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"Excuse me!" shouted Richard. "Can we just pause and allow me a second to catch up. There's a great deal of puzzle pieces I need to connect."
Puzzle pieces, thought Wren. She needed to bring this to Wesley, but after the way they had all reacted it seemed the wrong thing to do. Not to mention she agreed with Sophie and Richard the king's effort to create a rift between them all was concerning.
Malaki sighed and explained to Richard a similar tale to what she had just told Wesley. Whether it was wise to bring so many people into it was clearly a lost concern, but it seemed it was too late for second thoughts. She was surprised at how much she trusted Richard despite their sordid past. She had seen a change in him since the night he thanked her for encouraging Wesley to ask Mary to court.
Where he had barely acknowledged Malaki without blatant hostility before, he now seemed protective of his older sibling. Even still, the information they were giving him could be dangerous should his allegiance change once more. For the moment she was grateful to only have two enemies.
"The Bishop stopped me yesterday and he knew about my mark. He said, ‘I wonder which one of them gave this to you?’” Wren blurted out.
"Oh, and you thought a day later was a good time to share this information," Sophie said as she threw up her hands in exasperation.
"There wasn't exactly a great time to tell you both yesterday," Wren said, irritated, before she looked at Malaki’s face, which had changed to something she wouldn't dare name.
"Is that why you were so upset last night?" he asked quietly, his voice low.
Wren understood then what she had seen in his face. It was hope, and it broke her heart. It broke her heart because he shouldn't have hope, and she shouldn't want him to have it. She willed her voice to steady. "Partly. After I saw him, I felt so intensely angry. It was like I couldn't control it."
"What was the other part?" His voice was still quiet.
Sophie and Richard whipped their heads towards her and she was acutely aware of three pairs of eyes on her. She knew she should be honest and not give him hope where there was none. He hadn't been wrong about his assumptions regarding Wesley and her.
Wren soon realized she was a coward because she couldn't bear to have him look at her in the cold way he had since last night's dinner, so she said, "I had just found out I was a goddess reborn the day before. Or is that not a reason to be upset?"
Malaki let out a long breath so subtle she might have missed it had she not been watching him carefully. "This is problematic that the Bishop knows about your mark, it is clear he expected it to be there," he said, returning to the task at hand with renewed fervor.
"He seemed happy to see it," Wren clarified.
"But what did he mean, by which one of them gave it to you?" asked Sophie.
"At first, I thought it could be the other gods, but I think they would like to do more than leave a mark on me if they could touch me," said Wren. "Do you think Maxon might know?" Wren paused, turning to Malaki with an accusatory glare. "Does he know what I am?"
"He already knew, Wren. It's why he came with them. Whatever I said made him suspicious and when he saw you in the throne room today he knew." He looked at her apologetically.
"Will he help us?" she asked cautiously.
"I think so. I will have to talk to him more to know for sure. He wants to meet you," said Malaki.
The coward in her said, "Not today." Instead of admonishing her for wasting time, Malaki only nodded. She felt lost in a whirlwind and she needed to settle her mind.
"I think we need to talk about father's maneuvering," pressured Richard.
"Not today," echoed Malaki, looking at her as if he had heard her thoughts. Gratitude laced through her, warm and content despite the chaos of before.
"Gods, I don't know which is worse, you two on the outs or you two working together," complained Richard.
"Outs, most certainly," offered Sophie helpfully.
Wren couldn't help but smile at her friend who always found a way to lessen the weight on her shoulders.
"We haven't been to the keep in a while, Richard," said Malaki with a sly smile directed at his brother. She was sure she had never seen such a look on him before and she nearly gaped at him.
Richard slowly moved his hand away from his face and looked at his brother with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Because we aren't ten, Kai."
"I feel ten," said Sophie eagerly looking at Malaki who smiled back at her wickedly.
"Fine, but I am not it first." Richard sighed while getting up from his chair.
They all turned to peer at Wren expectantly. "I feel like I have missed something important." Wren was acutely aware of the feeling that she was caught in a trap.
