Page 64 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

“Rhyan?” I opened my palm, seeing the full blue of the vadati return as I lifted it to my face again.

“Partner, what’s wrong?” he asked, his words urgent and worried.

“What’s wrong?” I squeezed my eyes shut, shoulders shaking. “You’re not here.”

“I know.” He spoke the words almost coldly. “Are you okay? Is your…is the Valalumir doing anything it shouldn’t?”

I glanced down at my chest. “Not since last time.”

“Good. Good.” He sounded relieved. “If it does, tell me.”

“Okay.” I shifted.

There was a long pause on his end before he asked, “Did you find anything else out with Morgana?”

A torchlight in the corner crackled and hissed, tiny billows of smoke blackening toward the ceiling. “No.”

“Are you back home?” he asked, still keeping his voice low. “In your apartment?”

I sighed, running my hands through my hair, my temples dull with the start of a headache. “I was, but now I’m sitting here in our training room.” I looked around at the empty space, at the unused mats, at the place where we’d have coffee, at the drawer in the armory where he’d stashed snacks for me. He’d only been gone a few hours, and already I missed him like I’d lost a limb.

“Training room?” he asked.

“I—” I took a deep breath before he could continue, knowing I needed to get this part out. Knowing he needed to know. “I spoke to Tristan. It’s over. It’s all over.”

There was another long silence on his end, the light fading from the stone before it swirled to life again, full of blue light.

“You don’t have to….” He trailed off, his voice full of frustration. “You don’t owe me an explanation.”

“Yes, I do!” My hand shook, the stone rolling over my fingers. I clutched at it and stared at the light glowing against my skin. “Rhyan, come on. Of course, I do.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Truly?” He sounded anxious. “It’s completely over?”

Now I was quiet. It felt strange to discuss this with him, especially through the vadati. I needed to see his face, his eyes. I needed to touch him. I could detect the note of insecurity in his voice, the jealousy, the fear.

I pulled my knees closer to my chest and wrapped one arm around my legs, watching the stone in my palm as I held it to my face. “Yes. It’s completely over.”

“Okay,” he said again. There was a small noise on his end like he was shifting around. “I am sorry about it. All of it.”

“I know,” I said. “But, Rhyan, you need to know, that hasn’t affected how I feel about you. What I had with him, it was something else completely. And it hasn’t been a factor for me, for my feelings for you, not in a long time.”

There was a pause before he asked, “Are you alright? Why are you at the Katurium? It’s late.”

“I just needed to get out of there, out of my apartment. I was going to—I wanted to run the track. Try to use up some of my energy. But—” My voice broke. “I couldn’t go out there. Couldn’t go where…where….”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Lyr, don’t go out to the arena yet. I’ll be back before training starts again. Alright? Wait for me.”

I shook my head. “I hate this. I should be able to walk out. It’s just a track. But I…I just kept…. I couldn’t do it. So here I am. Hiding in our room.”

“No one expects you to go right back out there.” Beyond his voice, I could hear him strapping on his leathers and buckling his belt.

“I’m pretty sure the Imperator has other ideas,” I said.

“Fuck him,” he growled.

“If only,” I sniffled.

“He’s not there now. So get him out of your head for the time being.”