Page 120 of To Touch A Silent Fury

And yet, for him to believe engaging me in such a way would bother his brother… Did he know something I didn’t? Did he play at my affections because he believed his brother held some?

Maybe there was a chance, yet. If the brute could move out of the way long enough for the Dragon Prince to consider me.

Tonight was not the night for it, though.

I took a cup and turned to the side, seeing the Wragg was no longer watching me. Good. I strode back into the hall. Inside, some of the guests still drank and ate, laughing loudly.Everything about the night suddenly felt overwhelming. Every clink of metal was grating, every joke abrasive.

I was close to the door when someone touched my arm.

“Vorsk—”

I flinched, pulling my arm away, even as I felt the concern and love from the touch.

It was only Seth. His white hair was pinned back, and the shadows under his eyes were made more prominent by flickering candles.

I breathed in through my nose, grounding myself. “You should not speak to me here.”

He nodded. “I know. Only for a moment.”

“What is it?”

He looked around us. Thankfully, the room was barely a quarter full, and the inhabitants were largely those too drunk to think to dance, let alone speculate on our conversation. None of the royal family remained indoors. “You must stop this, whatever you are doing with Langnathin.”

A flash of panic rose up, but I breathed through it. “It could still work, there is still time.”

Seth shook his head. “No, you must run.”

“Explain,” I said. I trusted him implicitly, and yet, he was always more worried for me than he ought to be.

Seth sighed. “I had a vision of you. You lay on the floor in a dark room, badly hurt. Langnathin stood above you, his hand dripping with blood.”

His words chilled me even as I wanted to refute them. “It’s not true. He wouldn’t do that.”

“If he finds out the truth?” Seth asked, the questions falling like tiny blows. “Who you are? That he did not Break you, that you have been lying to him,using him—”

“Stop.”

I couldn’t hear any more. Never had I believed I would begin to feel guilt towards the Dragon Prince. And I didn’t, I told myself. He had destroyed my Fate and forced the tribes to burn down their own forest. He was a bad person. His father’s whipping dog. Any kindness did not eradicate his crimes.

Seth reached up, as if to touch my arm again, and then let his hand fall back. “The man is dangerous. I will not let him hurt you. Kill you. Your power isn’t worth it.”

I breathed slowly, thinking through it all in the space of a second. Seth’s visions always happened, and I knew he would not lie to me. But there could be more to it. Maybe the reason he punished me was because I had succeeded.

“You might not have seen the whole story.”

“I saw enough.”

I studied his exhausted face, kept awake by the horrible vision of me. I believed him. But I couldn’t give up, not after everything. Not after five years of hoping to be exactly where I was now. “Let me think on it. Please.”

“I will help you run, I know a way out of the city.” Seth glanced around us, and there was no one in earshot. “Come to me tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” He looked at me with disappointment, an awareness I would not come to him. I gave him the best smile I could muster. “I know you only want to protect me, so thank you.”

“Do not die for your Fate.”

“I won’t, I won’t. Now go.”

Seth gave me a long look filled with such readable emotions I had no need to touch him. Then he turned and left the hall, striding back through the open doors.