Page 49 of House of Discord

The wind picks up. My hair whips across my face and I shove it back.

"So stop looking at me like that."

…

"No, I don't know why she makes everything quiet. I don't know why I can't stay away from her. I don't know why my chest feels like it's—"

I stop.

"It doesn't mean anything. It can't mean anything. She's human, Elyr. Fragile. Temporary. And I'm—"

A Titan wearing a god's face.

"Drop it."

…

"I don't care if it's dangerous. I don't care if it breaks something. I don't care about anything except—"

"Drop it."

…

She's not dropping it. She's just watching me with that look she always had when she knew I was lying to myself.

Fine. I don't have to keep talking about it.

Iowyn.

I say it out loud. Just to feel it in my mouth.

"Iowyn."

Again. Lower.

"Iowyn."

"She looked at me after. When I pulled back. She looked at me like she was trying to figure out why I stopped. Like she expected me to takemore. Like she would have let me."

My hand tightens on the blade.

"She would have let me, Elyr. And I—"

…

The wind dies. The city goes still. Everything goes still except my pulse hammering in my ears and the blade against my legs.

"I want her to let me. I want her to choose it. Not because she's learned that compliance is safer. Not because powerful men take what they want and she knows better than to fight. I want her to choose me. Because she wants to."

…

"I don't know if she can. I don't know if anyone can want me without fear attached. But I—"

Órhal.

My breath catches. My hand goes still on the blade.

The reason I continue.