Her brows wrinkled. “But why did you save me? I thought you thought I betrayed you.”
I sighed. Why indeed? Perhaps the only solution was as my cousin Robin had once suggested years ago with Radira—an exchange of honesty. I was too sore for anything else anyway.
I climbed into the pool and groaned as the cool healing water covered my burns.
Callista stepped closer, but did not touch the water. “Are… are you hurt?”
I did not want to admit weakness, but I felt obligated to explain the pool. “The karkins scalded large portions of my wings and back. I am… not impervious to other creatures’ magic fire. We are fortunate that I was able to fly here—this water will heal me faster than anything or anyone else could.”
She settled down on the warmed stone, cross-legged, and draped her dress over her knees. “The karkins were the giant, fire-breathing crabs?”
I nodded.
“Do they attack everyone who crosses the bridge?”
I tipped my wing so water covered it entirely. “No. Usually they stay in the lake. Once a year, sometime in the middle of winter, their broods hatch. The hatchlings are ravenous. They’ve even climbed the cliff by our stables a few times. The horses get very anxious every time they hatch.”
“I—” Her jaw dropped. “The crabs on the bridge were allhatchlings?”
A smirk worked its way across my face. “Yes. We were fortunate the adults did not climb out of the lake.”
“Can you do anything about them?!”
“Yes. Usually, I burn most of the hatchlings within a day or two.”
“But then how…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened. “They just hatched this morning,” she explained to herself. “That’s why the soldier came for Mylo. That’s why he called me back.”
I rolled my shoulders, working out the pain in my back. “So it would seem.” I raised a brow. “And you took advantage of the chaos to attack my rose.”
Her hands flew to her hips. “It might seem that way, but that is not what happened.”
I was too tired to argue, and she launched into a defense. “I saw faemagic coming from that tunnel, the one with the rose. I know you said not to go down there, but… what if it had been my mother? What if it was my only clue to where she might be hiding? I am sorry I could not follow your instructions, but… I already told you that I was hoping to find her. You…”
Her voice trembled. “You have to know I’ve missed her so much. Enough to risk your anger. I had no idea I’d be invading your rose garden.”
She stopped talking, and my heart sank into my stomach. I had to tell her. It would be cruel to let her keep hoping to find her mother when I knew she never would. But…
I did not want to.
I wanted to prove that I would keep her as safe as I’d promised. I wanted to see her eyes light up when she decided to defend someone from my anger. And I wanted to bridle that fury so she would smile when she spoke of me.
I wanted to find out why a dry history book would make her tear up, discover what she loved about lemons, and understand how she had come to forgive Koan and Jolter.
I wanted to learn everything about her, but… I could not allow her to keep believing a lie. It was neither just nor necessary for anyone’s safety.
Emotion filled her voice. “Why do you refuse to believe everything I—”
I cut her off. “I believe you.” The drekkan’s voice was harsh and gravelly, but it was all I had. And if I waited until night, I might lose the courage that her near-death had shaken loose inside me. “I can feel when you lie.”
She sniffed and brushed at her eye. “The lemons?”
I huffed the drekkan’s version of a chuckle. “Yes, the lemons.The… bond vibrates when you lie.”
She rubbed her chest. “Then why have you not—”
“There is something else you need to know,” I interrupted. She stopped, and my throat constricted. My parents died fourteen years ago. If someone confessed to their murders today, I would consume them in flames. In an instant. My pain was still too raw for any other reaction. Was I really capable of inflicting that same pain on her by telling her that her mother was dead at my hand?
It would be the cruelest thing I had done to her yet.
