“That’s easy for you to say when we both know she’s going to choose you,” I seethed.
Tezya let out a long breath, and for a moment, he looked just as devastated as I felt. “Maybe. She wasn’t lying when she said we’re bonded.”
“Well I thought I was with her too, so you might not want to get your hopes up,” I snapped before I thought better of it.
“There’s a difference,” he said, leveling a glare at me. “I don’tthinkwe are, Iknowwe are. And if she decides to not be with me, I’ll accept it. It’ll fucking kill me, but at least she’d be happy. After everything she’s been through, she deserves that without your added guilt. You can’t blame her for the actions she took when you threw her into the fire. It wasyourdecision to annul your marriage,yourdecision to send her away. You need to accept your own mistakes and stop projecting them onto her. You don’t understand what she went through because ofyourchoices.”
Images of her being sent to Lux flashed in my mind. She was skinny, too skinny for her frame, and she looked so damned weak. It was all I could think about back in the prison—how I subjected her to the same thing.
“How she left your dungeons in Tennebris was nothing compared to how she was treated in Lux,” he continued.
“I know what happened to her,” I ground out. Peter told me bits and pieces of what happened, and I didn’t want to hear any more of it. And I especially didn’t want to hear it fromhim.
“No, you don’t know. I wish I found her sooner. I had no idea they were torturing her for information about you. Every damn day for twenty-seven days they starved her, kept her chained in a fucking cage so small she had to lay curled on her side, only to be dragged out, chained to a wall and whipped. She was barely alive when I found her. Her entire fucking life has been haunting her. It took a while for her to be able to act like a normal Advenian again. So it really fucking pisses me off when you wallow in your own self-pity because you lost her, because she found a sliver of happiness without you. I don’t care what happens to me, but if you hurt her again, I won’t hold back. It doesn’t make a difference if we’re related or not. She comes first, so youwillsuck it up and stop causing her more grief.”
“Get out,” I gritted through my teeth. My fists were curling at my sides, and it took every ounce of self control I had not to fucking fight him.
He eyed me for a long moment before finally listening. As soon as he left, I felt a tear fall down my face. I wiped it away, hating it. I never cried. But his words… hearing how Scottie suffered because of me. He was right.
I hated that he was fucking right.
NINETEEN
SCOTLIND
I had to see Tezya.I didn’t care what time it was, what he was doing, or who he was with. The sudden urge to be near him came so abruptly my chest ached, and I panicked when I couldn’t find him right away.
I ran to his tent, pulling the flaps open, only to find it empty. I searched the dining tent, the training rings, the common center… I was desperate by the time I ran into Kallon, knocking into her and spilling her ale.
“He’s in the war tent,” she said as she wiped her hands against her pants. How she knew what I wanted before I even asked was beyond me. I think I muttered a thank you before I started taking off in the direction of the tent, thankful that after a couple of weeks here, I was slowly learning my way around. “But don’t bother him now, they’re in a meeting!”
Her words were lost on me as I broke out into a full blown sprint toward one of the larger tents they used for meetings. I knew I shouldn’t interrupt. I knew he had more important things to attend to than me, but ever since our hands reconnected on the rocks, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. It feltlike my soul was on a string that kept tugging me closer and closer to him.
I tried to push my feelings aside, to give Tezya time. He was distraught after everything that happened with Dovelyn. I overheard Savannah talking him off the ledge once Kallon portaled everyone back. Only it had been a week now and the princess still hadn’t talked.
I was the only Advenian here happy for her silence. If whatever she saw meant more pain for him, I never wanted her to speak again.
I was panting by the time I burst into the tent. Everyone turned to glare at me, but all I saw were crystal blue eyes with traces of silver and a thick, jagged scar. My eyes never left Tezya’s as I willed myself to steady my breathing and tried to calm down. I didn’t even know why I was so worked up to begin with.
“Everyone out.” His voice was cold. Menacing. Demanding.
“But we need to—” Dravenburg started.
“I. Said. Get. Out.”
Neither of us moved as everyone rushed out of the tent.
Once we were alone, I panted, “I had to see you.”
“I can see that.”
I truly hadn’t thought about what I wanted to say or what I wanted to do once I found him.
“How are you?” I asked, then immediately cursed myself for asking such a stupid question. He just found out his sister wasn’t in her right mind after venturing to their mother’s grave for the first time. I knew he felt responsible, even if it wasn’t his fault.
On top of that, he found out Sie was his half brother, which I wasn’t ready to wrap my head around either. And he was, moments ago, in the middle of a meeting about a war, and we were no closer to finding out what the prophecy meant or whathe had to do.Yet, I’m standing here asking him how he’s doing?“Never mind. Don’t answer that.”
He smiled, and I watched his scar rise on his cheek. “I’m fine, Rumor.” When I didn’t say anything else, he added, “I’m assuming you didn’t interrupt the meeting to ask me how I’m doing?”
