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Rikard the Mouser jumped off the table and padded toward Ana. She didn’t look up, but one hand stretched down to give him a loving pat, same as she always had. Same as Nessa had, now that he thought about it. Rikard had only everlikedAna, Addy, and Tyr. He tolerated everyone else.
But he’d taken to Nessa right away.
Tyr forced himself to stand. He moved slowly to where Ana sat, vaguely aware of his parents sobbing over Addy’s miracle recovery at the bar. Each step readied him to confront truths his mind hadn’t wanted him to see, and his heart still didn’t understand.
He lowered his hands to the table beside her and leaned close. “Ana?”
She didn’t react, so he said her name again. Before she looked up, he caught the flare in her eyes, the panic settling around her jaw.
Ana locked his gaze, unblinking. Her hands turned to soft fists, her lower lip moving in strange twitches.
Tyr looked back at the bar for only a moment, but it was long enough for Ana to bolt. She was halfway across the tavern floor, her dark-blue dress flapping like a sheet behind her, before he was even on his feet. He raced after her, watching her unlatch the door and rush out into the night.
He caught up to her as she turned the corner, slowing her by grabbing her arm. She tried to shake him off, but he held tight and guided her into the alley behind the tavern.
When he released her, she paced away but didn’t run. She traced her hands down her arms, her head shaking through some unseen battle she was waging with herself.
“Talk to me,” Tyr pleaded. “You just—” Grief clogged his throat. “Saved my sister. You appeared, out of the blue, as though you knew. Youknewshe was dying, and you came, at just the right time... Youhadto know, buthow,Ana?”
Ana ran to a nearby tree, grasped the bark, and retched into the dirt. Nothing emerged except the most devastating cries.
Tyr came up behind her and smoothed his hands along her back, pulling her hair out of the way in case she vomited. Her harried breaths began to normalize. Her head came up and she stared, glossy eyed, into the forest.
When he tugged her back to her feet, she didn’t stop him. There was no resistance left in her as he gathered her in his arms and pressed her to his chest, one hand behind her head, the other nestled against the small of her back.
The silence lasted so long, Tyr began to feel the entire night had been a dream.
“I’m in desperate trouble, Tyreste.” Her voice was no longer bold and strong, but small and scared. “I’m drowning in a sea I cannot swim through.”
Tyr tightened his hold on her and brushed his lips across her matted hair. “Please talk to me, Anastazja. Tell me what’s done this to you.”
“Do you not understand? Do you not know?” Ana tilted her head back to look at him. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with tears he had to stop himself from kissing away. She swayed in his grasp, so he tightened his arm around her back. “I have done—” She sucked her lower lip in. “I had to keep you safe.”
Tyr pressed his chin to the top of her head, hugging her close to him. “Do you not think I can protect myself?” He pulled back and met her eyes with a sad smile. “I would walk through fire... swim the Howling Sea... foryou.”
Ana rolled her lips in and nodded. Tears rolled down her pink cheeks. “I know you would. But I can’t...” Her eyes squeezed shut as her face crumpled into sobs. “Lose you.”
“I don’t understand, Ana.Pleasehelp me understand.”
Ana withdrew one of her hands from her cloak and slid it along the side of his face. He closed his eyes, surrendering to a return of warmth, familiarity. “Love isn’t just knowing when to say good-bye. It’s finding the strength to do it when everything inside of you would do anything to just be weak, for once.”
Tyr mouthed the wordlove, but she had started to pull away. He felt her slipping further from him, not just physically, and he reached for her face, desperate to stop it from happening. He cradled her soft flesh in his hands, letting her see him, his tears and his truth. “We can be strongtogether.Wearestronger together. Don’t you see?”
Ana’s eyes closed. Her face went limp in his palm. “You only think you know evil, Tyreste. But you have no idea.”
“Magda.” He snarled the name. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
Ana’s eyes flashed open. “Why do you say that?”
“I saw her with you in the market. I’ve seen her since. She came into the tav—”
“WHEN?” Ana seized his face and shook it. “When?”
“I don’t... not that long ago. She didn’t buy an ale or come to meet someone.”
Ana ripped away and staggered back to the tree. She seemed distressed but not surprised. “Grigor was right. She came for you.”
“Why?” It hadn’t occurred to him that Ana might know about the strange visit, or her stepmother's intentions.
