I get up from the bench. “You’re scaring me, Erynne. I’m not going to give you the tools to murder people.”

“Because you’re on their side now. Is that it? You’ve turned your back on your name. Your heritage. Your people.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Oh, Candra. You’re such an idiot.”

I want to cry. I want to bury my face in Nemeth’s arms and just weep for hours. This isn’t my sister. This bitter, hateful shell that wants to kill and hurt and destroy isn’t the Erynne I knew. The sister that always looked out for me and wiped away my tears is gone, replaced by this vengeful stranger. “It’s my fault,” I realize. “We left the tower. We brought the wrath of the goddess down…”

My words trail off as Erynne begins to laugh. I watch her, confused, as she holds her sides and laughs as if this is the funniest thing in the world.

“Oh Candra,” she wheezes. “Even after all this, you still think it’s about you? Hah. If only it were.” She laughs harder. “We’ve been lied to this entire time, you poor fool. And you’ve gone and married a Fellian. I had no idea you were so stupid.”

“What do you mean? Who’s lied?”

But Erynne gets a catlike look on her face, a smirk that makes my skin crawl. “Your husband can tell you. After he does, bring me the knife. I’ll do it if you don’t have the stomach for it.”

She turns away from me, hiding her face as one of the Fellian guards approaches the gazebo, and a moment later, she’s led away. I’m torn between clinging to her hand and begging them not to take her, and relief that she’s gone. It isn’t until Erynne is out of sight that I realize she’s never asked about my medicine or how I’m staying alive without it.

She hasn’t asked how I got pregnant.

She doesn’t care. I realize that. Everything she told me was to make me as broken and empty and full of hate as she is. She wants me to hate Nemeth and his people. I know that. I do.

But I can’t stop wondering what she meant when she said we were both lied to.

Nemeth returns a short time later, his mood foul.

“Went well?” I half-heartedly joke. I can tell it didn’t. He’s vibrating with tension, his mouth set into what looks like a permanent frown.

“He refuses to see me,” Nemeth says. “He’s having Ajaxi run messages between rooms and speaks to me from across the hall. It is madness. My brother has lost his wits.”

“Ajaxi?” My natural instinct is to tease a laugh out of him, because if we’re laughing, we’re not crying at least…and I definitely feel like crying at the moment.

He snorts. “Ajaxi has never had wits. Ivornath is the one that has lost his.”

That sounds more like my Nemeth. I wonder if I should tell him about my run-in with my sister. About all the awful things she told me. About the fact that she says I’ve been lied to. I don’t know how much was truth and how much was Erynne’s bitterness and her wanting to destroy my happiness with Nemeth. “So what is our next approach?”

Nemeth wraps his wings around me. “Now we return home.”

We slide through shadows, and my vision tilts dizzily. I cling to him, waiting for things to settle again. It’s silent when we’re back in his apartments, and I rub my skin, feeling safe. “Why does it feel different in here? Better?”

He grunts. “Ivornath has spells on the courtyard. He watches everything.”

Weird. “He sounds paranoid.”

“Paranoid, but alive,” Nemeth agrees. “You won’t be watched here. You’re safe.” He touches my shoulder. “But I must leave you here again. Ajaxi wishes to speak to me privately.”

Ajaxi—the one that’s enslaved my sister. I swallow hard. “Take me with you?”

Nemeth shakes his head. “It’s best if you remain here. Until we know what’s going on, I don’t trust anyone. The longer we keep the news of our child from them, the better. Let me go and speak to Ajaxi. He’s not very smart, but perhaps he can be coaxed into seeing things our way.”

“And what is our way?” I ask, wanting to make sure we’re on the same page. “What is it we’re asking?”

He gazes down at me, his expression puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what is our goal? What do we want from these people? What do we want from your king?”

His frown deepens. “To accept you as my mate and give you the honor you deserve.”

“And then what?” I gesture around us, at his apartments. “We live down here and I just ignore that all my people have been murdered and my sister enslaved?”

“What would you have me do, Candra?” His expression is patient. “I am taking things one step at a time. For now, I just want to ensure your safety.”

My safety…but no one else’s. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly altruistic, but I can’t sit back and just ignore the fact that those that lived have become slaves of the people here. “Nemeth, I saw my sister when you were in the palace earlier. She was waiting where I was. Did you know your brother Ajaxi has taken her captive? She’s his bed slave.”

Nemeth’s expression doesn’t change. “I knew she was taken as a spoil of war. I found out earlier. It is to be expected that the queen of the enemy is kept as a trophy, Candra.”

“Did they tell you that my nurse is dead?” My voice wobbles, and tears threaten, but I push them back. I don’t have time to cry about them today. When we’re safe and there’s no more to worry about, then I’ll grieve Nurse’s passing. “Did they tell you that the people left in Lios were starving and broken when they raided the city and put every male to the sword? Did they tell you that they killed my nephew Allionel? He was a baby, Nemeth. A baby. And your brothers murdered him.”

“I don’t agree with what they’re doing,” Nemeth says gently. “I would never agree to kill innocents. Soldiers are one thing, but old men and children are another.” He strokes my cheek. “But I cannot right all the wrongs from a place of no power, milettahn. You want me to race to my brother and demand that he free his captives when I cannot even convince him that my mate is my equal? That you should be safe with me instead of given to one of his generals⁠—”

I gasp. “What?”

His mouth goes flat. “It won’t happen, Candra. I won’t allow it. Don’t be afraid. But know that I’m doing everything I can. Once Ivornath listens to me, I can work to have your family freed. Until then, we must be patient. Understand?”

It’s frustrating, but I do understand. I want to stomp my foot like a spoiled little girl, but that won’t solve anything. “I hate this. I hate all of this.”

“I know. But will you trust me a bit longer? Please? Even you cannot woo someone in the space of a day. It took you over a year to seduce me.”

My mouth twitches, though I try not to smile and fail. “It’s because you’re far too honorable.”

“Then trust my honorable nature.”

“Ugh.” I do stomp my foot this time. “I hate your honorable nature sometimes. I think I’d prefer if you’d rush in and cut their throats.”

“Would you do the same to your sister?”

I glare at him, because he knows the answer to that. I might defy my sister, but at the end of the day, she’s still my family. “You⁠—”

There’s a knock at the door below.

Nemeth immediately pulls me behind him, his wings flaring protectively. I duck under his arm, worried. “Who’s here?”

“I don’t know. They cannot come in. I have my home warded. No one can come in through the front door without my express permission.” He frowns darkly at the offending door below. When there’s not a second knock, he touches my shoulder, pulling away. “Wait here, love.”

It’s not as if I can go anywhere, I want to point out. There are no stairs. But when he strides off the ledge and extends his wings, floating down, I move to the edge and kneel, peering down. I watch as he heads to the doors at the front and opens them. Even though I can only catch a glimpse of Nemeth’s head and his array of horns, I can tell by his reaction that there’s no one at the door. He reaches to pull something from a box next to the door, then frowns and tucks it under his wing.