Page 61 of Sun Elves of Ardani

“We really were friends, then?” she asked, surprising him. “That was real?”

“Of course it was.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to decide whether she believed him. “I wondered…” she said. “After you left, I wondered whether it had all been an act.”

It had been, at first. She’d hit on the truth, and the words cut him to the core.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? Why didn’t you at least say goodbye?” she asked.

He hadn’t told her because he was a coward. Because he hated goodbyes. And because he’d been afraid of angering her. Afraid of disappointing her the way he disappointed everyone. He had preferred to leave in secret than to face her.

“I didn’t give it much thought,” he said. She frowned in annoyance, but she seemed to take his word for it. Maybe it was easy to believe he didn’t put much thought into such things.

“How long did you wait after I left before you went running into Roshan’s arms?”

“I didn’t run into anyone’s arms, ever,” she scoffed. “And we only got married this past year. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Good to know. I wouldn’t want to cause any strife between you and yourhusband.” He let the word drip with every ounce of distaste he had for the man, not caring how petty it was.

She rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. “He’s gay, Neiryn. It’s a fake marriage. To get his family to stop bothering him about finding a wife and to give me the time and money to find a way to fix my magic.”

He looked over at her sharply. That explained many things. It also meant that their marriage was not just dying, but had never been alive to begin with, and that thought made him extremely pleased.

Kadaki was watching him nervously now.

“Did you expect me to be scandalized by that?” he said, amused. “In Ysura, there is no bias against people who prefer the company of their own sex. That is a human invention.”

“I know,” she said, but she looked like she hadn’t been certain. “Just please don’t tell anyone. No one else knows.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Even with Rhian?”

“I see no reason why she needs to know about your fake husband’s sex life.”

“But if you did think she should know, you’d tell her, even though I asked you not to.”

“I don’t see the point of nonsense hypotheticals,” he said evasively. “You’re awfully protective of him.”

“He is my husband. I still care for him, even if I’m not in love with him.”

“I knew you didn’t love him.” He crossed his arms, vindicated.

She rolled on to her stomach to look at him, leaning on her elbows.

He arched an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re not just a distraction to me,” she said.

He felt a rueful smile grow on his lips. “What am I to you, then?”

She hesitated for a long moment. “I don’t know.”

“A villain, remember?”

Slowly, she lifted her fingers to graze the edge of his jaw. She watched herself stroking his skin, her eyes shifting between her hand and his eyes, as if this was an experiment and she was studying the results carefully. Had she ever touched anyone else like this? The more time he spent with her, the more he believed she hadn’t.

Her touch, despite her inexperience, held every ounce of his attention. When her dry, cool palm moved to his cheek and her thumb ran lightly over the curve of his lower lip, he struggled to suppress a shiver.

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