Page 84 of A Vow of Embers

“He said you bit him.”

A smile lit up her whole face. “After he had gotten me away from the crowd, he checked me for injuries. He lifted up my chin and instinct took over. I bit him.”

“You can’t just bite people,” I told her. It was going to get her into trouble. “You have to stop.”

“I will when he stops aggravating me. I may not know how to throw a punch but I’m very good at biting,” she said. Then her smile faded and she added, “No matter what else you believe, you need to know that Xander and Thrax are the only reason I am alive. That crowd would have killed me.”

You should be thanking me.The prince’s angry words echoed inside my head.

Had I misunderstood this situation?

“No,” I said. “When he had Thrax bring you out in chains on the street, he threatened you. He said that if I didn’t honor the betrothal, he would hurt you.”

“Did he say that?” she asked quietly, as if she already knew the answer.

I thought back, that entire encounter forever seared into my memory.

You will leave the temple and you will marry me. Now. Or else ...

He hadn’t said that he would hurt her. He had only implied it. I had assumed he would kill her.

My mouth dropped open in shock. Was I in this situation because I had put words in his mouth?

She took both of my hands, holding them tightly. “I need you to tell me everything. I need to know it from your side.”

There weren’t “sides.” Only the truth.

So I told her. Where I had edited myself with my adelphia, I didn’t do that with Quynh. I gave her every embarrassing and horrifying detail of all that I had gone through so that she would understand and feel like she had lived it with me. I told her about the dreams, about my interactions with the goddess, everything I had done at the temple.

The words poured out of me, and despite wanting to keep some things to myself, I didn’t. I even told her about tonight, how I had desired Alexandros while still wanting to thrust my xiphos into his gut.

It took me a long time to tell her all of it.

When I had finally finished, she nodded. “I don’t even know what to say. I’m so sorry for everything you’ve had to endure. And I’m sorry that you’re in this situation because of me.”

“Don’t say that,” I told her. “I would die a thousand deaths, endure anything, if it meant you would be safe.”

“I feel exactly the same way,” she said. She took in a deep breath, and from the expression in her eyes, I knew I wouldn’t like whatever she had to say next.

And I was right.

“We need to talk about Xander and how you feel about him. And how he feels about you.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“What is there to discuss? I think it is clear already,” I said. “We hate each other.”

The expression on her face indicated she did not believe that to be true. “I told you once that I thought you could be a steadying influence on the prince. Help him see reason. I still believe that.”

I let out a sound of disbelief.

“And it seems obvious to me that he has feelings for you.”

“Yes, feelings of hate.”

She gave me that secretive smile of hers, as if she knew something that I didn’t. “No, Lia. You matter to him. He cares about you. He desires you, too.”

That sent a bolt of shock through me. “He does not. He has made it very clear that he finds me repulsive.”