A slightly more comfortable silence falls over us.
“Thank you, by the way, for last night. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t chased me down.” And that is the simple truth. Would Zander and Elisaf have been able to fight their way out without Jarek’s strength and skill?
My ring is still on my finger. I slide it off and secure it in my cloak pocket, welcoming the vibrant pulse.
It’s like a second heartbeat to me now.
“What is so special about that ring?” Jarek asks after a moment.
“Zander gave it to me.”
“And yet another lie. Are they practiced, or do they just slide off that slippery tongue of yours?”
“It’s not a lie! He gave it to me!”
“I think it is more than that, though. The night of the attack outside Bellcross, you did not want to leave without it. Why?”
How do I explain without getting into the convoluted and frankly preposterous journey I’ve taken to get here? “Because it helps me, but mostly it protects others.”
“From whom?”
From me, apparently. “It’s a very long story, and not one I trust you with yet.”
Jarek snorts. “That is an odd word for you to wield.”
“Maybe.” The truth is, I learned distrust long ago, a master of duplicity by the time I arrived here.
“How can any of us ever trust you? You are Mordain.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then what are you?”
Maybe Zander’s right, and it’s time to start letting him in. Letting them all in. “At heart, I’m human. It’s how I was born and raised. But this body is elven, and the affinities tied to it are caster, and I’m only just learning how to use them.”
“Princess Romeria was raised in Argon as an immortal heir to the Ybarisan throne.”
“She was.”
He inhales deeply, as if breathing in my admission, my choice of words not lost on him. “Is this something Mordain did?”
I shake my head. “They don’t even know I exist.” Yet. “This was all Queen Neilina, who forced Ianca to summon Aoife—”
He curses and slides off the rock. “I don’t think I want to hear any more.”
“That’s fine, but at least let me say this.” I pause to make sure he isn’t marching away from me. “I didn’t ask for any of it. I didn’t want any of it. I was living my life when I got pulled in, but now I’m stuck here, and all I want to do is help these people and fix what’s happening in Islor. And as much as you or Atticus may think killing me is the answer, it’s not. It’s already too late for that, and I can help, I know I can.” I just don’t know how yet.
My candid words are met with silence.
“Jarek?”
“They’re here.”
My pulse races. “Where?” I squint into the darkness but can’t see anything.
Until I can.
Ten stealthy dark forms move forward in a line. I can barely make them out, save for the glowing silver ropes that dangle at their sides.