The place his presence occupied was now filled by that awful pressure pulsing against my temples.
I couldn’t have been the only one who’d noticed the shift.
And these parchments did not help the ache in my skull. At all.
“There she is again. Right between the summer feast candles and the extra water for the harvest.” I licked my teeth and tapped my finger on the name next to another exorbitant purchase, enough to fill an entire menagerie with pure-bred horses. “Bia Marino.”
Dax sighed. “She must’ve learned this from those heinous parents of hers. But she hated them. She used to spend most of her leave at the Academy just to avoid them.”
“Some threads are weaved so deep, we can’t cut them when we realize what they’ve stitched into us.”
“I still can’t believe it. She was Clara’s best friend. Or is. We don’t even know if she survived the arrows.”
“If family can turn on each other, friends can, too.”
“Does your best friend know that?”
“Who?” I asked distractedly.
“Your best friend. You must have one.”
That made me stop and lean back from the parchment.
I hadn’t had the time to think about that. Since I’d been named heir, I’d mostly mingled with adults and my family.
“I like all of my cousins,” I said, uncertain. Almost embarrassed, as if I was a youngling on my first day with a new tutor. “I have a soft spot for Evie, but it’s more like a big sisterthan a friend. And the one I get along with best–” My eyes widened. “Is you.”
“Me?” Dax huffed in surprise. “Iam your best friend?”
“Apparently,” I said, just as surprised.
“You need better taste in the people you associate yourself with, feared Huntress,” Dax joked, but he seemed really pleased.
“Who’s yours?” I nodded at him. “And Uncle Maksim doesnotcount.”
“I have friends in almost every Clan and beyond. I got the wings from one of them, remember?”
“No.Bestfriend.”
“Hmm. Well, I guess it would have to be…” He pursed his lips for the longest time, lost in thought. Then cursed under his breath. “You.”
“Ha!” I snorted a most undignified laugh. It helped ease the pain in my temples and quiet the thoughts of Ryker and war. “You like me, too.”
“How did this happen?” he asked, visibly irked. “Gods, we’re pathetic.”
“Hey!”
“No, I just meant…” He licked his lips. “We’ve been so focused on Clan duties and the Vegheara name and the perfect First Family that always came first that we just…couldn’t see anything else. And that is sad, no matter what you say.”
Honestly? Seen from the lens of draining duty and what we’d sacrificed for it, even the things we didn’t realize, it truly was sad.
“I guess.” I shrugged. “But as far as best friends go, I’m glad I’m yours.”
“Right back at you,” Dax said in a tone I could’ve sworn I’d never heard from him; almost sounded shy. Then he cleared his throat, and went on, much more confident, “It’s a good thing, since we’re stuck together for gods-know how long.”
“It’s really good,” I said softly.
Dax pointed a finger at me, not taking his eyes off the parchment. “Stop it, you’re going to make me blush, and I hate that.”
