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Why didn’t you save her? Lio would hear those words in his dreams. “I am immortal, but not all-powerful. How I wish I were.”
“What did he do to her?” Nivalis demanded.
Lio wanted to hold her hand, anything to soften the blow. But there was nothing he could do except tell her the truth. “He took her magic.”
Nivalis’s lips moved, and she pressed a hand to her belly. “How…how is that even possible?”
Cassia rose and came to her side, reaching out to steady her. “The Gift Collector possesses terrible power that even Hesperines cannot always combat.”
Nivalis pulled away. “Why her? She never did anything to hurt anyone. She gave up everything to heal people.”
“The Gift Collector is on Lucis’s side,” Lio tried to explain. “He is manipulating both sides of the feud for the king’s benefit.”
“I care nothing for your political excuses,” Nivalis cried. “Can you tell me that the Gift Collector did not target her because of you?”
Nivalis did not understand the full truth, but she grasped this. That her sister’s fate had been sealed when she aligned herself with the Hesperines.
Perhaps the Collector had chosen her because of politics. Lio’s mind knew this was possible. But in his heart, he didn’t really believe it was true. Pakhne had simply been the most convenient vessel to reach through, to get at him and Cassia.
Nivalis read the truth in his silence. She turned her back on them all and stormed out of the room.
“Lord Flavian has my vote.” Lord Deverran followed his wife out.
Solia rose from her chair and stepped toward Lio. “Where is your diplomacy tonight? Couldn’t you have found anything to say to persuade her you are not the villain?”
“I won’t lie to her,” Lio said.
“Why do they call you Glasstongue? Do you understand the difference between a lie and persuasion?”
“If you want to persuade them that we are not responsible for what happened to Pakhne, perhaps you would care to explain to them why you destroyed the necromancer’s other servants while I was trying to save her!”
Mak and Lyros had stepped in, Lio realized, for his cousin took hold of his shoulder and hauled him a step back from Solia. Lyros put his hands up between them, as if expecting them to come to blows.
Cassia stood by the fire, looking back and forth between them. Knight’s hackles were up, the air warming with fire magic.
“I’m assigning you your third labor,” Solia barked.
“What?” It took Lio’s thoughts a moment to catch up with her abrupt announcement.
“Now is hardly the time!” Cassia cut in.
Solia’s jaw was set. “Send a scroll back to Kassandra for her permission, if you like.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Lio said.
“You should listen to whatever she’s asking of you before you agree,” Lyros advised.
“I know what she’s asking,” Lio returned. “Traditionally, during the third labor, the bridegroom is expected to learn something from the matriarch. You wish to teach me a lesson, Sister? I’m an excellent student, I assure you.”
“You’re a scholar,” she said. “Clearly, you need a lesson in the battle arts. I’m challenging you to single combat.”
“You can’t be serious!” Now Cassia stepped between them. “What in the Goddess’s name are you two thinking? I will not stand by and watch you two go at it in the fighting ring—over me!”
Lio rested a hand on her back. “It’s all right, Cassia.”
“It is not all right!” she replied.
“Our family members meet in the ring for friendly matches all the time.” Lio’s tone was anything but friendly.
