Page 100 of A Vow of Embers

She shrugged one shoulder, conceding my point.

“I can’t risk him finding it before me. I would doom all of Locris, and it’s too important. If he gets his hands on it, I think he would destroy it just to spite me. We have to keep this between us for now.”

Her face questioned my statement.

“The reason I know is because it’s what I would do if our situations were reversed.” I felt terrible saying it, but it was true. I would never let the prince have an object that contained that much power.

And I did wish that I could tell my sisters everything. Maybe there would come a day when I would feel like I could trust Io completely again, but it wasn’t here yet.

The picnic was set up just beyond the palace walls, in a large green field surrounded by trees. It was the first time I had stepped on grass since I’d arrived. I kicked my shoes off so that I would walk barefoot on it.

When I touched the ground, I didn’t feel anything like I had at the temple. There was no humming power. Was that because I had changed? Or had I somehow displeased the goddess by getting married?

Did she no longer consider me a true servant?

“Do you feel anything?” I asked Suri. She had removed her shoes as well.

No.

The relief was immediate. It wasn’t just me.

I saw Dolion approaching. He bowed slightly when he reached me. “You look lovely, princess.”

“Thank you. Suri, this is Dolion. Dolion, Suri.”

He offered her his hand but she crossed her arms. She didn’t like him. I wondered if it was him specifically, or was this how she felt about all men?

“May I speak to you privately?” he asked after he’d let his hand drop back to his side.

Suri raised her eyebrows at me, asking if I wanted her to go. I nodded and she walked away.

“I needed to apologize to you. I worry that when we first met I came on too strongly. I sometimes act without thinking,” he said.

That was certainly something I could relate to. But I had found him to be kind and thoughtful. I had appreciated his offer of friendship.

And that he had been honest with me about what the prince had actually done. Even if some part of me had hoped that Alexandros would turn out to be the hero I had imagined him to be and not the monster of my story.

“I was glad that you told me the things that you did.”

“I do not want to betray Xander and his faith in me,” he said. “He has given me so much and been the best friend imaginable. But my mother taught me to help others and it ... seemed like you needed help. I thought you should have the truth.”

It had cost him something to tell me what he had. “Thank you for giving that to me.”

Dolion smiled and I noticed that it made him even more handsome. My heart beat a bit faster in response, surprising me.

I saw Alexandros then, off to my right. He was also smiling. A genuine one. Who was he smiling like that at?

Chryseis stepped into view and I had to tamp down my murderous impulses.

Dolion turned to see what I was looking at. “Chryseis. She has always been his favorite.” His face fell, as if he realized what he had done. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that—”

I held up my hand. “It’s all right.” He didn’t have to imply anything. The only thing the prince had ever been honest about was his attraction to her. She looked elegant and refined, and I felt like a little girl who had found her mother’s dress and gone to a party in it.

Alexandros slept beside me every night, but there were many hours of the day when I didn’t know where he was or what he was doing.

Who he was with.

And that fact should not have been eating me up inside the way that it was.