Larus hesitates and then sighs, shaking his head. “No, of course not. She just doesn’t want you to be caught in her brother’s trap. I’m sure you remember what he’s like. She told me to tell you whatever I had to in order to stop you from coming for her, whatever it took to keep you safe. But I’ve let her down enough. I won’t sabotage her best plan of rescue because she insists on being self-sacrificing. If you’re even half the man she thinks you are, I know you won’t fail her.”
“I promise you, I’ll get her back,” I tell him. I can feel how much she means to him, and I understand his feelings completely. “I may not be worthy of her, but I’ll do anything to protect her. You have my word on that.”
Larus nods as I guide him into the antechamber. Cyrus and Typhon wait for us inside, but just before we enter, he grabs my arm and whispers to me, “She loves you, you know.”
Fuck, it feels nice to hear that. I feel lighter than I have in days. Of course I know she loves me. I never doubted her, not truly, but gods, it’s a relief to know that about at least this one thing, the one thing and person that matters to me most in the world, I’m right.
“Larus!” says Typhon. “Thank Vayla you’re alright. I feared the worst.”
I give them a moment to catch up, trying to detect some of the hidden feeling Quinn suspected between them but finding nothing but genuine friendship.
Which makes me feel guilty for prying.
“Taran and I are about to head to their camp to scout it out, to see if we can find out where they’re keeping her,” I tell Larus when they’ve finished talking. “Do you have any ideas? Anything we should look out for?”
“They took her inland near the Wastes. We couldn’t follow, but they’ll have all of the usual weaponry. Seth tends to keep himself as far from harm as possible, so I suspect you’ll find him at the back. I’m not sure where he’d keep her. Likely somewhere better than the dog kennel Adria had her in.”
“The dog kennel?” Is this a figure of speech?
No. Larus means it literally, I realize from his reaction.
Light flares from my fingertips.
There’s a part of myself I thought I’d lost long ago, a ruthless, violent part of me that took pleasure in imagining Lysander of House Verran, Sylvie’s father, the man who killed my own father, dying. The part of me that I thought vanished when I faced that same man in our duel, a part that left me in the crucial moment when I realized that taking his life would not give me what I wanted.
I did not miss it. In fact, I hoped to never have to confront that man again, the version of me that allowed my basest instincts to take over. The cruel, callous piece of myself that wanted nothing more than to watch my enemy suffer. That wanted to extend that suffering for as long as possible. To revel in his misery.
And yet, as Larus Adama tells me that the Lady of House Verran chained the love of my life in a dog kennel, for the first time in over five years, that part of me awakens.
And I welcome his arrival.
“She put Sylvie in a kennel.” I don’t ask it as a question. I understood his meaning. I say it for the clarity of it, to let myself feel the true weight of those words. To let my rage have something to hold on to. “Did Adria hurt her?”
“No, she didn’t have the chance. Sylvie wasn’t there long.” He rubs his neck where some bruises are forming. Injuries sustained in their escape, I’m guessing.
I ask for permission and then touch the bruises lightly, healing them.
“Thank you,” says Larus, looking at me in wonder. Understanding for the first time what she sees in me. The look he gives me fills me with pride.
Then he laughs. “Although you should know that Sylvie herself gave me those bruises. She nearly got me. She didn’t believe I was there to help her at first, but I got her out in the end.”
And fuck, that violent, vindictive part of me swells with pride in her, too. She is a survivor.
“I felt her attack you, I think. I felt her attack someone.”
“You can feel her? She didn’t think you could from so far away.”
“I can’t usually. But she’s different.”
Adama smiles at me then, the first genuine smile I’ve ever seen from him. It lights up his eyes, which are brighter and more youthful than I’d noticed before. “Sheisdifferent. She believes I’ve misjudged you and the company you keep.” He glances at Taran. I’ve felt his disdain for Taran as he spoke, but I didn’t think much of it. Most Nithyrians feel the same about the Orsa, Sylvie included. “And I reckon that she’s right. She’s right about most things, and she’s far smarter than I’ll ever be. I should have trusted her from the beginning. I wish I had; we might have avoided all of this.”
“What’s done is done,” I say, although I wish he had trusted her too. “But you may find a way to repay me yet, if what you said about your mother’s ships is true. Would you mind meeting with Admiral Nauta? He’s in charge of naval defenses.”
I leave it to Cyrus to make the introductions as Taran and I make our way back to the stables. It’s fully dark out now, and while I feel bad for making Kira stay out late again, I know it will be worth it when we have Sylvie back.
Kira, Kerensa bless her, is literally champing at the bit to get back into the air. “Is there a way we could let her out during the day?” I ask Marta. “I believe she’d come back.”
“I believe so too, but I’d worry for her with all the fighting going on. Especially since most of the court knows you have her.”
