Page 193 of A Tribute of Fire

Io could read.

“How do you know how to read?” I asked her.

“What?” She shrieked the word and then laughed. “Why do you think I can read?”

“Because you said you could. The night of the terawolves.”

She glanced up and to the right, as if trying to recall what she’d said. “I did, didn’t I? Shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?”

She put an unsteady finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. “Because it’s a secret.”

“What is?”

“I’ll tell you. My secret,” she added on unnecessarily.

“I think I know all of your secrets already,” I told her.

“You don’t!” she said insistently, shaking her head. “Not this. No one knows this. Not Zalira, not Ahyana. Not even Suri.”

That was serious. “Tell me.”

Io looked to our left, then to our right, before leaning in close to me and slurring her words. “I’m a princess.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

For a moment I thought I had accidentally spoken and revealed my own background, but no, it was definitely Io who had said those words out loud.

“A princess?” I asked, making certain I’d heard correctly.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Of Ilion?” I clarified.

“The only one. And I ran away from the palace to join the temple.” She sounded pleased with herself.

“Why would you do that?” I had done the same thing, but for very different reasons. It occurred to me that this was another way Io and I were connected. We were more alike than I’d even realized.

“I told you. My stepmother wanted to make an arranged marriage for me with an older man.” She practically spat the words but somehow still managed to slur them.

Here I’d thought Io incapable of keeping a secret, but she’d been keeping a huge one from me. From all of us.

“You were almost my sister-in-law,” I said with a laugh before I took another drink.

“Are you related to the old, gross man?” she asked, confused.

A part of my brain warned me to hold my tongue, but it only seemed logical that if she shared such a monumental secret with me, Iwas obligated to do the same. “You’re not the only one who is a princess. I’m a princess, too. And I was betrothed to your brother.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What? You’re Princess Thalia of Locris? You were supposed to marry Xander?”

Xander? It must have been a nickname for Alexandros. Regardless, revealing my own secret identity almost seemed like more information than she could handle. Her eyes were so wide, her mouth still agape.

“I suppose I can’t marry him now,” I said before finishing up my wine.

“No. You took vows. To us, the temple, and the goddess.”

“Yes, I did. You’re stuck with me.”

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