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‘Forgive me, my lord.I was just coming to fetch Imogen to help with lunch.’

‘Imogen won’t be—’ I began, but Imogen jumped in over the top of me.

‘Of course, Sarah.I’ll be right there.’

Sarah stood staring at us expectantly.

‘I’ll just...finish up out here quickly,’ Imogen added, and Sarah’s gaze flashed to me, then away again.

‘If you’re sure...’she said, intently assessing Imogen’s face.Looking for signs of duress.

Imogen gestured vaguely to the rug and smiled.‘I’ll meet you in the kitchen.’

Slowly, Sarah backed away, looking Imogen up and down before subtly raising an eyebrow.Clearly, Imogen had been making friends during her time at Dreadhold.When Sarah reached the doorway, she turned and ducked out of sight.

‘You don’t have to work,’ I said when she was gone.

‘Then what am I supposed to do instead?Become the lady of the castle?’She laughed.I didn’t.The humour slipped from her face as she seemed to realise I wasn’t sharing the joke.‘No.’

‘Why not?’

She scoffed.‘I don’t know anything about running a castle.’

‘So?’

Her eyes widened in surprise and she seemed stunned for a moment.‘Tarian, I want you, us, but this is happening so fast I—’ she paused and I waited for her to collect her thoughts.‘There’s so much about this world I don’t know.And I don’t know what a life here would look like for me, but I’m not suited to being a pampered lady who sits around doing nothing all day.’Her gaze flashed back to the doorway where Sarah had been.

I scanned her face, huffing out a breath as I tried to understand her.Her fear seemed ridiculously misplaced.She was ready to tie herself to me despite the fact that our association had so far seen her hunted, insulted and endangered, but she drew the line at telling the staff about it.I took her hand, laced my fingers between hers.

‘This doesn’t come easily to me,’ I admitted haltingly.‘But I want you to feel like you belong here.With me.’

She smiled, and I was suddenly savagely, selfishly grateful for what had happened the night before.Because seeing her smile at me felt like turning my face into a beam of sunlight in a world of endless night.Even if I should have been strong enough to stay away from her, I was glad that I’d been weak.Because I wanted to keep her.And even if there was a whisper of warning in the back of my mind hissing that it couldn’t last, I wasn’t listening to it then.In that moment, while she was smiling and her hand was in mine, I felt like everything else faded into a hazy background.

‘There is something we could start with,’ she said, the smile dying away.‘The king...Solas...he said something to me that I’ve been wondering about.’

Hearing her say Solas’s name grated against me, but I kept my expression neutral.‘What did he say?’

‘He told me about fiorainm.He said that Imogen isn’t mine.’

I didn’t like that.I didn’t like that one bit.I didn’t like that he knew anything about her, let alone something as intimate as that.But I tried to focus on the part she was worried about and not the part that coiled every muscle in my body with tension, the part that made me want to claim her as mine all over again.

‘That isn’t unheard of,’ I said, trying to remain rational.‘You could have been given a different name by your parents at birth.’

‘Like if I’d been adopted?’

‘Were you adopted?’

She shook her head.‘Not that I know of, but it would explain a lot.I’ve never really fit with my family.My parents are...difficult.’I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t, just stared down at our joined hands for a moment before she spoke again.‘I don’t really look like them, either.They both have dark hair and eyes.If I’m not their biological daughter, I’d like to know.’

I thought of the brand on her ribs that I’d spotted this morning, a swirl and a flourish that could have been just an odd scar to someone who didn’t know better.I’d gone straight to the library, scanned lists of runes until I’d matched it to a mark of illusion, had sat staring at the image in the book for a long time as I grappled with what it might mean.She wasn’t the only one who wanted some answers.

‘I can take you to someone who can tell you.’

Her gaze flashed up to me.‘Really?’

‘Receiving a fiorainm is a rite of passage for all fae.I don’t see why you couldn’t use the same method we do to discover yours.’

She chewed on her lip before nodding resolutely.‘I think I need to know.It might help me understand why I’ve always felt so out of place in my life.’