“Surprised you remember.”
“It’s a shame you never wore that necklace I gave you,” he says with a sly grin.
“Can you blame me for not trusting you back then?” I lie back down, searching the sky for a shooting star.
“I suppose not.” There’s a long moment of silence between us before Ryder speaks again. “And now? Do you trust me?”
I look over at him, expecting to see a smug look on his face, but instead, the look on his face is serious. “No, I don’t. But don’t take it personally. I don’t think I’ll ever trust anyone again.” My voice cracks a little and I wonder if he notices.
Again, there’s a long pause in conversation.
“Well, maybe one day that will change,” he finally adds. When I don’t say anything else, I think he might leave me to myself, but I soon realize that was just wishful thinking. “Why does looking at the stars mean so much to you?”
“I don’t know. I guess something about them makes me feel small.”
“You are small,” he says in a teasing tone that has me looking at him with a sidelong glance.
“Sorry, not all of us can be six foot something,” I reply sarcastically.
“Six-foot-four, actually.”
I can feel him staring at me, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of looking back.
“You may be six-foot-four, but your ego is ten feet tall.”
“Ouch.” He puts his hand over his heart as if he’s been hit. “It won’t be for much longer with the way you like to humble me.”
“Somebody has to do it,” I say with a smirk I know he can see.
“Remind me again why it was I sent Artemus to rescue you?”
I know he’s only teasing me, but it’s something I’ve been wondering so I take his joke as my opening to get more answers.
“Why did you do it?” His expression hardens. “Was it because you didn’t want your father to have me as a weapon? Or because you wanted to have me to use against him?”
He sits up, suddenly.
“Is that really what you think of me?” He looks almost hurt.
“I don’t know what to think of you. Are you the prince who throws traitors at a wall, killing them with the flick of your wrist? Or are you the son of a cruel king who is fighting for a better future? Sometimes, I’m not sure which one is the real Ryder, and which one is just a mask you wear.”
“Can’t I be both?” He rests his arms on his knees, lacing his fingers together. “You have no idea what it was like growing up with him.”
He’s not looking at me anymore and it’s like he’s somewhere else.
“Maybe I do know what it was like.” My words seem to draw him back. “When I was at the Sector, there was this voice that called to me in the middle of the night. I know it sounds crazy, but I followed it, and it led me to a hidden cave that had a bowl of water. When I touched the water, I was thrown into a vision.”
I hesitate, not knowing if I should continue. Once I tell him what I saw there’s no turning back.
He nods as if telling me to keep going.
“In the vision I saw you as a young boy. Your father was ordering you to kill a wolf cub.” I don’t have to go into any more detail. I can tell by the shattered look on his face he recalls the memory.
“How is that possible?” he asks.
“I’m not sure.”
Ryder looks away again, lost in thought. I’m just about to get up and go back inside when he speaks.
