I wince, curling up a little tighter on my bed at the sound of Cancassi’s voice. My door is closed and locked, but their ire travels easily through it. It almost feels like the last time Dom and I were separated, except now, Cancassi is mad at me, too.
And they’ve even scaled the stairs to my room to tell me about it.
“So you’re too craven to face me, then?” they snap, voice tight with anger. When I don’t answer, they scoff. “Guess I should have realized. I’m a fun side piece when you need one, but I’m apparently not important enough to warrant agoodbyewhen you decide to go fuck off to the mountains with Dom.”
Under all that indignation, there’s real hurt in their voice. It feels like a punch to the stomach. I’ve already let so many people down these past few days. I can’t stand adding Cancassi to that list.
I haul myself to my feet before I throw the door open. Their copper eyes widen before I draw them into a fierce embrace.
“I’m sorry.” I bury my face against their neck and let out a shuddering sigh. “I’m so sorry, Cass.”
They stiffen in my grip before letting out a long breath. Slowly, their arms come up to circle me, cane thumping my back. “Why didn’t you justtellme?”
I give a weak laugh before I pull back to meet their eye. “A’lynn,I say this with all the love for you I have in my heart, but you are theabsolute fucking worstat keeping a secret.”
Their scowl doesn’t soften, and I sigh as I cup their face. Confronted with their hurt look, I realize how wrong I was.Of coursethey could have kept this one. They don’t have to say a thing for me to know I’m wrong.
“No, no, that’s not fair either. I’m sorry,” I say before pressing a gentle kiss to their lips. “I should have trusted you.”
“You’re damn right,” they say before their eyes dart away. There’s obviously more they want to say, and it’s not like them to be coy about things.
“What is it?”
Cancassi’s scowl deepens, and it takes them a moment to find the words. “When I found out that you had planned to leave, I felt... like a cast-off. Like as soon as Dom is around, I become an afterthought.”
The confession makes my heart twist. They’ve come to mean so much to me, yet in our need for secrecy, I’ve wounded them. Ever since the Tower, I’ve been... protective of Dom, but it hurts to hear that in doing that, I’ve neglected them.
I pull them back against my chest, pressing a kiss to their forehead. “I’m sorry.” Remorse makes my chest ache as I hold them tight. “Ineverwant you to feel that way. You mean so much more to me than that.”
They let out a sigh, and with it, some of the tension drains out of them. I swallow and cup their cheek as the reality of everything crashes over me again. “I-I wish I could say I’ll have the chance to do better, but... Cass, Arlon is taking me back to Marikadar.”
“I know. I heard.” They look up at me, tears making their copper eyes shine. “And as mad as I was, I still asked Arlon if I could come, but... spots are limited. He said no.”
It feels like someone’s grabbed my heart and squeezed. For a second, I just hold them, trying to memorize the way their body contours against mine. These next few days may be the last I have to spend with them, and the reality of that makes tears well to my eyes.
It’s like they can sense where my thoughts have gone because they say, “You’ll come back.”
“Yes, he will.”
The hand around my heart grips even tighter as I see Arlon approaching us from down the hall. His expression is unreadable, but his eyes flick to Cancassi as he says, “Would you excuse us? I need a word with Olbric.”
Reluctantly, I loosen my grip, allowing them to step back.
“I’ll find you later,” they promise before they head down the hall to the stairs.
I feel trapped. My eyes avoid Arlon’s even as I lean back against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. The silence stretches, broken only by the sound of Cancassi’s cane against the stone floor, which gets quieter as they retreat down the stairs. Arlon waits until we can no longer hear them before he speaks.
“I know you’re angry -”
“You’re damn right I am.”
Arlon lets out a heavy sigh. “I tried to avoid this. This is theone requestthe Shykhdar made in exchange for hosting the talks.”
I scoff. “Of course it is. Why not? My father’s tried everything else at this point. May as well hang the balance of peace of the continent acrossmyfucking shoulders.”
Arlon steps towards me, raising a hand like he wants to touch me. I tense, tightening my arms over my chest, and his hand drops back to his side.
“I know this isn’t fair.” He sounds as tired as I feel. This... interim, this wait, is almost as bad as what comes after. “I understand why you’re angry with me. Hell,I’mangry with me. Angry that I couldn’t avoid this.”
