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“Was?”

“Is.”

“Okay, so tell me.”

“Has father told you about…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“About mother? Yeah.” Her voice lowered. “I was angry with him, but he’ll get a piece of my mind later. I wanted to see you first.” She looked crestfallen. “I can’t believe he lied to us.”

“I can’t believe Talon knew.”

Ellie picked at her cake. “Talon can’t disobey his High Lord, none of them can else they risk being labeled a traitor. I’m sure it killed him to keep it from us.”

If you ask me.

She sighed. “I know.”

Arianna took a bite of the desert and cringed at the sweetness. “Anyway,” Ellie waved her hand. “I want to know what happened to you.”

Arianna stared at her plate. “I fell in love.”

“With The Demon? Rion?” Ellie corrected.

“I know it’s wrong, but the longer I stayed with him, the more I began to realize who he truly was. He was gentle, and it was like—like no one had ever offered him a shred of comfort. He returned injured one night and he was actually scared of me. I could have killed him right there—”

“But you didn’t.”

“I couldn’t. He was so weak and, gods Ellie, there was so much blood. I couldn’t just let him die when I knew I could…” Arianna trailed off and her sister perked up.

“Could what?”

She hadn’t thought about telling Ellie or the reaction her little sister might have. Talon had taken it well enough, and if warriors from Brónach spread the news, her identity wouldn’t be a secret forever.

“I can heal injuries.”

Ellie’s lips parted. “Like, with magic?” Arianna nodded. “But that means…”

“I don’t want to think about what it means. I can’t—I can’t deal with all that. Not yet.” Maybe never.

Ellie wrapped her arms around Arianna again, squeezing her sister tight. “Father is going to be in for it when he finds out. He’ll be bowing to you from now on.”

Arianna managed a laugh. “Yeah, that’ll be something to see.”

“Now,” she straightened. “Back to Rion.”

The two sisters talked and talked and talked. She told Ellie everything. About healing those in Brónach’s camp, about her first kiss and the first night she’d made love, to which Ellie wanted the most intimate of details. She told her about the kidnapping and the Dark Fae in the mountains. Then finally, she recounted his painful goodbye.

Ellie snorted. “You know that was all for show.”

“It felt real enough.”

“But you said you could hear his heartbeat. That should reassure you. I’m sure Talon said something to Rion that made sense, you know, the Talon talk of what’s best for everyone.” The girls laughed.

“But there’s still the other issue.” She didn’t have to voice it for Ellie to understand.

“Maybe,” she paused, seeming to mull it over. “Maybe you own it to yourself to talk with him. Get closure at the very least. And if we have to sit in this bed and eat cakes for the next decade, that’s what we’ll do.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”