Page 140 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
“Hello.” I kept my voice even. The less I said, the better. I was the absolute worst liar. I hadn’t counted on Zandyr coming backhome five minutes after I’d burst through my bedroom door, with no time to properly hide the evidence. “You’re early.”
He hummed, and began prowling around me, just like he had on that first day in Phoenix Peak. But the movement lacked its previous menacing air. There was anger. Oh, there was a lot of it.
But I didn’t feel it directed atme.
“The Senate meeting was cut short,” he said. “There was asituationin the Archives. The same Archives that fall under the advisors’ jurisdiction.”
“Oh?” I rubbed the now non-existent ointment on the back of my hands to dosomethingwith my jittery fingers. “What happened?”
Zandyr hummed again. I kept my gaze on the floor, but my cheeks heated up all the same.
“Someone tried to break in,” he said.
No, someone had broken in. “In a library? What for?”
I peeked at the tips of Zandyr’s boots as he stopped in front of me. “I was hoping you’d tell me.”
I forced a laugh that didn’t sound the least bit natural. “Why would I know anything about it? I’ve been in the kitchen with Goose all day. You can ask him.”
“In your armor?”
“Getting used to wearing it.”
“And the cuts on your hands?”
“Still learning how to handle a knife. Isn’t that what Adara has been trying to teach me?”
“Hmm…and the rotten smell?”
I forced a laugh. “Not exactly what a bride wants to hear from her future groom. You need to work on your compliments.”
“Damn Protectorate stubbornness.” Zandyr hissed a breath between his clenched teeth. “There are still decaying bits of vine all over your armor. They could have impaled you and sucked you dry. You could havedied.”
A foul shiver raced down my spine as the image of the slithering vines flashed in my mind. They hadn’t caught me, but Zandyr had.
My eyes flicked to his. My shoulders squared and my chin tilted. I shouldn’t have been ashamed I’d done what I had to do.
“I didn’t die,” I said.
The mask of fury fell from Zandyr’s face, replaced with bewilderment. “Why did you do it?”
Such a simple question.
With such a complicated answer.
Because I had to find my parents’ killers and this was the only tangible lead I had.
Because there was something very wrong in both of our Clans.
Because Zandyr hadn’t told me the entire truth and I had toknow.
Suspicion was a terrible thing, worming its way inside me, charring the faith I and Zandyr had built. I’d been lied to my entire life. That wound was still raw and Zandyr not telling me the whole truth about the Quoroliths didn’t help scab it over. It picked at it and threw some salt on top for good measure.
“I needed to find something and that was the only way,” I said.
“You could have asked me,” he said and I fought hard not to hear the disappointment in his voice.
I kept looking straight into his eyes, which were slowly softening. “I did.”
