Page 23 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

She had asked him if he remembered her, but not if he knew who she was.

"Do you know who I am?"

His fingers tightened around hers.

Once.

Annani sucked in a breath.

He knew who she was.

And then, before she could get any joy out of it, the logical part of her destroyed it.

He knew who she was, and she had no way to find out what he meant by that.

He might mean the female who sat beside his bed. He might mean that he had understood her when she said her name a quarter of an hour ago and had held on to it, which would be a marvel and would be nothing. He might mean Princess Annani, as in the bride in the story she had been telling him while he slept.

She could ask him if he knew her name, but he could answer yes, and it would tell her only that he had heard her say it. Or maybe she could ask him if he knew what she was to him?

He could say yes to that as well, and mean the female who had been sitting next to his bed, telling him stories.

She could ask him if he knew she was his mate, his truelove mate, and that answer would not be ambiguous, but she was not ready for that one yet.

She was not a coward and had never once flinched from anything the Fates had put in her way, but she had been given a great deal this morning, and to ask for more would be greedy.

"That is enough for now," she said. "Rest, and when you wake up again, I will still be right here to keep pestering you with more questions."

8

KIAN

"He understood her," Alena said. "It wasn't just a reflex. Bridget tested him with straight yes-or-no questions. He answered each one correctly."

Kian put down his pen, sat back in his chair, and swiveled it to face the window.

This was great news for his mother, but before he allowed himself to celebrate, he wanted to make sure that there was really something to celebrate.

"What did Bridget ask, and how did he respond?"

"One squeeze for yes, two for no. Bridget ran him through six questions, like 'Is my hair red?' Then came 'Is my hair black?' and other questions like that, including two designed to trip him up. He got all of them right."

"That's good," he said. "I'm sure Mother is over the moon."

"She is, but she tries to play it cool and not show it. Her glow is so strong that we could turn off the lights in the ward and it would still be fully illuminated."

Kian chuckled. "She's not really trying to hide her excitement. She knows how to keep her glow in check. Did she relent on inviting Esag to see Khiann?"

"No. You need to talk to her because she dismisses me when I tell her it's not right."

"I'm not going to try to convince her to do something she doesn't want to do, and you shouldn't either. First of all, it never works, and you know that. Once Mother decides something, no one can convince her to change her mind. Secondly, she is entitled to her hoarding. She waited for Khiann for five thousand years, and every moment he's awake is precious to her. She doesn't want to share him."

"Esag is Khiann's best friend. If Khiann could communicate, and if he remembers having such a great friend, I'm sure he would want to see Esag."

"Two ifs that are not going to be relevant for weeks to come. Let it go, Alena. You've been managing our mother for two thousand years and know her better than anyone. You know I'm right."

"Yeah. It's just that I feel bad for Esag. Every time I call him with updates, I can hear his pain."

"I hear you." Kian swiveled his chair back to face his desk. "Who else is on your updates list?"