Page 129 of Hunger & Harmony

We both stop short when we see Ryel on the other side.

“I’ll take her.”

Cass’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. I know he’s hesitant, and maybe I should be, too. Part of me has waited for this.

“Thanks,” I say to Ryel before gently waving goodbye.

Cass splutters on a protest before I give him an assuring smile. He can only blink in return. Ryel walks ahead briskly, so I pick up my feet to remain a step behind him, leaving Cass bewildered at the door.

I know I could suspect Ryel to be like Lorelai. Technically, he has betrayed Niko. His trust, at the very least.

“His Majesty is too loyal for his own good.”

Remaining silent, I watch the back of Ryel. His shoulders are rigid, and his black roots are almost overtaking the red of his hair. Even without seeing his face, everything about his energy is tense. Not hateful.

Remorseful.

“The night I was turned, he spared me.”

Ryel stops short in front of the same window Niko stood at the night of the ritual. Outside, the sky streaks in smoke and crimson, the moon shrouded. I made a choice back then, in this very spot. Now, I watch as Ryel turns to face me, a man who distrusted and despised me from day one.

“I resented him.” His fists are tight at his sides. “To this day, I still do.”

“Why?” I ask.

There’s no malice in my question. I want to hear a side I’ve never been allowed to.

“I don’t deserve it,” he says plainly. “My loyalty is to rationality only. No matter how much I told him this second chance was wasted on me, he wouldn’t listen.”

I search his tortured expression. He stares out the window, every word through gritted fangs.

“Every chance I’ve had to punish his folly, I’ve taken it. I thought he would learn. That I would teach him a lesson of emotion ruling over logic.”

My eyes widen when he stumbles forward a moment later, collapsing to his knees. I kneel next to him, hesitant to reach for his trembling shoulders.

“I did the worst thing I could. My words became venom, and I rescinded every last kindness he ever showed me.” His head hangs. “But when I returned to him, so sure that he had learned his lesson, there was no wrath in his eyes.”

A single tear drips onto the stone floor.

“It was sorrow,” he whispers. “Even then . . . when I had done the worst to him, he didn’t turn his anger on me. He asked why. He asked if we could start over.”

Ryel’s eyes slowly rise, meeting mine. I see my reflection in his gray irises, and as I reach for his shoulder, his eyes squeeze shut.

“How could he show me mercy at his lowest?”

I pat his tense shoulder lightly. He doesn’t flinch away.

“And now, there may be no chance to repent,” he whispers. “You . . .”

He stops himself. I smile sadly, not having to hear the rest of the sentence to know.

The one he told to quit on day two, and the very human he’s tried to destroy, is now the only chance of his king surviving.

I could resent Ryel, but who would do a better job than himself?

“We’re not going to let anything like that happen,” I say, pulling my hand away. “He’s going to make it. When he does, you’ll have another chance. And another, and another, if he has his way.”

I watch him as he leans back, looking at me like this is the first time he’s actually seeing me. My smile widens a bit, and I slowly stand.