“No, you don’t.”Wilder smirks, guiding me to a side door.
He’s right. I don’t. That’s my problem.
Chapter 21
Elorie
“If your noseisn’t buried in a book, you’re writing them.” Isolde walks into my room without knocking.
She’s the only one who comes and goes freely, so it doesn’t surprise me.
I glance up from my paper. “It helps pass the time.”
Isolde places a clean set of leathers on the bed. “The king will be collecting you for training today so you can pass some time with him.”
“The king?”
She nods.
He hasn’t attended a training session yet. And I know the chances he suddenly cares are thin, which means he must have ulterior motives.
The last time King Malachi surprised me with training, I found myself standing in a room of corpses. My palm presses to my stomach, willing it to settle. No wonder Isolde cleaned my leathers. Gods forbid the king have to see his precious chosen in dirty clothes.
Grumbling, I climb off the bed.
“Should I inform him you’re too tired to train today?” Isolde offers as she takes in my frown.
“We both know it won’t do me any good.”
She doesn’t argue because she knows I’m right. What the king wants, the king gets. And while those living in the palace wouldn’t dare speak ill of him, there are enough shared glances for me to know I’m not the only one treading carefully.
I slip out of my sleep dress and hand it to Isolde. Any shyness I had when I first arrived at the palace has vanished in my time here. Between Isolde helping me change and the dresses I’m paraded around in nightly, there is no more shame. I’ve mentally disconnected from my body.
My leathers are snug at my hips and waist. Tighter from being freshly washed. I watch Isolde through the mirror while she ties the straps at the back, noticing something distant in her gaze today.
“Do you ever see your family back in Rohldova?” I ask when her eyes meet mine in the mirror.
Shadows settle at my question. “My family is no longer in Rohldova.”
“They came to the palace with you?”
She tightens another lace, jolting me back and forcing the air from my lungs. “They await me in Sarrow.”
Her expression doesn’t flinch, but grief bleeds through her words.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize?—”
“There are few with happy stories from this war, Elorie. It’s a blessing any of us are here at all with the creatures spilling from the Well.” Her tone is cold and empty as she finishes the final knot.
“Is it hard being away from your home? From the things that remind you of those you’ve lost?” Maybe I shouldn’t ask. But learning of Isolde’s loss makes me feel closer to her. “That’s thehardest part of losing my father. Being away from everything that would remind me of him. It makes his death not feel real.”
“It feels real for me. I saw too much for it not to.” Isolde pauses, staring at the window. “But I suppose you’re right. If it were up to me, I’d have never left. We’re the same in that way, even if our reasons for coming here are different.”
“Why did you come to the palace?”
“I promised Earik I would.”
“A family member?”
