Page 49 of Shardless

Aiden snorted. “I didn’t need to eavesdrop. Skye looked like he’d just had his heart ripped out, and you’re crying. I’m no scholar, but I’m not stupid.”

“With all due respect, our fights are none of your concern.” Shuddering, Taly finished off the foul-tasting medicine and handed the cup back to him.

Aiden watched her closely. “Do you know what it is that you just drank?” he asked, shaking the cup for emphasis.

“No idea, but it’s disgusting,” Taly quipped, avoiding the healer’s eyes. The way he was looking at her—suspicion tinged with curiosity—had her shifting uncomfortably.

He set the cup down on her bedside table with a thud. “It’s faeflower.”

Taly’s hands flew to her throat. Faeflower was a common antidote for everything from aether depletion to virago venom—for the fey, that is. The plant was highly poisonous to mortals. In fact, it could kill them almost instantly if the dosage was large enough. “What have you done?” she breathed.

“I saved your life,” Aiden stated tersely. “Over the last two days, I’ve given you enough faeflower to kill a human three times your size three times over. And yet here you are—back from the brink of death. So tell me, Taly—and you better answer this next question honestly… What exactly are you?”

Ignoring the sudden tremble in her hands, Taly pushed her hair back. “What do you see?”

“A human ear.” Aiden ran a gentle finger along the rim of her ear.

“That must mean I’m human then.” Taly raised her eyes to meet his. “You must’ve been mistaken about the faeflower. Lucky for me, I guess.”

Aiden sat next to her on the bed, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Taly, I treated you with mortal medicine, and you got worse. In fact, over the last eight days, you’ve presented with all of the symptoms I would expect to see in a fey woman of your size that had been exposed to harpy venom. The progression, the timeline—everything was completely textbook, right down to what would’ve been the time of death. And then, wonder of wonders, when I treated you with fey medicine, you got better.”

He held up a hand when he saw her open hermouth to protest. “Also, I was watching your match with Skye the other day before we left for the Aion Gate. He’sfey, Taly, and highborn. Even without engaging his magic—his instincts, his reaction time, his speed… I know you’ve been sparring with Skye your whole life, but there’s still no way a human could dodge a fey’s attacks like that. And after hearing about your bet, I can tell you with complete certainty that Skye wasn’t trying to let you win that day. If you were truly human, you never would’ve gotten to two hits. I think you were using magic.”

“Stop it,” Taly croaked.

“No,” he replied harshly. “You stop it. You better level with me right now. If you don’t, then it’s my duty to tell the Marquess what I know. He needs to know that the girl that he raised as his own, that he allowed to live in his home, isn’t who she says she is.”

Aiden turned away, hesitating. “Truthfully, the only reason I’m giving you an opportunity to explain is because I’ve known you for so many years. I didn’t want to believe that…” A tired pause. His eyes found hers. “You have to realize what this looks like. Are you a plant? A spy from one of the other noble houses?” Sighing in frustration, Aiden moved to stand. “I’m sorry, Taly, but I have to tell Ivain.”

“No! Just wait.” Taly reached out and grabbed his sleeve, whimpering when her muscles protested the sudden movement. “Please don’t tell anyone. I’m not a spy. I don’t know what I am. I really don’t. If you look mortal, then you’re not supposed to have magic. That’show it’s supposed to work, right? This isn’t supposed to be happening.”

“What isn’t supposed to be happening?”

Taly took a breath. Then another. She opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come.

Could she really do this? Could she really reveal her secret? Even if he didn’t go to the Sanctorum, if he kept this knowledge to himself—he would still become a target. The Sanctorum punished sympathizers just as harshly as time mages. He had no idea what he was asking her to do.

Looking up, she saw the dogged determination in Aiden’s eyes. He had meant what he said. If she didn’t tell him, he would go straight to Ivain. They would figure her out, and then they would become targets too.

Taly hung her head. There was no way out. Her stomach turned as she whispered the words she hadn’t dared utter out loud. “I have time magic, Aiden.”

Aiden’s eyes went wide. She wasn’t sure if he was still breathing, he was so still. Then, without warning, he pushed himself off the bed in one explosive movement and started pacing. He was swearing under his breath, raking his fingers through what was left of his hair. He looked ready to run. Like he wanted to be anywhere but here with her and the knowledge of this curse.

“That was my reaction too,” Taly said quietly, not quite able to lift her eyes to his.

Aiden rushed back over to the bed and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. His grip loosened when he saw her wince. “Are you sure?” he asked harshly. “Are you absolutely certain? What even makes you think…?” He shook his head. “Start at the beginning.”

“The visions started about a year ago,” Taly began. “Skye and I were sparring in the yard, and I’m still not sure what happened exactly. Right after he discharged the dagger in my hand, thisgold haze, almost like dust, clouded my vision. It wasn’t very distinct—not like now—but I could still see enough to know what he was going to do a few seconds before he did it.”

Taly picked at the sleeve of her nightdress. “Needless to say, I panicked. As soon as I realized what I was seeing, I ran. Away from Skye. Away from the manor. I ran, and I kept running. I kept trying to convince myself that I was just sick. Even as the visions got more frequent and more accurate. Even though there were days when I couldn’t see for all the dust. I wanted so badly to believe that I was just crazy because the alternative shouldn’t even have been possible.”

“If there was something wrong with your mind, I would’ve seen it during my examination,” Aiden said. “Everything seemed normal, but based on what you’ve described, that would still be more plausible than… but then the faeflower…"

“There’s more.” Aiden’s eyes found hers, and Taly hesitated, recalling the events at the Aion Gate. “What happened a few days ago was different—it wasn’t just visions. That harpy was about to kill me. I was dead. There was no way I was getting out of there alive,” she said, looking at the healer with a pleading expression. “Then it froze. The harpy just… froze. I told it to stop, and it did.” Her face screwed up, and she wiped at her cheeks as Aiden finally released her and sank to the floor.

“I don’t know what’shappening to me, Aiden. I don’t how it’s possible. The only thing I know for sure is that the Sanctorum would kill me without a second thought, and Skye and Sarina and Ivain… if they tried to protect me, they’d die too.”

“I think I understand,” Aiden murmured. “Because Ivain, Sarina, and Skye—theywouldtry to protect you. They hate the Sanctorum. They love you. There would be no question.”

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