We don’t need their army. Your Night Legion is excellent. Especially if you could redirect them from hunting relics and killing people to helping instead.”
“I canceled all the relic hunts,” he says. “I passed a decree before I left for the tower reversing the ruling that made them illegal. If people want to hold on to relics, they can. There’re no more laws against them.”
My lips part, and I stare at him for a moment while I let his words sink in. Did he do somethingnice? Something to help the regular people of the empire? “What if they use them to create magic? To cast magic or give themselves magic?”
“If they figure it out, and they’re not hurting anyone, they’ll be subject to the same rules as anyone who’s been to the temple. Magic must only be used to protect or defend Pendralia and her people.”
“Is that what your legion was doing when they destroyed my village?” I ask.
“Your village?”
“Yes. I grew up in the mountains at the border. A whole legion came through, burning and destroying and killing. They took my father and our home. My mother brought me and my brothers to the city after that to start over.” I clamp my mouth shut, horrified that I spilled as much as I did. This isn’t his story to know. This is my family and my past and my life.
“Then your mother and brothers were killed in the rebellion,” he says.
I nod, but don’t let myself react. I refuse to let him see me cry over them.
“No wonder you want to kill me.” He runs a hand through his hair. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I know that’s meaningless now, but I’m not my father.”
“I don’t know what you are,” I say.
“You will. It’ll make sense soon enough. I promise, I’ll tell you everything, but not yet.”
I’m starting to wonder if I want to know. Maybe Anya was right, maybe we should leave. But if Caiden is successful amassing an army of Iskvalandian soldiers to invade the Shatterlands, where could we go? He’d start a war that would have every kingdom and continent taking sides.
“I’m going to have dinner with my ladies,” I say. “But that shouldn’t stop you from telling Ludis to go fuck himself and have dinner alone.”
