“I told you. Fresh air.”
“This place has likethreebalconies. Why stay here? Shouldn’t you be afraid of me, like your boyfriend? Gotta be honest, I’m surprised he loosened your leash at all to let you out of his sight.”
Leashhit the air roughly.
“Fuck. Sorry,” I sighed.
Zia worked her jaw, shaking off the slip. “He’s not my—” She pursed her lips, gathering her thoughts for several long moments. “It’s complicated, I suppose. And Rowan isn’t afraid of you.”
“Really?”
“He just hates you.”
“Ah.” I glanced around, wondering if he was watching from somewhere. “Should I be worried that he’s about to make me spontaneously combust for talking to you?”
The grin she gave me was strangely mischievous. “He’ll likely be occupied for a while. When I heard that Hazel is a new animal affinity, I shared that Rowan is one as well. You should have seen her light up. She’ll be halfway through a million questions by now, I suspect.”
“Animal affinity? I thought he was fire.”
“Fire is his secondary. He trained it to perfection nonetheless. Flames are more favorable for a personal guard, after all.” Her expression went distant until she blinked it away. “Don’t think too harshly of him for his callousness. It’s kind of him to have anything to do with me, let alone for him to insist on continuing to serve as my protector.”
“Whowouldn’twant to protect you?” I asked a little too hotly. The slip made my face warm again.Fuck. I might have taken it easier on the whiskey if I’d known I would be navigating a conversation with a fairy princess. “What I mean is—for royalty, you don’t seem like a total bitch.”
Zia snorted in laughter. “You’re royalty too, you know. Fallen nobility.”
“You barely know me,” I retorted. “So maybe cool it with the psychoanalysis.”
“I’m sure I’m right because it takes one to know one.” That distant look on her face returned and had me leaning a little closer. “And if you don’t believe me—I’m the reason my village went to ruin.”
I scoffed. “I seriously doubt that.”
“Well, I’m sure it won’t surprise you that I have a habit of trusting the wrong people and making the wrong choices.” Her humorless laugh tapered off. “I thought I could singlehandedly mend a bitter blood feud with a union. Generations of hatred had been sown between my home and another nearby village. During territory negotiations last summer, I met a rival noble. Blair. We appeared to be like-minded. For the life of me, I can’t remember if it was my idea or his—that we could be the ones to usher in true peace. Rowan had his doubts, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I used my position to get others to listen, to trust me. I convinced my people that union would mend everything.”
She paused, pressing her lips into a thin line and avoiding my gaze.
“You were double-crossed?” I ventured softly.
A single, shaky nod. “The day of the union came. It was a bloodbath. An opportunity to attack. Before long, a terrible fire was roaring through our forest, swallowing both territories.”
“Tell me your fuckface fiancé went down in the fire, at least.”
The sigh she heaved didn’t inspire hope. “In the chaos and the smoke, he found me. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Rowan struck him through the chest, and he was gone. Beyond healing.” She struggled to find words for several moments. “I…I will never know whether he truly loved me or if he was in on the attack. I’m not sure which would be worse.”
She hurriedly wiped her eyes and went on. “Rowan and I have been traveling since then. Aelthorin should have simply beenanother stop on our journey. When the humans ransacked it, we should have been able to make a quick escape, just the two of us. But people were hurt. I tore away from him and went to heal whoever I could reach. That was how I became targeted for my abilities—because I revealed them. Even then, Rowan refused to leave my side.”
As she lifted her gaze to meet mine, I couldn’t think of what to say. To my surprise, she offered a smile as thoughImight need the comfort.
“You don’t have to pity me,” she said. “Despite everything, I can’t imagine a world where I took another path. Perhaps I’m cursed to fall into peril because I don’t know how else to be. But this time, I seemed to have made the right choice.”
You’re crazy,I almost sneered. But I couldn’t. I just stared at her dumbly in stunned silence.
Yes, I’d saved her from Evercor’s captivity, but what if I’d fucked it up? All Zia’s suffering would have led to nothing. Yet here she was, composed and smiling softly at me.
“If I went through that, I wouldn’t be half as put together as you are,” I finally said. “You’re stronger than you look.”
“Softness has its own strength, and every kindness is my penance.” Her eyes moved over me, almostshy,as though expecting me to mock that kind of sentiment. Most hunters would, no doubt. “At least, that’s the pacifying mantra I’ve been telling myself. It may not make sense, refusing to cause harm even to those who wrong me. Staying true to who the stars made me to be is my defiance of the tragedy.”
She pulled some of her long, half-plaited hair over her shoulder, fiddling with the ends of it. “Some may call it selfishness, clinging to my oath, but the moment I wield my magic in anger, I’ll have truly lost myself.”
