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Stepping forward, I cup her face. “Lacrae was meant to protect you,” I tell her. “While he could not take my place in your heart, having him at your side would have been better than you having no one.”
“So you say.”
“So I know.” I lean down and press my lips to hers. “You are far too valuable to risk, Carleah. And not just because I love you but because the realm needs you. Faulting Affree for merely putting its survival over mine is not practical.”
“I don’t give a shit if it’s practical or not. I don’t like being lied to.”
“Something I imagine Affree understands clearly now.”
Carleah closes her eyes and presses a hand to her abdomen. “I’m a bit dizzy.”
“We need to get you back to the room. You shouldn’t be on your feet.” I lift her into my arms and carry her back toward our room while dwarves watch with curiosity. None speak to us, though, not a single word, as I close the door behind us.
A tray of food sits on the bed, so I set Carleah down beside it before lifting and placing it in my lap. “Eat, my love. And then we will rest.”
* * *
With Carleah tucked into my side, I stare up at the ceiling. Our bellies full, we’ve been undisturbed for the past few hours, and Carleah has spent the time going in and out of sleep. Now, her fingers draw small circles on my chest.
“What did he say to you this time?” She’d been so ready to face Affree that I’d gotten nothing out of her about what happened when the Son of Flame visited her in her sleep. I’d been wide awake this time, though, which did ease my concern that it might be me doing it without realizing it.
“He said that I still call to you when I wake. And that I sacrifice too much when you cannot give me what he can.”
Anger burns in my blood, but I bury it for now. There will be a time when I will drive a blade through his gut, but right now, Carleah doesn’t need anger born of jealousy. Born of the knowledge that what he says might be true.
“I told him that you give me everything.”
“And what did he say in return?” She doesn’t answer. “I want honesty, Carleah, just as you require.”
With a sigh, she sits up and stares down at me. “He told me that I am small-minded, that he can give me the realm and children who would be capable of toppling empires and consuming everything we despised. Then, he gripped the back of my neck and told me that he can grant my every wish”
Every word is a blade to my heart, but I say nothing.
“I asked why he still won’t show himself to me, and he said that I am still not ready. But that I will be soon, and once I see him, he claims I will forget about you and stand at his side instead. Which I won’t do, Fort. There’s no one I want more than you. No amount of power offered will change my mind.”
I cup her face and smile. “I know that, Carleah.”
“Then what is it? I can see your fear, Fort. Don’t try to hide it from me.”
I let my hand drop. “Salma showed me the creatures while you were sleeping.”
“What do you mean?”
“She brought me to the wall so I could look down at them. The giant blood tainted them, Carleah. It twisted them into mindless, bloodthirsty beasts that look nothing like the creatures they’d been.”
“And she knows of your blood. Tell me she didn’t get into your head, Fort. What did she say?”
“Nothing that I didn’t already know,” I reply honestly. “She told me that somehow I have either managed to avoid becoming a monster like the others or that I have grown good at hiding it.”
“You hide nothing,” she says quickly as she presses a hand to my chest. “I see you, Fort, and you are what you seem.”
“She asked me who I would choose if it came down to it. You or the realm.” At that, Carleah stills.
“What did you say?”
“The truth. That it will always be you.”
“Fort—”
