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Kalahad just shrugged. “I know that look. It’s been a shitty day, but that look… There’s a woman involved.” At Kato’s answering sigh, he let out a loud bark of laughter. “I knew it. It’s true, isn’t it? Skylen Emrys took a human mate, and judging from that look, she must be something special. I suppose she would have to be to make it to the Vale relay with undead monsters roaming the forests.”

Kato frowned. “And how would you know about Vale?” Surely, Ivain had kept that information restricted.

Kalahad gave him a flat stare. “All I’ve heard since I got here is‘Talya Caro this’and‘Talya Caro that.’Apparently, someone snuck into the Marquess’s tent and made a copy of the relay transmission. Everyone’s heard it by now. She’s the hero of the hour, and I’m sure you can see now that if you tell me anything less than both of the Emrys brothers have fallen head over heels for our young heroine, I’ll be sorely disappointed. Anything less, and it just won’t be worth the retelling.”

Kato snorted. “Sorry to disappoint, but I harbor no such feelings. All I can say is that I found her refreshingly tolerable.”

“Are you sure that’s all?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe you. There’s something about this girl that’s gotten underneath your skin. I can tell these things.”

Kato dragged a hand through his hair. Was he that transparent? “I made a miscalculation. That’s all.”

“And was this miscalculation the subject of your and Skylen’s quarrel on the road?”

Kato looked up. He thought he’d been careful when he confronted his brother, making sure there was no one close enough to overhear.

“Gossip,” was all Kalahad offered in explanation. “Rumor is the two of you had a bit of a tiff.”

Not careful enough, it seemed.

Kato drained what was left in his glass. “Yes. That’s what we were arguing about. I jumped to conclusions, and I doubted one of the few people I’ve actually liked in a long time—present company excluded, of course,” he added quickly, earning him a bemused grin in return.

Kato leaned back in his chair, staring up through a rip in the canvas. “I’ve been thinking quite a lot lately about making amends,” he found himself saying. “With mortals—there’s never enough time. They die, and we’re left here still shouldering the weight of everything that never got said. And now with these attacks with the…”

“Shades,” Kalahad supplied. “Horrible business. I take it thisTalyis still out there?”

“Yes.” Kato swallowed and held out his cup, grateful when a serving woman immediately refilled it. He probably shouldn’t. This was fey wine, and he was already feeling woozy. But when he considered what had likely happened to Taly, when he wondered if his actions had perhaps been a catalyst… He took another long draw. “I love my people and my family, and I’ve made decisions over the course of my life that I’ve had to live with. But this time—I went looking for answers in the wrong places. I thought I knew something, and I accused someone of something that I now know was wrong.”

And Shards, why did that bother him so much? He had been wrong before. Hell. He was over two centuries old. He’d been wrong lots of times, and while yes, Taly reminded him of Sarah—they both had that same fire, the same undeniable intelligence—she was just a human. Transient. Little more than a blip of light in thedarkness, snuffed out by the slightest breath of circumstance.

So why then? Why was it eating at him? Why did he keep trying to imagine what Sarah would’ve said or done if she could see the man he had let himself become?

“Sorry,” Kato said after a moment, realizing he’d let the conversation lapse. “You probably have no idea what I’m talking about.”

“Does it matter?” Kalahad asked. “I find that sometimes just saying a thing is all a person really needs.”

Kato couldn’t argue with the logic, even if finding that level of empathy in another Highborn was a bit of a shock.

And suddenly he began to wonder if accepting the wine had been a mistake. Had he said too much? Given away—

“I know that look too,” Kalahad said. “Fey do not come by trust naturally, and you’ve just made yourself vulnerable. So, in exchange, I will give you one piece of information about me. Ask me a question, and I’ll answer.”

Kato blinked. An unusual offer. Among the fey, information was currency. This was the highest sign of trust one Highborn could offer another. He would be a fool not to take it.

“You’re notoriously anti-human,” Kato said. “So much so that there are rumors that you steal them away from their conclaves.”

Kalahad’s lips twitched. “I see I’m not the only gossip.”

Kato asked simply, “Is it true?”

To which Kalahad replied, just as easily, “All rumors have some truth.”

Kato’s stomach clenched. “So, you steal humans?”

“Yes.” Once more, Kato was surprised at this man’s candor. “However, what most people fail to ask is‘what do I do with them?’I’ve worked hard to cultivate my reputation, because when people make assumptions, it makes them easy to manipulate.”