Roiven holds up a hand.
“I had to make sure we didn’t lose you.”
Aria scoffs and throws her hands up, turning away from both of us.
The emotions hit me then, so strong I’msureRoiven is doing it on purpose. I feel his worry for this place, his fear for these people,his guilt for tricking me. None of it is an explanation, or an excuse. And I don’t care how he feels.
He asked me to trust him. And it’s not a great week for realizing I put my trust in the wrong place, blindly,again.
I lean forward and glare at Roiven. For a moment, I consider drawing my sword and doing away with him altogether.Thatwould surely be one way to get rid of this fucking bond. Married, my ass.
“Fuck. You.”I hiss the words with as much venom as I can muster, then turn and stride toward the wide double doorway.
“Cai,” Roiven calls. His feet pound against the floor as he follows me.
“Am I a prisoner or aren’t I?” I snap, whirling around again at the doorway to find him a foot behind me. His jaw looks tense.
“I told you, you’d have your freedom. I never lied.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“I might not have shared the truth with you,” Roiven says quietly. “But I never told an outright lie, either. Last night…”
“Do me a favor, Roiven,” I hiss.
“Anything.” I can feel his relief.
“Leave me the fuck alone before I lose my temper and cut your dick off.” I shove against the bond as hard as I can in my mind, slamming every imaginary door shut.
Roiven exhales hard, eyebrows furrowed like he’s hurt, but he doesn’t say another word to stop me as I step through the doorway and take off running down the hall.
I have absolutely no idea where I am. The door to the caldera is on the left, but what good would that do me? It’s not like Sava is about to help me, and the forty-foot walls in plain sight of all the dragons is a bit of a deterrent to escape. My thighs scream in discomfort as I push my pace faster. There are doorways across the hall from me, and another set of stairs plunging down to my right, across from the entrance to the caldera.
I want to get as far away from Roiven as I can, so I take the stairs.
The bond was a mistake. Iknewhe wasn’t telling me the whole truth, but I was so blinded by my desire to negotiate a truce that I agreed to it without asking enough questions.
And apparently, everyone agreed he should get close to me. How much of his kindness was calculated? How much of Roiven is just one big lie? He seemed to hate me so much less after he saw the kraken. I should have suspected there was a reason why.
I make it down two staircases and around a corner. As I pass one of the open doors, I feel a breeze sigh over my skin. I want to get outside, so I step through.
Hidden behind a snaking passage that must be invisible to anybody outside the Gray Tower, there’s an overlook of the ocean. The passage ends in a small rocky outcrop, the ground uneven. The wind here is vicious. I angrily twist my hair back and drag in a deep breath.
The smell of brine fills my nose and a blue dragon swoops overhead, his wings shadowing me for a moment.
It isn’t dark out yet, but I can still see the blue glow of the ships in the distance. I’m high up on this mountain, so the horizon is a great distance away. But Hellions are fast.
I'm obviously not his wife. But where does that leave me?
I know I’m not going back to the Empire. But I can’t stay here, either. I need to find a way to convince the War-Father to agree to peace; and convince Roiven to surrender. And then…
Back to exile, I suppose. Self-imposed. Not like on the Bluff. I’ll be a hermit. Life will be simpler that way. No more losing people I care about. No more being lied to.
“There you are,” a woman’s voice says behind me. I flinch and spin, my metal hand wrapping around my sword’s hilt and pulling it an inch from the sheath.
Aria raises her hands in front of her to calm me down. She doesn’t have a sword, only a variety of knives I can see strapped across her hips and limbs. Her black hair billows back in the wind.
“If you’ve come here to drag me back to him,” I start. The words shake.
