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When I get to the old door, I huddle close, listening.

At first, I can’t make it out. His voice is too soft, a lover’s murmur. When I press my ear to the door, however, I can hear him more clearly.

“Oh, you’re beautiful,” Talan coos. “I’ve been missing you.”

“Lower,” Talan says. “Good girl.”

My eyebrows raise. What exactly is happening in there?

CHAPTER 22

“Good,” Talan says. “Stretch your neck, Tarasque. You’re healing nicely.”

I let out a long, slow breath.

Slowly, I open the door into the hall. Blue and white light streams over Tarasque. Talan has moved her into the main hall, and for a moment, I can’t tear my gaze away. I’m frozen in awe and fear.

When her head rests on the mosaic floor, I grow calmer. Talan runs his hands over her scales. Her eyes are shut, and she’s making a gentle noise, almost like a purr.

“Nia.” He doesn’t turn to look at me as I step into the hall, but he knows it’s me all the same.

Tarasque’s nostrils flare, and her eyes snap open. She turns her head toward me, a low rumble issuing from her throat, and I take a step back toward the door. She’s definitely not purring anymore.

“Shh…” Talan runs his hand over her scales again. “She’s my wife, Tarasque. She’s not a threat.”

I swallow hard, my pulse beating in my ears. Does he still believe that?

Talan’s gaze meets mine, and I feel the warmth of his attention like sunlight on my skin. “How’s your arm?”

“Better. And what have you been doing this past week?”

He drags a hand through his dark hair. “Not sleeping.”

I can read the exhaustion in his beautiful features, a new thing since I’ve known him. “Why? Are you still worried about the attack on the palace? Did you find any of the rebels?”

“Not yet, but they’re running out of time. Have you heard anything about them?”

I shrug. “Just soldiers’ gossip. Nonsense, really. Someone thought that Lumos…never mind, it’s ridiculous.”

Tension hangs heavy between us, dark and sharp-edged.

Talan steps so close that I can feel the heat radiating off him. For a heartbeat, something raw flickers in his eyes—pain, sorrow—until he masters control of his expression again. “I haven’t forgotten the first time I met you, when you broke into my castle. You were cold and desperate, and it was Lumos you were looking for.”

“I was curious. It can’t possibly be him, right? I mean, I was there when all those flaming arrows came flying at the palace. It was quite a spectacle. He would never…” I let the sentence stretch into nothing.

“I thoroughly investigated the rumors. He’s been at Arwenna’s father’s castle, Val Sans Retour.”

“With Arwenna?”

He shakes his head. “No, I don’t know where she is, and I suspect she’s hiding from me. She knows I’d throw her in prison after she sent Maertisa for you.”

If she’s missing or in hiding, that’s not why. “So, the rumors were false about Lumos?”

“He has no plans to usurp the throne. Just idle gossip.”

I clear my throat. “And that human land…Scotland?”

“We’re winning, but I have to leave Brocéliande again for a few days.” He studies me for a long moment. “Before I go, do you want to join me for a ride?”