“No,” Taryel said, almost desperate. “It's not the artifact, it’s—”
She pressed a palm to his chest to silence him, unable now to stop the flow of tears. “You don’t matter to me anymore,” she managed. “I don’t need you. That night in the Shattered City, you showed me who you really are. What we had, it’s over.”
“Ru, listen to me.”
“No, Taryel. I never want to see you again.”
He watched her in silence for a moment, stunned. As if he hadn’t seen this coming, as if he had truly believed she wouldtake him in her arms and forgive everything. Forgive who he was. How could she, if she couldn’t even forgive herself?
“Is that truly what you want?” he said.
She nodded, nearly blinded by her tears. She hated this show of vulnerability. He didn’t deserve to affect her like this.
“I could force you to come with me. Ishould.”
She inhaled shakily, meeting his eyes. “Is that what you want to do?”
The depth of his gaze was unsettling, and the darkness in it began to frighten Ru. “Of course it is,” he said through clenched teeth. “All I want is to take you in my arms and flee. I could disappear with you, Ru. And no one would be the wiser. You’d be safe.”
“Please don’t,” she said, her voice breaking. “Just leave me. We’ll both be happier if you go.”
“I’m begging you,” he said. He held her gaze, clear grey eyes half obscured by the fall of his hair. “Come with me. If you go to the palace, I can’t guarantee your safety. I can’t guarantee—”
“I don’t care what you guarantee or not,” Ru insisted. “I’m not coming with you, Taryel. I don’t know you. You’re a stranger to me.”
Pain stretched between them. Then Taryel nodded, the gesture stiff and formal. As if it took everything in him to speak the words, he said, “Very well, then.”
He made a brief gesture with his fingers, and in a blink, he was surrounded by a sphere of black lightning. One moment he was there, his hair blowing in an unseen wind. And in the next, he was gone.
Ru finally let herself cry, wracking, painful sobs that filled her throat with phlegm and stung her face with tears. She knew it was the right thing to do. She knew that he was an enemy, another man she couldn’t trust. Taryel was not Fen — he had hisown motives and his own secrets. But in that moment, Ru felt she had just made the worst decision of her life.
CHAPTER 9
When Ru emerged from the forest, shivering and eyes stinging, she was immediately intercepted by a wild-eyed Lyr. He wore his overcoat over his sleeping shirt and trousers, and his dark hair stood up where he’d slept on it. He took her by the shoulders, stern as a worried father.
“Where the hell have youbeen?” he rumbled under his breath, careful not to wake the others by the fire. To Ru’s relief, everyone else appeared to be asleep.
“Looking for you,” she lied, her voice little more than a croak. “I woke up, and you were gone.”
He scowled deeply. “I went to take a piss. When I got back,youwere gone. You’ve been gone for nearly anhour.”
“Sorry,” she said, thinking it best to play innocent rather than carry on a whispering argument in the middle of the night. “I got lost in the forest. It took me a while to find my way back.”
Lyr’s eyes narrowed, his already thick brows crowding together as he studied her face. “You’ve been crying. Why?”
“I haven’t.”
“You have.”
She hugged herself tightly, exaggerating the chatter of her teeth. “It’s the cold. It makes my eyes water. I’m going back tosleep.” She made to step around him, but the tall broad man blocked her path.
“Cold doesn’t make people cry,” he insisted. “What happened? Did Hugon follow you? Is he—” he made to draw his sword, spinning toward the sleeping form of Lord D’Luc, but Ru put a hand on his arm.
“I was alone,” she said, reluctantly grateful for the guard’s loyalty. “I’m fine. I’m just… nervous about going back to the palace. And everything."
Lyr nodded, appeased for the time being. “Fine,” he said. “Don’t wander off again for fuck’s sake.”
Ru was surprised to find herself smiling up at the dour King's Guard. “I won’t.”
