“Mmhmm.”
“No, it was my mother’s. It’s the only thing I have left of her, of them.”
His eyes were no longer icy; they softened once more and met my own, which had turned glassy upon the mention of my long-lost parents—lost from this world, lost from my memories.
“It’s very beautiful,” he said, before rising to his feet.
I followed his every movement. I watched him move towards the trolley, watched him return with two plates in hand, watched him take the seat closest to mine.
“What?” he asked. His question told me that I was openly staring.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.” His order was calm, yet it compelled me to answer.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, to buy glass, of course. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the castle is undergoing renov—”
“No, I mean…why are youreallyhere?”
“You don’t believe the glass-buying reason?”
I made the same sound twice, shaking my head, indicating a big no. He mumbled something beneath his breath that I couldn’t decipher, then looked my way and asked, “So you want to know why I’mreallyhere?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Lady Wildheart wants me to disclose sensitive information about why the Lord of the Vanguard of Ice is here?”
I answered carefully. “Well, only if you want to tell me, of course.”
I could tell that he was biting the insides of his cheeks as he stared at me in attentive silence. “I’m here because Silch wishes to ally with Ramel.”
My lungs hitched. Silence. “To plot against Naar?” I finally asked, my voice soft. He nodded. “But the peace treaty—”
“The peace treaty is an inconvenient obstacle, yes, but trust me, Cordelia, weneedthis alliance.”
“We do? And why is that?”
“Because of two reasons. One of which being the almost certainty that Naar is up to something very big and very bad that could happen very soon.”
Hair rose on the back of my neck, and I suddenly found the cake’s taste to have turned tart. “Do you think Naar will attack Ramel, or Silch?”
“We’re still not sure, but either way, whichever Land gets the hit, the other has to aid. It could be the difference between winning and losing—between life and death…and I don’t want to lose another Land to them, another people.”
We.
“When?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t know that either.” Well, that wasn’t very reassuring. “But anyway, don’t worry too much about—”
“What’s the other reason?” I asked quietly, circling a fingertip along the rim of my empty glass.
I felt his stiff blink. It took a while for him to answer, and his reply was curt and vague. It felt like he didn’t want to disclose too much, but he didn’t want to lie to me either. “The first…well, the first step towards salvation,” he finally said.
Salvation?
My chest swelled with hope and fear alike. I didn’t know how to reply to all of that. I was not political, and I was surely noexpert in attacks and wars. All I knew was that this male, in more ways than one, was tilting the world in a manner that could get me back my memories. That could end my need to constantly lie. To hide. So I just said, “I can’t believe you told me all of this.”
