Page 245 of Split or Swallow

“Thank you, mother.”

Her mother smiled. Then she left.

Tem spent the rest of the day in bed, alternating between worrying and sleeping. By the time it was midafternoon, she was already aching to see Caspen again. She was eager to begin her lessons—eager to transition. Now that she knew there was an entire part of her that lay undiscovered, she needed to explore it.

Tem couldn’t wait until evening.

She left her mother a note and walked quickly to the caves, her shoulders hunched against the wind. When she arrived, she went straight to the passageway, confidently navigating the twists and turns she’d memorized long ago. Tem was almost to Caspen’s chambers when something stopped her dead in her tracks.

Someone stood in the middle of the passageway.

She could barely see them in the near-blackness, but her spine broke out in chills when they spoke:

“Temperance.”

It was Rowe.

Tem didn’t respond. She couldn’t if she tried.

Rowe stepped closer.

“You know,” he said casually, as if they were old friends. “You should not wander the mountain alone. It is not safe for humans.”

“I’m not human.”

Tem hated how small her words sounded.

Rowe stepped even closer.

“No?” his voice immediately lost its congenial tone. “Then what are you? A half breed. An abomination of nature who thinks she is our salvation.”

“I don’t think that,” Tem whispered.

“Stupid girl. You know nothing of the ways of my people.”

“I know Caspen regrets what he did.”

Rowe froze. It was a wild gamble to bring up Rowe’s father. But Tem needed to distract him—to find a way out of this. She barreled onward before he could stop her:

“He didn’t want to perform the crest.”

Rowe’s response was cold:

“And yet he did so anyway.”

“He only did so because he felt he had no other choice.”

“And yet he chose to do it,” Rowe hissed. He stepped closer once more, and his breath was on her face as he said:

“What he did was a sin. He will pay for it in blood.”

Tem tried to control her heartbeat, but found it was impossible. Rowe was standing far too close; every instinct in her body was telling her to run.

“Wouldn’t you do anything for your family?” she asked desperately. “For your quiver?”

“His quiver has no right to the throne,” Rowe snarled, his voice sharper than crushed glass. “And neither do you.”

Cold fear bit through Tem.