Page 87 of Storm of Ink and Blood

He held still for a moment and then blinked. “I thought they were only a rumor.”

“You did?”

“That’s what they claim in Andhera.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s real. That’s just what they want everyone to think.”

“They?”

“The royal family.” Her gaze met his.

“As in your family?”

“Yes. I’ve seen them in the streets of Gi’ana, but I haven’t spoken with any of them yet.” Heat rose to her cheeks, wondering why it was so difficult to admit that. She’d dreamed of this family her entire life, but she was ashamed of them. It would take some time to reconcile that.

He nodded. “And what else?”

“We blew up the Jadugara’s ink factory.”

He exhaled a sharp breath. “That was you? We heard the reports, but that was incredibly dangerous.”

“I know,” she said. “But necessary.”

“They’re planning to rebuild it,” he answered.

“They’ve already started, and we’re planning to stop them again.”

When he met her gaze, she couldn’t interpret what she read behind his eyes.

“What else?” he asked, and this is where she hesitated. He’d insisted more than once that he didn’t believe the darkness was evil, but something stuck in her throat every time she tried to summon the damning words to the surface.

“I found a way to break the star collars,” she said.

His eyebrows arched at that. “You broke them?”

She twisted her fingers together and winced. “A few.”

“This has something to do with what happened in my forest?” he asked, studying her carefully.

“Yes. I think? Maybe.” She looked down at her hands, now folded in her lap before he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She looked up to meet his dark gaze.

“You can tell me anything.”

So she did, expelling the words in a rush. Once she started, she wanted it out as fast as possible. The only thing she kept to herself was the full truth about her terrifying visions. She wasn’t ready to share them with anyone yet.

After she finished, she stared at him and watched as he blinked, his head tipping with curiosity, but she read no judgment in his eyes.

“You were afraid of what I would say,” he said.

“Of course.”

“Tell me what else,” he said.

“The vanshaj have magic.”

Rabin blinked. “Of course they do. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?”

“People seem to keep forgetting that.”