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I would not take Nessos’s hand, and it had nothing to do with duty.

“Thank you for coming, Nessos. But I’m staying.”

Nessos went rigid and looked down at the latch. He’d thought I would open the gate. Perhaps he’d even imagined helping me gather my belongings. I hadn’t realized he was so certain I would say yes.

“You don’t have to decide today,” Nessos insisted. “I will give you time to consider it. Your father asked too much of you. You must know that by now.”

“I knew it then,” I replied, more sharply than I intended. “But things have changed. I have work here that matters to me. Eryx and I heal people together, and I am proud of that.”

“You could heal anywhere, Thalia.” Nessos looked past me, toward the empty windows above the courtyard. “You don’t need to spend your life in this ruin.”

Of course he saw a ruin. There were rooms we couldn’t use, broken stone, weeds growing where someone had once laid paths. But there was also Kallisto’s cooking, Damon finding things he could mend, Bion pretending he didn’t enjoy having people to complain about.

And most importantly, there was my groom. Not my husband, not yet. But I believed in him, and in what we shared. It would happen, when we were both ready.

“This is my home now,” I told him. “And my place is with Eryx.”

Nessos looked back at me. For a moment, he said nothing, and I hoped he finally understood. Then his mouth tightened.

“Does he know that? You’ve been here for weeks, and he still hasn’t bonded with you.”

“And there is no shame in that,” I replied. “We didn’t know each other before. What we have will be stronger because it will have time to grow. Beyond that… my bond with Eryx is none of your concern.”

Nessos pressed on. “You felt what happened when we touched. You wouldn’t have to wonder whether I wanted you.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” I replied. “But I don’t want to bond with you, Nessos. I want to bond with Eryx. And I will.”

He drew back as though I’d reached through the gate and struck him. I hated seeing that hurt on a face I knew so well. But what else could I say? I couldn’t go on thanking him while he waited for me to yield.

“At least you wouldn’t have to beg me.” His voice lost its softness. “Perhaps there’s so little left of him that he can’t want you.”

My regret instantly vanished. I glared at him, and the currents of life magic inside me responded to my anger. Nessos knew we hadn’t bonded. He knew nothing about what Eryx and I shared.

“Don’t speak about him like that,” I snapped. “You don’t know him.”

“I know what his people have done to ours. They killed the man who owned this house. They killed my father. Have you forgotten?”

No, I hadn’t. But the old resentments had to be set aside now that we had a truce with Asphodelia.

I thought about the silk tied across my groom’s eyes, about the battle that had taken his sight. I looked at Nessos, at the familiar scabbard hanging against his flank. No doubt a weapon just like that had blinded Eryx. But he had sought no vengeance against the centaurs.

“Eryx came here to make peace,” I said. “These woods are still standing because of him. You don’t have to like him, but you will stop insulting him in my presence.”

“I came because I care what happens to you,” Nessos countered. “Do you think it’s easy to hear you’d rather stay with one of them?”

“Yes, I’d rather stay.” I stepped up to the gate, close enough to block his view of the house. “I want Eryx, Nessos. I’m choosing him. What will it take for you to accept that?”

Nessos stared at me. I could hear my own breathing, too quick, and the rustle of the mint against my skirt. Part of me still wanted him to apologize. We’d known each other for years. Surely that earned me his respect.

Instead, he lowered his hands. “I was wrong about you, Thalia. I thought you were better than this. But you’re just as blind as everyone else.”

His hooves struck hard against the path as he turned. I watched until the trees hid him, too angry to say goodbye.

I knelt in the grass, beside the bed of mint and thyme. I couldn’t focus on tending the herbs now, but simply touching the bare earth steadied me.

“You did the right thing, child,” the Endless Forests told me. “The centaur was not truly your match.”

No, he wasn’t. My chosen groom was still waiting for me, inside the quiet mansion of Petrion. I wanted to see him. I wanted his voice, his company, even his serpents investigating whatever I held.