Whatisclear after that meeting is that I’m not a lost member of this faction. Surely one of the council members would have recognized me, if so. Or if I had shadows to manipulate, my powers would have responded to theirs, I feel like.
Was that Azyric’s plan in bringing me along? A silent test?
When I glance at him now, his features have already returned to something colder and more distant. Like the wraith wrapped in shadows who stood watching the treeline of the forest where I first met him. Distant and unreachable. As if whatever protective notion he displayed during that meeting never happened at all.
Still, I feel compelled to speak.
“Thank you,” I say quietly as I twist my upper body to look at him fully.
His silver gaze remains locked on the far wall, unreadable.
“I was fulfilling my role,” he replies before I see his throat bob with a swallow. “The other kings would have used it against me tomorrow if I hadn’t.”
The chill in his voice doesn’t sting, but it makes mygratitude feel awkward. It leaves it sitting out in the air, acknowledged and unwanted.
I feel…foolish. The feeling is heavy as the word comes to me.
I draw my bottom lip between my teeth and bite down on it, barely holding back a retort. Seconds later, that sliver of restraint fades away as he continues to ignore me, as if I suddenly don’t exist.
I let out a soft huff of indignation and rise to my feet.
I knowIdidn’t conjure that warmth in my body. He put it there, and I’m not going to let us both pretend that he didn’t.
“If you didn’t want me within your home, you shouldn’t have told the others to let my decision stand,” I begin before folding my arms across my chest. “And if you truly don’t trust me and are keeping me close for that reason, why did you treat me like an honored guest just now?”
His lips thin as I watch the rise and fall of his broad chest.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” he snaps with a slight raise of his chin.
Not only did he lie–he did it badly too. With the kind of arrogance that assumes no one will call him on it.
Has no one ever called him out before? Or does he wrap himself up so tightly in his title and the protectionof it that no one dares to see these glimpses ofhimwithin?
I can’t help the way my lips pull up at the corners just as my body begins to shake with a soft laugh. Unfortunately for him, I’m not one of his council members.
His narrowed gaze whips to me, a scowl consuming his face. It only makes my shoulders and chest shake harder with my laughter.
He’s not angry that I called him out, he’s angry that I see through his words.
I may not know my origin, but perhaps it’s allowed me to be more observant in trying to find the little details in everything around me.
I don’t think I’m an expert on all things Azyric–or anything at all, for that matter–but from that short meeting, it’s clear he isn’t their king out of their love and support for him. I don’t see him surrounded by anyone who cares to know his truth.
I saw a challenge in many of their gazes and in the words of the one who actually had the gall to speak their mind during that meeting.
In return, I saw the silent undercurrent in Azyric’s body language and his tone that told them they were welcome to defy him. I actually think he wants them to, to allow him to drop his political armor for a moment.
A tint of red runs along his cheeks now, extendingto the tips of his ears as he silently keeps his glare trained on my face.
“I didn’t believe your explanation of your shadows seeing me as a threat and I don’t believe this one either,” I admit, shrugging my shoulders as my laughter fades away. “You didn’t stick up for me out of your sense of duty. Words carry the weight of emotions, or the lack thereof, if you care enough to truly listen.”
My head tilts to the side as his lips part slightly. I watch his dark lashes flutter as he blinks repeatedly, seemingly at a loss for words.
“I listened, Azyric.”
I don’t know what I expected from him in return–an apology, maybe, or another wall being furiously thrown up–but I get neither. Just the sound of a woman’s voice, smooth and amused, slipping through the doorway.
“Your Majesty,” she drawls lightly, “I came as soon as I heard you’d taken in a stray.”
