Page 239 of Blade of the Nightking

“I always wondered why you risked incurring Frost's wrath by refusing to complete the ritual at Kyndralis.” Rìan's gaze snapped to me. “Ione is a beautiful female, but your Eidra...” Thalassis’s grin turned positively wicked. “I fear I would have made the same choice, and Veins be damned.”

The smile on my face tightened as the echoes of screams drifted back to me. Aedric had chosen me—Solmire had paid the price.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Thalassis was relaxed, buoyed by good company and too much wine, and dragging such memories into the celebration would have poisoned the evening for everyone.

Instead, I reached over and gave Rìan's arm a light tap.

“Shall we eat, Aedric?” His borrowed name sounded wrong on my tongue.

“Please, go!” Thalassis waved us toward a long table along the far wall, laden with fragrant dishes in every imaginable color. “Enjoy yourselves!”

We had barely taken a step before he caught my arm with gentle fingers. “But I intend to steal you away later,” he murmured with a conspiratorial grin. “Once the food is gone and the Ambrosia is flowing freely.” He punctuated it with another wink before releasing me and turning away, his laughter already booming as he welcomed a fresh cluster of arriving guests.

“He didn't go through with the ritual?” Rìan's voice was barely a rumble beneath the music and laughter. He stared straight ahead as we wove through the crowd, but I could feel the entirety of his attention fixed on me.

“No,” I said quietly, unable to keep the shame from my voice.

He said nothing, but his face was tenebrous.

The night of Kyndralis, when Aedric had found me beneath the dome and we'd lain together for the first time, had been the happiest moment of my life. But had I known what would follow—that by choosing me the wards would weaken and Solmire would burn…

Beneath the guilt pulsed something uglier still.

I'd given myself to him believing I finally knew him, believing the walls between us had fallen away. Instead, I knew now that so much of what had brought us to that moment had been built upon deception.

He’d seduced me on a bed of lies.

"Breathe, Eidra," Rìan murmured, reading the tension written across my face.

I shook my head, forcing the darkness away before it could take deeper root.

Rìan passed me a plate, and I absently piled it with whatever caught my eye. Beside me, he helped himself to grilled fish and a hunk of fresh bread before leaning against the wall, surveying the room as he ate. His attention settled on Thalassis, laughing at the center of the crowd.

“Thalassis is fascinated by you,” he said at last.

I took a sip of water. “I'm the last Eidra. Fascination from the High Fae seems to be something I can't escape.”

He made a low sound in the back of his throat. “According to the map, the second well lies somewhere near the Tidelands Vein.”

“I know.” I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. “Do you know where?”

He gave a curt nod. “I have an idea. I studied the map—I’ve narrowed it down to a series of sea caves where the Vein once met the coast.”

Thalassis's gaze found me from across the room. It lingered, slowly sweeping over me before he finally turned back to the person he was speaking with. Beside me, Rìan's fingers tightened around the stem of his wineglass.

I arched a brow. “What was he thinking about me?”

Only then did Rìan look at me. A shadow crossed the silver in his eyes. “Nothing remotely honorable.”

The word settled heavily between us, a pointed reminder of our argument earlier that day.

“Tomorrow I’ll search the caves.”

“What about me?”

“You'll distract him.” He beckoned to a passing servant, wiped his mouth with his napkin, and set our empty plates onto the offered tray.

“And how exactly am I supposed to distract him?”