Page 104 of Blade of the Nightking

“Yes.” My fingers drifted unconsciously toward the place the knife had sunk into me. “I shouldn’t have visited the tavern⁠—”

“Oh, not that.” She waved a hand. “I meant in the library. When Rìan mocked you for being illiterate.”

Color flooded my cheeks all over again. Even clear-headed, Levinica possessed a startling lack of delicacy. I wondered whether she’d always been this forthright, or if it was some remnant of the madness that took her so often.

“He didn’t mock me so much as dismiss me outright.”

“It was insensitive.” Disapproval creased her brow. “I'm sure he regrets it.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t,” I muttered under my breath.

She met my gaze, her lips pressed into a tight line as though she were holding something back. Abruptly, she pulled the stack of books closer. Only now did I properly notice them. The covers were bright, the lettering oversized and simple.

Levinica cleared her throat as though gathering courage.

“Would you…” She hesitated. “Would you like to learn to read?”

My jaw nearly fell open.

“Read?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“I taught Dannis to read.” Her fingertips traced the edge of a cheerful cherry-red cover. “With these very books.”

My mind went completely blank. I had no idea what to say.

“That’s…” I struggled for words. “That’s unnecessary, my Lady. I’m certain there are far better ways for you to spend your time than teaching someone like me to read.”

“On the contrary.” She offered me a trembling smile. “Perhaps it would help take my mind off my troubles. At least for a little while.”

I shifted awkwardly where I stood, staring at the books. The small stack suddenly towered before me, as unconquerable as a mountain.

“I don’t even know the alphabet,” I winced. “I would be a lost cause.”

“Nonsense,” she sniffed. The certainty in her tone startled me. “I’m quite sure you’ll take to it quickly.”

“I don’t know if I will.” My doubt escaped before I could swallow it.

“Not knowing how to read doesn’t mean your mind is incapable of learning.” The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepened as she smiled, though the sadness beneath it never fully left her. “Reading is simply recognizing patterns and assigning meaning to them. It’s not nearly as impossible as you believe. It only requires patience.”

I didn’t understand any of this. The very idea of learning to read made my chest tighten with longing. But Levinica wanted to teach me? Of all people? She was Rìan’s sister. Loyal to him in a way I couldn’t begin to comprehend.

And I was mated to the Fae Lord responsible for taking her son.

“Why?” I whispered.

She pressed her lips together again, deep lines appearing around her mouth. But she didn’t answer my question.

“So?” she asked instead, almost timidly now. “Will you allow me to teach you?”

The heaviness in the room eased the moment I answered.

“Yes,” I breathed.

Then, softer: “Yes, please.”

Levinica spent most of the day with me.

Books lay scattered across the table between us, though she focused primarily on one—a thin, worn volume devoted entirely to the alphabet. Patiently, she guided me through the first five letters, first their larger forms, then the smaller, having me copy them again and again across fresh parchment until my hand cramped and ink stained my fingers black.