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The point isn’t to keep him forcibly in this restraint. The point is to show that no matter how thin the leash and collar, he is trained well enough to never break it. I think he understands that. There’s an expression on his face I can’t quite read as I wrap him in the sheer shawl, but I can feel him watching my every move.

He’s studying all of this.

‘Obey,’ he signs once I step away.

I nod. ‘You will mostly be ignored. I will be judged on your obedience. All Vyastil with companions are.’

At that, he smiles. ‘People must think Rathyn is a terrible commander.’

Despite how close Everest came to being taken from Rathyn, I still find myself smiling. Everest does not conform to authority well. Even now, as he has sworn to help our cause by playing a dutiful pet, I see the struggle in his face.

‘Everest behaves better now. It is…like a play,’ I add.

Luca grins and reaches up to adjust his collar, but I quickly bat his hands away and do it myself. The flush in his cheeks deepens. ‘Sorry.’

Quickly shaking my head, I take his hand and press it to my lips, indulging for only a moment when I will not be able to later.

He lets out a small breath. ‘Will they speak to me?’

‘Unlikely. Most Vyastil have a good grip on spoken human languages, but they will not have studied signs, so interacting with them may be difficult for you. It is very likely they will all be speaking Eretharian.’

‘Will they ignore me because they would have thrown me into the mines if I were a Deaf Vyastil?’ He signs the quiet part out loud.

Shame creeps through my chest. Even with everything I have attempted to unlearn once the fog about who we were began to clear, I still believed Luca’s deafness to be a flaw at first.

I understand him better, but the other Vyastil will not.

‘It is something about us that I hope will change in the future,’ I tell him.

He’s still for a long moment, and then he lifts his hands again. ‘What if we don’t tell them?’

Reaching for the portal key, I freeze before slipping it into my pocket, then ask, ‘What do you mean?’

He shrugs. ‘Do they know I’m Deaf?’

‘It was included in your file, but most of the Vyastil we will meet with today won’t have access to that.’

‘So we don’t tell them. You can explain I’m trained not to speak to any other Vyastil than you.’

‘I don’t want you to feel lost,’ I tell him, pulling him close. ‘Or alone.’

I feel a rush of affection, then a quick succession of memories from him of all the times he’s been left out, even by the people who love him. It’s his curse of being Deaf in a hearing family and a hearing world.

‘I’ll be fine,’ he insists. ‘Maybe I’ll make a friend.’ There is something in that comment that makes me stare a little too long at him. But then he asks, ‘Can companions talk to each other?’

It is not encouraged but also not forbidden. All the same, I’m terrified to take risks with him. If Prince Jyrion is there, he will be watching, looking for any reason to steal this human’s life too.

‘Today, please stay by my side. If you see Everest, you may converse with him, but he will also be…’ I stop myself. I can’t tell Luca that Everest is on a mission to gather information while playing the role of docile companion.

Luca frowns. ‘More secrets.’

Placing a hand on his cheek, I hold fast even when he tries to shake me off. I push into his head until I’m wrapped in the warmth of his mind.

My Luca, I will do everything in my power to protect you, but you must help me too. I cannot lose you the way I lost Kori.

It hurts to speak his name, even in my head, and when Luca senses that pain, he softens.

“I’ll be good,” he murmurs aloud.