Page 23 of Kingdom of Spirits
The command hit her like a kick to the heart. “I will, of course, but you’re worrying me.”
“Now, Tahlia. Leave.” His lips tilted downward, and he fisted his hands at his sides. “I’m sorry.”
He was torn. But about what?
Tahlia held out her hands. “All right. I’m leaving. Just promise to send for me, or anyone, if you want to talk. It’s fine to show emotion even if you are High Captain, you know. But you want to be alone. I understand that.” She gave him what she hoped was a supportive smile.
She walked backward out of the chamber and he shut the door without another word.
In the corridor under the flickering sconces, she stared at the door’s carvings as her pulse pounded and her chest ached with the hurt of his rejection.
Was he trying to create distance between them emotionally to honor Gaius’s last request—to stay apart until Ophelia was steadier? But the way he’d gone so still… Was it grief? It could shake a person and turn them inside out, certainly. Still pondering, she turned and started down the winding stairs, heading for the quiet wooded spot just behind the keep. She needed to think.
That had to be it—grief had him acting mad. Understandable. Time would help, and she’d give him all the space he required. He deserved to be supported in whatever way helped best, and she’d make sure he received that support. Even if Ophelia was up to no good…
Chapter 10
Tahlia
That evening, the great hall’s massive hearth snapped and crackled with flames as servers distributed pancakes fried with honey and sesame seeds, freshly steamed mussels from the river covered in a fermented fish sauce, the pale cheese common in the Shrouded Mountains, and, of course, bread.
Fara was annihilating an entire loaf on her own when Tahlia found her at a seat near the fire.
Tahlia leaned toward Fara and raised an eyebrow. “I can come back if you two need a little alone time.”
Fara gave her a withering look. “You riders are mad for getting on the backs of dragons, but I will say, the bakers up here are far more talented than the ones in the valley.”
Accepting a plate from one of the servers, Tahlia had a seat beside Fara. The mussels were hot and the sauce was strange but deliciously biting. She enjoyed half a pancake, then washed it down with watered crystal wine.
“Are you going to eat that?” Fara pointed to the other half of the pancake.
“No, please take it. I don’t want you nibbling on my fingers if you get hungry at midnight.”
“Where have you been all day? How did it go with the High Captain?” Fara glanced at the two squires sitting opposite them, but Tahlia didn’t think they were too concerned about anything Fara and Tahlia might discuss. They seemed fully engrossed in their small game of three dice.
“I needed some time to ponder.” She’d spent hours walking the trails that branched from the keep and out of the walls to the pine forest surrounding the castle grounds.
“Whoa, I haven’t heard that one from you before. This must be pretty bad.”
“Well, Marius is definitely struggling with the death,” Tahlia said, keeping her voice to a whisper.
Fara nodded. “But did he listen to your, um, to your information?”
“He did, but he wasn’t himself. I’ll have to talk to him again later. Maybe after the funeral and a few days to get his head on straight.”
“Might take longer.”
“It might, but I think he needs some space right now.”
Fara licked her fingers. “My parents would have died seeing me do this. I am really starting to enjoy life up here in the peaks.”
Tahlia patted Fara’s shoulder. “I’m glad. I would hate to be up here without you.”
Tahlia tried to eat more and push her worry aside while Fara feasted, but Marius’s stony face kept flashing through her mind’s eye. She tapped Fara with an elbow. Fara lowered a large wooden spoon of honeyed oats and glanced Tahlia’s way.
“Yes?”
“Sorry to disturb you and your next true love, but I’m going to the stables. I just want to check on the Seabreak.”