Page 70 of The Truth-Teller's Bargain
“Nakir?” Her voice wavered slightly.
“Yes, Thea?”
“Are we... safe here?”
“Are you asking if I think the Imanrases will betray us, or if I think your mother is sending her army this way now?” he inquired calmly.
Alethea’s ears flushed red at the foolishness of her own question. “Either?”
“Balthasar is keeping a pulse on the Great Lord and Lady. It’s very difficult to deceive an Empath without first deceiving yourself. If he detects any sign they might wish to betray us, we will deal with that accordingly.”
It was as if they were discussing the weather. There wasn’t a hint of concern in his voice as he continued.
“If they had not agreed to help us and sent us on our way, and if your mother had sent her forces to meet us in this valley, it would likely be a very bloody battle.”
Alethea opened her lips, sitting up to try to force a prediction about what would happen, but she was silenced by a single look from him.
“Don’t. There’s no need. Her spy network is as expansive as Balthasar’s. It’s likely she already knows we have the Imanrases’ alliance. To meet us on the battlefield now would not go well for her, which is why she is likely sending for reinforcements from the Empress.” He offered a small smile. “We will be discussing more of this tomorrow, when we regroup with the others. For now... know that as long as I draw breath, you are safe.”
Alethea slipped back underneath the covers as his words clung to her.“As long as I draw breath.”
His voice cut through the darkness once more. “I neverproperly thanked you for what you did that night Gregor’s mercenary army attacked.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You somehow granted me the gift of foresight,” Nakir reminded her.
The memory appeared of his blades glowing in the dark as he parried each attack perfectly, stepping out of the way at exactly the right moment.
He leaned forward in his chair, fingers interlaced over his chin. “How did you do that?”
“I... I don’t really know. It just happened,” she admitted. It was close enough to the truth to at least make it past her curse. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that before.”
“That one night, when you first came to us, you were having nightmares. As soon as I touched you, I saw things—things I’d never seen before. I saw...”
“Goran’s death,” she finished for him, guilt quickly threatening to send her spiraling into shame.
“Yes. But then, during the attack, it wasn’t like that. I only saw the opportunities. Well, it would be more accurate to say Ifeltthem.”
Alethea drew the covers tightly around herself, wishing she could shove the memories away.
“What did you see?” he asked, quieter still.
She turned to him, almost pleading with him not to ask her—but instead of deterring him, it seemed only to concern him more.
“Thea... tell me.”
There had been many times she wished she could lie, and this was one of them.
“For every opening you felt, I saw what happened if you failed.” She couldn’t bear to see whatever it was on his face, so she stared at his chest, his arms—anywhere but those darkening eyes. The weight of his gratitude and the burden of her ownabilities pressed down on her shoulders, making it hard to breathe. The violence was hard enough for her to witness against strangers who meant to take her, but it had been another level of terrifying to see all the ways they could have cut down Nakir—the source of her hope for the future.
“You... watched me die.”
“Yes,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper, the word carrying the heavy weight of truth.
“How many times?” he pressed further, and she could feel his heavy stare even as she avoided it desperately.
“I don’t know.” Her throat tightened, her words caught in the suffocating grip of the memories. “Many.”
