Page 64

Then she left.

Chapter 13

Taly opened her eyes slowly. She was warm, clean, comfortable.

Soft afternoon light shone from behind gray shutters, bathing her in its gentle warmth.

She recognized this room. The smells. The energy.

Home.

For a long, quiet moment, she basked in the feeling of it.

Slowly, she became aware of another presence in the room. Of deep, even breathing as Ivain dozed in a chair beside the bed. Long legs stretched out in front of him, his hands folded across his lap. His pale hair was in disarray as if he’d dragged his fingers through multiple times over.

“I’m not hovering,” he said, eyes still closed. “My chair is three feet from the bed. You can check.”

The concept of disease was foreign to the Fey. Every time Taly caught a cold, the whole house gathered as if her life hung in the balance. When she was ten, she finally had to sit everyone down for a talk. That’s when they established the three-feet rule. She was tired of waking up from naps to people hovering over her like she was moments away from expiring.

Ivain opened his eyes finally. When he smiled, she gave him a small, tired one in return.

Hi, she mouthed silently.

He blinked, and a tear rolled from his eye. He didn’t wipe it away. “When you were small,” he began quietly. “And this would’ve been right after you arrived at the manor, when we were all still under the illusion that your stay would only be temporary. Seems foolish now to consider life turning out any other way… I was listening to some music one evening. It waslate. I thought everyone else had already gone to bed, but then I remember looking up to see this little head peeking around the door of my study.”

Fondness shone in his eyes at the memory. “You didn’t say much in those early days. Mostly seemed frightened of me. This was, I think, probably the first time you’d ever sought me out on your own. And I didn’t want to scare you away, so I pretended to remain unaware. It took you a few moments to gather your courage—creeping from the door, to behind a chair, then a table, slowly inching your way across the room. But eventually, you came over, crawled up into the chair beside me, and just listened. For hours. It didn’t matter what I played, what language, what origin, you were transfixed.”

The afternoon sun bathed him in a soft, amber radiance, highlighting the familiar lines and contours of his face. “I don’t know what time it was when I finally took you up to bed. You were barely awake, but with every new song that would start to play, your eyelids would twitch back open like you couldn’t stand to miss it. I must’ve played nearly half my collection just to see how long you would stay with me.”

He chuckled softly, the sound trailing as his smile dimmed. “That should’ve tipped me off, in hindsight. Time mageslovemusic. They have a keen sensitivity to the rhythm of time and are naturally drawn to things that play with it beautifully. And you were—drawnto the sound. I thought it was curiosity, perhaps a bit of awestruck wonder. You came from the poorest village on the island, and I told myself you’d probably never seen a record player. I’ve been thinking a lot lately, going over old memories, and the signs were all there. So many little things over the years that I dismissed because you were only human. I wasblindedby my own prejudice. How about that…?”

This was it. She’d imagined this moment a thousand times over, refining her words and polishing her explanations. “Sire, I’m—”

“Were you happy?” he asked. “I- I didn’t ever make you feel lesser, did I? I held you back at times—I had to. Throw Skye off a cliff, and he walks away without a scratch. Obviously, I couldn’t let you follow, and youwouldhave tried. But if I ever made you feel… limited or- or dismissed? If I let that prejudice make you feel like anything less than the extraordinary person that you are, then I—”

“No.” Tears pricked her eyes. She couldn’t stand it—seeing the anguish in his face and knowing she was the cause.

She couldn’t stand the shame of her own failure to make that pain mean something. This really was the worst outcome—she’d gambled and lost. Inflicted the wound but failed to remove the rotting limb.

“You were wonderful.” Taly’s throat was raw. Every word scraped like sandpaper. She had to be judicious with them. “I’m so grateful for you and Sarina and the life that you gave me.”

“Thenwhy, little one—why didn’t you come to me?”

Because she knew how different her life might’ve been. Human orphans were loose threads, easy to overlook, easy to cut. He had no reason to take her in—no incentive. It was dumb luck their paths crossed at all.

“I just wanted to pay you back for some of it.” She choked out the words, voice thick. “I thought if I did this alone, then maybe I could save you from getting dragged down with me. I didn’t… I didn’t want you to regret giving me a home.”

“Regret?” Ivain took a shaky breath, tears in his eyes, and shook his head. “Stupid girl.”

“I’m sorry for the pain I caused.” Oh, Shards, it hurt to cry. Every trembling inhale jabbed beneath her ribs like a hiddenknife. “I was just trying to do the right thing, even if I fucked it up.”

“And a good thing you did,” Ivain said. “Apparently, if I’d taught you to be any more resourceful, you would’ve slipped away to the mortal realm, never to be seen again. I will thank the Shards every day for the rest of my life for every misstep and mistake that led you back to where you belong.”

“Sire, I—”

“And that’s another thing. Since when do you call mesire?” he snapped, voice rising. “Did a wire get crossed while you were away? Is it the same one that told you I’d regret my own daughter, or was that a separate lapse in judgement?”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “Sarina was right. I should never have let you spar with Skye. Obviously, he knocked something loose.Regret,” he echoed in bewildered disbelief. “I could no sooner regret you than regret my own heartbeat.”