‘I don’t.’His words rumbled under my cheek.
‘How would King Goa even know who I am?’I asked, confused.‘I’m a nobody.’
‘You, Caris, are most definitely not a nobody.’His voice was deep and smoky.
‘So, you were born in Ephemeros?’I looked up at his face in the dark.I couldn’t see much, just the outline of his brow and angular jaw.He was usually clean-shaven, but tonight, a dark shadow covered the lower part of his face.My fingers itched to touch his chin and feel the stubble growing there.
‘Yes.I left half a lifetime ago,’ he whispered into the air above us.
‘How old were you?’
‘Twelve.’
My heart clenched.‘Why did you leave?’
‘I had no choice,’ he said enigmatically.
‘You came to Pedion on your own?’
‘Yes, I ran away.’
‘You were so young.’I hated the thought of him alone as a child.
‘I survived,’ he whispered.
He did, but he had suffered.
‘How, though?’I’d had Iain to protect me when my mother died.Who had protected Torgrin?I think I knew the answer.
‘I joined an army.The only thing my father had taught me was how to be a good soldier.So, I did that,’ he admitted.
‘I read about what Merrick did to you,’ I whispered.‘He hurt you.’
‘Every day.’
His bitter tone stabbed me in the heart.The horrendous things Merrick likely did to my mother before he killed her surfaced inmy mind for the thousandth time, but now I remembered the last thing I saw after Torgrin pushed me into the river – the furious captain’s fist slamming into Torgrin’s boyish face.
‘You saved me from him.I owe you my life.’
‘I thought I might have killed you when I saw the river swallow you.’
‘But you dreamed of me?’
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘Did you ever think about looking for me?’
‘Who said I didn’t look for you?’
‘You did?’My voice heightened with surprise.
His chest rose and dropped heavily.‘I didn’t belong in your life,’ he murmured.
I shivered as a coldness reached my bones.
‘You’re still cold,’ he said, pulling me in closer to his side.
‘Do you know where he is?’I asked in a small voice.
