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Naia had never heard of magic combining like that. “Do you know why it happens?”
He looked down and fiddled with a piece of bread. “Couples do that. Usually. Not always.” An odd reaction.
“Why does this fact seem to bother you?”
His stunning eyes met hers. “You haven’t saidyesyet, remember? You were going to consider it. I was giving you the time and space to think it through, the time to know everything about me and only then make up your mind.” He paused, then added, his voice a little lower, “Your magic’s been telling a different story.”
Great. “Oh, so that’s how you know you can be a prick and I’ll forgive you.”
River chuckled. “It goes both ways. It also means I don’t want to be a prick to you. And who knows? What if your magic changes its mind? I’m not going to risk it.”
Risk. There had been tons of risks. “Then don’t put your life in danger again. If it’s true that there’s something connecting us, it explains how I felt today. It was horrible.”
He ran his hand through her hair. “I’m truly sorry, Naia. I swear it never crossed my mind that Ironhold could do that to me. The deal I had with the king should keep me safe—I guess I overlooked the queen. At least I got some information, at least I know something now.”
“I hate all of that. I mean, we know Ironhold is awful and wants power. Now, what is this queen doing? And what does she want with you? Why would you be the key to anything?”
River exhaled and shook his head. “Maybe… Maybe she needed Ironhold to be powerful, and that was why she needed me, but that doesn’t make sense. They didn’t need my illusions to gain power. Maybe… maybe she wants to know how to counter iron magic? Perhaps to fight the Ironholds? I don’t know.”
Naia thought for a moment. “Could it be your… your mind magic?”
“Mindmelding. How would she have heard about it? No outsiders know about it, and not even many Ancients. And why would my magic interest her? The thing is, she’s claiming she’s behind Ironhold, she boasted it, so it has something to do with whatever they are planning.”
Naia tapped her nails on the table, while awful images of River imprisoned or even tortured crossed her mind. “You’ll have to hide. They’ll be after you. Is our house safe?”
He had a happy smile. “Ourhouse?”
Naia narrowed her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
He kept that lovely, breathtaking smile. “Our house should be safe. Ironhold don’t have deathbringers or fae or dragons.”
There was something else she couldn’t believe he hadn’t mentioned yet. “We also need to help your Ancient City.”
There was a flicker of pain in his eyes. “I’m not allowed to go there.”
Naia disagreed. “I think youareallowed. What did your father say you had to do for your exile to end?”
He had a bitter chuckle. “Bring a dragon heart.”
She smiled. “Did he specify that it had to be detached from the body?”
River shook his head. “I see what you’re saying, but you went there on your own.”
“Yes, but you could bring me now.”
He nodded. “And then they’ll want to detach your heart from your body. I won’t run that risk.”
Naia rolled her eyes. “Well, then, I guess we’ll just have to let all the fae in the Ancient City die.”
“I’ll find a solution.”
“You can’t do it all on your own, River. And there won’t be time. I’ve thought about it. There’s a forest, in the north of Umbraar, the Blue Forest, by a river. Some of your people could come and collect water and fish and then take them to the Ancient City. You could make a fairy circle there. That area, it’s far from villages, it should be fine. All I need is some guarantee that your people won’t attack humans.”
He glared at her. “We don’t attack people for no reason, Naia.”
Of course. The fae war had obviously been some kind of collective human hallucination. She didn’t want to upset him, though, and said, “Just in case. I’ll feel better about it.”
River was thoughtful. “If we make a deal with them, you could ask for support in the upcoming war. There’s a war coming, Naia, and fae warriors are the best of the best.”
