Treading carefully into dangerous waters, Sean said his next words with a lightness he didn’t feel. “Do you have Galadaine’s memory of killing Lhynion?”
David flinched. “I only remember the way it felt to stab a sword into someone. Nothing else.”
He nodded, his gaze on his hands.
“Why?” David asked. “Doyou?”
“Yes. Galadaine was trying to kill Meléan because she’d betrayed them both. He called herinfected.”
“Infected? Like?—”
“A plague? Yeah. He said,You are infected! Diseased by madness. Who is this mistress who has beguiled you? She is ripping us all apart.”
“She?”
Sean nodded. “Whatever it is, whoever it is, it’s female.”
“Not Galadaine.” David failed to hide the hope in his voice.
“No.”
“But we’re assuming it’s the same person.”
“Assumptions are all we have at this point. And Iassumeit’s the same woman who attacked Anna’s mind.”
David stared straight ahead, face blank while his connection to Sean electrified. “This time, I will triumph.That’s what Anna said the creature told her.”
Sean nodded. “And do you want to hear the rest?”
David blinked one, two, three times. “I’m really not sure.”
“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway, because it’s the most important part. Lhynion didn’t step in front of the sword to save Meléan. She jumped out of the way, and it stabbed him. Galadaine was so furious that he compelled her to swear her life for Lhynion’s. He’s the reason Isobel has to pay this blood debt.”
What?
The word zapped through their connection, and Sean heard it the same as if David had spoken it aloud.
“He didn’t lock her up out of jealousy, David. He imprisoned her because she was serving their enemy—thismistress—and because she was the reason his brother died. He tried to do the right thing. I don’t know how he wound up on the wrong side of the war, but I think the story is far more complicated than what they’ve told us.”
David went utterly motionless, not even breathing.
“So this idea that you have in your head that you’re somehow undeserving of happiness simply because of the blood that runs in your veins… It’s based on a lie.”
A deafening quiet fell, several seconds of lethal stillness.
Then Sean pushed out of his chair and stood straight. “Being with her isn’t putting her in a cage if that’s where she wants to be.”
A faint, brittle smile darkened David’s face. “Any cage can be tempting if it’s dressed up enough, but it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. It’s still a cage.”
That evening, Sean’s visit to Anna was earlier than normal. The pull toward her couldn’t be denied, and he wanted the respite, the break from all the stress and anxiety.
“You’re sitting straighter,” he said, noting her unbent back as she sat in her usual chair. She appeared to have gathered some strength. Even her eyes were clearer.
“I actually feel better today,” she said with a small smile. “Maddy helped me walk from one end of the suite to the other. I think I might be able to get down to my room without falling.”
His heart sank as he dropped into the chair beside her. “Are you sure?” He hadn’t realized how much he wanted her close until she threatened to take the privilege from him.
“I’m going to try at least. Maybe in the morning. Maddy said she’d come after training.”
