Page 25 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

There was no denying it.

She was a curse.

Chapter Eight

Zylahhaddreamtofher father. They were walking the forest path together to Dalstead, the one that cut through the stream. He’d been talking about legacy again. About how our actions matter. But when she’d reached out to him, he’d turned to ash before her, carried away with the wind.

She opened her eyes. Holt was still asleep, and she studied his face. His head rested on his arm, and she followed the line of his scar to where it settled across his neck. He’d pulled his sheet away, and where the skin around the scar was puckered and ruined, the rest of him was perfect. Her eyes trailed down his chest, across the hard muscles of his stomach to where his trousers hung low on his hips.

Zylah’s cheeks flushed, and she padded to the bathroom, clicking the door shut quietly behind her.

She bathed quickly, scrubbing her arms a little too vigorously as guilt crept in. She’d never told Raif she loved him.

But she had.

Hadn’t she?

He’d been what she needed after Jesper. Patient, kind. And yet… She couldn’t let herself finish the thought.

Zylah rinsed her hair and stepped out of the tub. The pain in her back was gone, and she felt better than she had in a long time.

She frowned, looking at the wall to where Holt lay in bed on the other side, wondering if he’d healed her whilst she was sleeping.

He’d have to approach Lady Maelissa before they left, and that only darkened Zylah’s mood, layering it in with the guilt that already coated her tongue. She dried her hair, wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out of the bathroom to search for her things.

Holt was awake, one arm propped behind his head, sleepy eyes following her as she walked over to her saddlebag.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she murmured, heat creeping into her cheeks again, warmth flaring through her.

“Like what?”

Zylah knelt beside her belongings, her back to him.

Like you’re hungry.

The scent of freshly baked bread carried through the gaps in the rock, accompanied by the sound of children laughing. She felt Holt move from the bed, heard him pause in the bathroom doorway, but she didn’t meet his gaze.

“I’ll meet you down there,” he said quietly, and shut the door behind him.

Zylah let out a breath through pursed lips and ran her hands over her hair, shoving the feelings down. All of them, until there was only the sound of the waterfall remaining.

She dressed quickly, following the smell of the bread and the sound of the children’s laughter to a breakfast room, a table piled with food and two boys chasing each other around it.

Dalana lit up as soon as she saw Zylah approach, rubbing her hands on an apron. The Fae waved with a bright smile, moving her finger and thumb together to form an O, one eyebrow raised in waiting.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Thank you. Good morning,” Zylah blurted.

Dalana smiled, then clapped her hands.

The children stopped, and she threw another handful of gestures their way.

“Mamma says to help yourself to anything you’d like,” the taller boy said.

Their mother’s hands moved again, and the boy sighed. “I’m Vor and this is Bayde. Nice to meet you.”

Zylah laughed. “It’s lovely to meet you, too. I’m Zylah.” Kopi called out from somewhere out in the court, before settling onto the window ledge. The children gasped. “And this is Kopi.”

“Can we pet him?” Bayde asked.

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