Page 88 of A Vow of Embers

“Not much longer. When Thrax gives me the signal, I’ll have to go. If you need to pass a message along to me, you’ll have to do it through Xander. And I’ll do the same thing.” She grabbed my hands again. “There’s still so much I want to say! I missed you so desperately. When I was staying in that house, the few times Thrax actually left me alone, I would imagine you singing to me. You have such a beautiful voice.”

The last time I had sung was on theNikos, when I had thought we were going to die. I had sung her a lullaby our mother used to sing to us when we were little.

I hadn’t sung a single note since that night.

There was a clinking sound, like a pebble hitting glass.

“That’s my signal. I have to go.”

“Not yet.” I tightened my grip on her. “We haven’t had enough time.”

“When this is over, after Xander is named king, there will be all the time in the world. I promise. But I really have to leave.” We both stood and hugged each other. I wanted to keep her here, but I knew I had to let her go.

“I love you,” she said.

“Not as much as I love you. Be safe.”

This time I watched her leave and close my bedroom door behind her. My heart hurt.

Things had been bad when I’d thought the prince had made her a servant just to spite me. Now that I knew she was putting herself in the line of fire in a misguided attempt to protect me, how was I ever going to sleep again?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I went out onto the balcony, thinking about all the things Quynh had told me. My sister was an honest person. She wouldn’t lie to me. She also wasn’t a fool or easy to deceive. I didn’t think that Thrax would be able to trick her. Her words ran through my mind. She had confirmed so many things that the prince had told me.

Things that I had accused him of lying about.

But according to her, he had been telling me the truth. I didn’t know what to make of that. How to take the man I had imagined him to be and line it up with the man my sister had told me he was.

She called him Xander. That bothered me, too.

I had spent this past week furious with him, thinking that he had kidnapped my sister to force me into marriage. But he and his brothers had never asked her about me. They had protected her from people who wanted to kill her.

And I didn’t know what to make of Thrax’s theory at all. That the prince cared for me and that was why he’d saved Quynh. That seemed so preposterous.

I felt Alexandros behind me, coming out onto the balcony. I had forgotten he was still here. He had been in that pool for so long that every square inch of his skin was probably wrinkled.

He did that for you, so that you could talk to your sister,that inner voice whispered to me.

I wanted to ignore it but it was right. He had gone to great lengths to set up a meeting for me and Quynh. And he’d done it to keep her safe.

The words were difficult to get out, but they needed to be said. “Thank you. For all that you’ve done for Quynh, for keeping her safe, for letting me speak to her tonight.”

He came to a stop right behind me. “You’re welcome.”

We stood in the night air, unmoving. I was again in a position where I could lean back and be pressed against him. I remembered how well we fit together. He could hold me like he had on theNikos, putting an arm around my shoulders, whispering into my ear.

The thought of it sent shivers racing across my skin.

I couldn’t allow him to have this kind of power over me. I had to stay clear of him.

Despite my resolution, I didn’t move away.

“How was your talk with your sister?” he asked.

“I’m not sure that’s something you need to worry about,” I said. I found that I wanted to tell him everything, to confide in him the way that I used to. Get his opinion.

That was dangerous. So I tried to gently brush him off instead.

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