Page 85 of This Shattered Star

“I have no reason to be dishonest.” The wood at my back groaned again. “I heard nothing worthy of noting. Something about a woman seeking out light. If you’re not already aware, Kodhan, there are many women in this kingdom who seek light. Aedreath is permanently plagued with night. It is not a discerning trait.”

His eyes roved over my face, searching for any hints of mistruth. “That is all you heard?”

“That’s all I understood.” I flexed my hands, working out the tiny pinpricks of numbness beginning to form. “The identity of your mystery woman remains a mystery.”

His shoulders lowered, deflating. He studied me for a moment longer, then nodded once. Twice. Like he was inwardly confirming some sort of suspicion, snapping together pieces of a puzzle he’d been stuck on.

Suddenly, he let me go, taking all but one step backwards. It wasn’t enough to withdraw the heat that peppered my skin. “That’s good, then.”Good, and yet his tone lacked any positive conviction.

I slowly lowered my arms. “If the point of nearly flaying me alive was to interrogate me—falsely, might I add—I think it is only befitting for me to demand,again,what you’ve done to warrant a place here.”

“I already gave you an answer.”

“And it wasn’t good enough.” I found myself moving away from him, further into the room, if only to avoid getting pinned against the door again. A heaviness settled into my stomach, sour and frigid. It sent acid up the back of my throat. “Betraying the crown is an early sentence to the Hearth of Song. You’re fools, all of you. Your positions here could have been prevented. You could have been guaranteed a full life.”

“Is one truly a fool for dreaming of something better? Something more? You cannot be so blind as to how Maverick acts towards his kingdom. That his benevolence is but a mere act to hide just how cruel he can be.” His words pelted my back like stones. “Where we are is a perfect example.”

“I am not blind at all.” A crown woven of white gold. His thundering heart under my fingertips. “I know very well how cruel he can be.” How much of it was real? How much of it had been part of his strategic games? “But I know better than to go against him. The gods themselves rest their hands on his shoulders.”

“No foe is completely undefeatable.”

I turned to look at him. Really look at him. Unsurprisingly, he’d followed me, leaving little space between where I stood and where he simmered, a frown fixed on his face. “Every single person before you has failed. And yet, you continue craft false realities. Fight a constant losing battle. It’s as if you line your souls up before the Hearth of Song like an offering.”

I’d seen Kodhan angry before. But the way his face contorted with a rage so pure, so soul-consuming—it stole the breath from my lungs. “You have no place to talk about reality.None.”

My fists clenched at my sides, the urge to hit him again almost overwhelming. “You’re right. No, traitors to the crown, and their motives, have not been a big concern of mine.” I infused so much venom into my next words that I nearly choked on them. “Forgive me, if I’ve grown to look out for myself, care only formyself. If I grant myself the privilege of Maverick’s good graces on his best days, well aware of how he treats others on his worst. Because sometimes I think the kingdomdeservesit!”

Disgust filled his glare. “You think innocent people deserve to suffer because of unchecked power?”

The edges of my periphery darkened. “Look at me, straight at my right iris, and ask me that again.”

That shut him up.

His silence allowed me to chew on the realization that he’d never hated me because of my curse.

He hated me for how close I was to Maverick.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” he barked.

“Hatred is such a fickle thing, isn’t it? It’s like a plague, jumping from person to person. A fire that stokes itself. Such a powerful tool, and yet all it does is drive people in circles. A never-ending cycle.”

His brows lowered.

“Hatred? What does hatred have to do—” He cut himself short. His jaw lost all its tension at once. “You think I hate you.”

Biting the inside of my cheek was the only way to keep from scoffing. “Don’t pretend it isn’t true. Not to worry, the feeling is mutual.”

It was his turn to laugh, the sound sliding down my arms, my spine. “I don’t hate you, little viper.”

“Save it. Your threats on my life talk for themselves. Speaking of which, we are nearing Wit. If you’re going to kill me, do it now, because I would hate wasting my efforts.”

My shoulder smacked into him as I aimed to leave. But his hand shot out to grab my elbow. He crooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. He wasn’t rough by any means—I could have evaded him easily. Could have swatted his hand away. But I didn’t.

“I don’t hate you,” he repeated. “And I was never going to kill you.”

Nothing but honesty shone in his face. I almost wished it didn’t.