Page 79 of Beneath the Haunting Sea

“Shutup,” said Wen.

But Caiden wasn’t finished. “He’s been dying for ten years. We ought to congratulate him on his success at last.”

“Shutup!” Wen cried.

Caiden jerked away from the window, rage hard in his eyes. “Orwhat,little brother?”

“Father deserves our respect.”

“Why? He certainly never respectedyou.”

Wen ground his jaw. “Because he’s our father, and whatever his faults, he loved us.”

“After his own fashion,” Caiden sneered.

Blaive twisted her hands in her lap, clearly out of her depth. “It’s unlucky to speak ill of the dead,” she said quietly.

“Don’t pretendyouhad any great love for my father,” Caiden snapped at her. “You used him. Manipulated him into forcing this marriage on me.”

Her face tightened. “You’re just a boy used to obeying his father. Now he’s gone and youhaven’t any idea what to do.”

“Stars’ fire take you,” Caiden spat, and strode abruptly from the room. Blaive looked after him, gnawing on her lip, and then got up and followed, white skirts skimming over the floor in her wake.

Talia looked at Wen, who paced over to the window and stood staring out at the snow.

“I watched my mother drown,” he said quietly. “Did I ever tell you that? I ran outonto the beach that day in the storm. I saw her boat cast off from the shore and the wind catch her sail, tearing it to pieces. I saw her capsize, struggling in the water. I ran down the shore, tried to reach her, but I was too late—and too small to help her. I didn’t understand why she would leave us like that. She was my whole world, and then she was gone. It took both my father and Ahned to dragher body back to shore.” He shuddered.

Talia went over to him, laying one hand on his shoulder. Tears pressed behind her eyes. “I’m sorry, Wen. You don’t know how much.”

“We buried her on the hill, like we did my father, just now. I stood there at her grave and hated everything. My father. My brother. The earth, the gods. Because I didn’t understand. But I do, now.” He turned from the window,his blue gaze focused on her. “I understand that you should never throw your life away. Not when you’re leaving the ones you love behind. Life is precious. No matter what Caiden says, my father—my father shouldn’t have sought out death. Shouldn’t have wished for it. Shouldn’t have welcomed it when it came.”

Her stomach wrenched. “But what if the ones you love go ahead of you? What if you couldbring them back?” It was unfair of her to ask him that, but she couldn’t help herself.

He blinked, and she was shocked to see a tear sliding down his cheek. “The dead are the dead, Talia Dahl-Saida. There’s no changing that. You can’t bring them back.”

But she thought about her dreams, about the myths and the visions she’d seen in the mirror, and she knew he was wrong.

Chapter Thirty-Four

TALIA?”

Someone caught her arm in the hall just outside her room, and she turned to see Caiden standing there, his dark hair hanging limp in his eyes, his white cravat loose at his neck.

She stepped back and he released her, but his gaze never left her face. “What do you want?” she asked him, wary. Outside the Ruen-Dahr it was full night, the Baron several hours in his grave.Inside, lamplight flickered orange from its wall sconce.

A muscle jumped in Caiden’s jaw. He was nervous. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left.”

She dug her fingernails into her palm. “I don’t want to talk to you, Caiden.”

“I know, but—” He took a step toward her. “I have to tell you that—that I’m sorry. That I miss you. That I—that I love you—”

“Get away from me!” she snappedangrily. “You made it very clear that you never loved me.” She stalked away from him, heading toward the stairs and the meal waiting in the dining room, but he followed, grabbing for her hand. She shook him off. “Leave me alone!”

“Talia, listen. Please. Idolove you. You have to understand. It was just my father. And now that he’s gone—well, that changes everything.” He stared at her, willingher to hear him. He licked his lips, another nervous tic.

“Stay with me. I’ll find a lawyer to dissolve my marriage with Blaive, I’ll makeyoumy wife, in name as well as in truth. Please, Talia. Please.” His voice was rough with tears.

She recoiled, like she’d stepped into a pit of snakes. “I could never stay with you after everything you’ve done—not as your wife andcertainlynot as your mistress!If you let go of your selfishness for half a moment, you might make something of your situation—of yourself—and be the better for it. But there’s no future for us.”

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