Page 27 of The Truth-Teller's Bargain
“Goran told him it was too late for a rescue mission, that there was no way to extract him safely. The last thing he wanted was for another one of us to end up captured.” There was a long pause. “Alethea mentioned someone betrayed him.”
“Did she say who?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“No. Kerrigan, we can’t just pry her for prophecy. We talked about this.”
“Maybe if you justaskedher?—”
“No.”
Alethea’s heart raced. Kerrigan was right: theycouldjust ask her. Her mother certainly had no problem demanding her gifts, especially when it came to important matters of state. She didn’t understand why Nakir was holding back, or why he was defending her.
The sunset was nearly complete now, crickets chirping in the quiet that passed between them.
“We’ll talk about this in the morning, Ker.”
“Fine.” Kerrigan’s tone was grave as she told Nakir, “But mark my words, she will bring us nothing but trouble.”
Footsteps started her way, and Alethea held her breath again, praying she was hidden behind her tree off the trail. She watched, lungs burning, as Kerrigan stormed back down the path toward the encampment.
Alethea waited for several more minutes for Nakir to follow, but all she heard was the soft sounds of the glen around her. Birds softly sang their evening lullabies, while smaller creatures scurried in the brush. A single splash sounded from the crystal-clear lake, and Alethea determined Nakir must have gone for a swim—which made this the perfect time to escape.
“You can come out now, Alethea.”
The breath left her lungs as she wrestled with the shame of getting caught. She hung her head in resignation as she stepped out from behind the tree to face him. Nakir was swimming ten feet from the shore at a surprising depth. The rocky beach must have dropped off steeply into deeper water.
She reddened as she stepped up to the pile of dark clothes left against a large boulder on the soft, loamy shore.
“Care for a swim?” he asked her cheekily, but she hesitated to answer. There was no way of telling how undressed Nakir was as he trod water. If she had to guess, she would have bet all his clothes were on the shore.
“I’m sorry for listening in. I... have nothing to say for myself,” Alethea admitted, shoving her hands into the pockets of her dress.
“Eavesdropping isn’t a crime,” he told her, floating in the water up to his chest. “Besides, Ker wasn’t exactly quiet with her grievances. I should apologize for her?—”
“Don’t,” Alethea objected, shaking her head. “She was just speaking her mind.” If anyone had a right to object to her presence, it was Kerrigan. Alethea was the reason her father was dead.
Nakir regarded her silently for a moment. “If I only welcomed people who would not bring trouble into my court, I’d be alone. Ker forgets that.” His expression was still haunted, and Alethea thought back to what Emi had said:“I know he was a father to you too.”
“Why don’t you have a seat on the edge?” he suggested. “Dip your feet in.”
Alethea glanced to where he gestured to see the western shore was less of a beach, more a rocky outcropping where she could do exactly as he suggested.
“Or you could swim.”
Alethea laughed at his insistence. “I don’t even have a towel,” she explained. She hadn’t exactly come here with a plan.
“You can use mine,” he offered.
Her smile softened as she watched him float on his back in front of her. “How chivalrous of you.”
“The water is excellent. I think it’s fed by a hot spring.”
She slipped out of her shoes and walked over to one of the low stones, hiking her skirt up to her thighs and taking a seat at the water’s edge. Nakir was right: the water’s temperature was perfectly warm despite autumn’s threat of colder weather.
“How long did you know Goran Arranil?” she asked, wondering what he’d do with an opening to discuss the late Great Lord. Even though it pained her to think about the role she’d played in his demise, she understood that sometimes it was important to talk about the people you were grieving.
