Page 78 of Storm of Ink and Blood

She clutched her napkin under the table. “I want to trust you. I really do.”

He sighed and sat up, rubbing a hand down his face. “Can I share what has happened since I left Dharati?”

She also sat straighter in her seat, ready for everything. She hoped.

“Yes. I’d like to hear it.”

“After Row refused to confirm your whereabouts and my brother refused to speak with me, I returned to Andhera. To your father.”

Zarya felt a sharp tug in her chest at those words.

“That’s when I told him about you, and he was shocked to learn of your existence.”

“You told him about me,” she said. “You said you wouldn’t until I was ready.”

“I’m sorry. He knew about the dreams and that I’d gone to look for you. I had to explain who you were and what transpired in Dharati. He sensed I was keeping something from him and pulled the truth out of me.”

She nodded, supposing it made little difference at this point. With Rabin’s connection to the king, it would have come out soon enough anyway.

“Zarya, he doesn’t want to hurt you. He just wants to know you.”

She considered those words, recognizing the sincerity in them. “What about Row’s fears?”

Rabin reached over and took her hand, squeezing his fingers around hers.

“I asked him about all of it. Those two have a history. I’m not saying that Row doesn’t believe those things, but your mother planted them in his head. She and Abishek ended on bad terms, and she believed things about him that weren’t true. I won’t pretend he is perfect and that he hasn’t made unpopular choices as a king. That is the lot of a ruler, but he had sound reasons for all of it.”

Zarya reached up and clutched her necklace. She wished more than anything she could talk to the woman who’d owned this. It was only Abishek’s word against hers, and Asha wasn’t here to defend herself.

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

“I believe you didn’t purposely betray me,” she said, watching Rabin’s shoulders drop with relief. “But you still should have told me before I had to find it out from Dhawan. You have no idea how much that hurt. I’m not ready to forgive you for that.”

“I’m so sorry,” he answered. “I regret it more than you can possibly know. I had every intention of telling you, but things spun out of control.”

She thought back to their conversation on Ranpur Island during their hasty flight back to Dharati. He’d tried to tell her something, but they’d been interrupted before he could continue. She puffed out a breath, wondering if perhaps she’d been too hard on him.

“Regardless, I still have many reservations about the man who is my biological father.”

Rabin nodded. “I understand that, but can you consider that what I’m saying is possible? I’m sure your mother didn’t mean to cause you any trouble, either, and we all believe the truth with our own sense of perception, but I’ve known Abishek for years now, and I don’t believe he would do those things.”

“Row once told me he was intent on saving the Aazheri line and that he couldn’t support his decisions.”

Rabin nodded. “The first part is true, and that is part of why he is so interested in magic and why he pushes limits.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ve heard of the sixth anchor?” he asked, and suddenly Zarya’s throat went dry.

“I have,” she croaked out.

“He believes it is the key to restoring Aazheri power, and Row never agreed with his plans to break through the seal keeping it locked away. That’s partly why they fought and why he left.”

With that knowledge, her mind spun with a thousand burgeoning questions.

“And has he done it?” she asked, focusing on the most important one first. “Does he have a sixth anchor?”

“He does,” Rabin said. “He has it and wants to offer others the chance. He has a theory that should he break the seal, then more would be able to access it.”