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“Iknow,”she said, her voice rising. “The fate of the entire world rests on my shoulders! Do you think I have somehowoverlookedthat fact?”
“Of course I don’t. But if you—Madeleine, I know you have been bullied and lied to and coerced, but—”
“But you think I have a clear duty,” she said coldly.
He watched her unwaveringly. “I do.”
She stared back at him, both furious and terrified, because how could he say such a thing to her? And because she thought he might be right. “I am not the only one who has to agree to such a scheme,” she said, almost spitting the words. “And I can tell you now that Reese will never allow a child of his to be used in such a way.”
Tivol flinched, but kept his gaze steady. “Then perhaps Reese should not be the father of your children.”
She narrowed her eyes. “There is no other candidate for the post.”
Tivol laid his hand on his heart, a melodramatic gesture that somehow did not look ridiculous. “Any time you would consider me for that position, I would gladly reclaim it.”
Before she could decide if that was the most generous or the most insulting offer she had ever had, there was a polite knock and Aussen entered, carrying a tray of refreshments.
The girl said, “Norrah thought you would want—” followed by a handful of incomprehensible islander words.
“Thank you,” Madeleine said. “You can set the tray on that little table.”
“Whatdid she say?” Tivol asked.
“I’m not sure. She’s from the islands, and she speaks Zessin half the time.”
Aussen settled the tray on the table with great delicacy. “I’ll come back for your dishes later,” she assured them solemnly, and slipped out the door.
“She doesn’t seem like your usual well-trained staff,” Tivol said. “And a bit on the young side.”
“She’s Jayla’s ward.”
“Jayla?”
“My guard. The one who was with us that night at Harlo’s.”
His face tightened in sympathy as he remembered that evening, and then he nodded. “Of course. But why is she delivering food? And looking perilously like she might break the china.”
“She helps out in the kitchen, mostly to keep her occupied. While Jayla is occupied protectingme.”
“You seem fond of her.”
She looked at him a long moment. “I am. I think I would grow fond of any child who came into my life.”
He returned her gaze. “That’s why it would be best,” he said. “If you gave up your children the minute they were born.”
She felt a sharp pain beneath her ribs; she almost glanced down to check for an injury. “Is that what you planned to do?” she whispered. “Take them from me while I still lay in the birthing bed, then tell me they had died?”
He didn’t answer, and she knew she was right. The wound in her chest seemed to grow larger with every heartbeat. She abruptly came to her feet, and Tivol scrambled up beside her.
“Madeleine,” he began, but she shook her head. He stepped closer, and she flung up a hand to keep him away. She stumbled toward the door, so blinded with tears that she almost could not find her way.
He didn’t follow. He didn’t say her name again. She fled across the floor, staggered up the stairs and burst into her room, sobbing the whole way.
How could she ever have loved him?
What was she going to do?
Madeleine had mostly recovered her equanimity by mid-afternoon, when Harlo was supposed to arrive. She had not seen him since the day she accompanied him to the temple to offer up her blood, because she was so hurt and angry at his level of betrayal. No doubt Harlo, like Tivol, had cast himself as a tragic but noble figure. She did not want to hear his justifications, and she was weary of spouting her own recriminations. But she knew that, eventually, they would have to come to an understanding, and so she had agreed to let him visit.
