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“Why didn’t you come to me? Why didn’t you just tell me what you had discovered? This all could have been avoided,” he said softly.
“There wasn’t time, and would you really have believed me? You would have wanted to know how I found the information, and that is something I can’t explain to you because I don’t even understand it fully myself,” I said.
“I would have at least listened to what you had to say.”
“And what, taken the word of a half-breed over one of your own? Filo is the one that has been turning your own people against you. He is the one that has been working with the dark alfar and now you have the proof you need to take back control of the council.”
“Why? Why involve yourself in this at all?”
I stopped, biting my lip as I thought of Lilian. “Ambassador Lyklor, he approached me yesterday evening…alone.”
Galen looked at my face finally, trying to connect the dots.
“He knows about my affections for Lilian and that you asked about her when you were in his court. He was testing me, trying to get a rise out of me by pushing my buttons and he succeeded. I figure he’s priming me to influence you for whatever he has up his sleeve, but he’s a threat to Lilian and to you, so I wanted him gone. I discovered his connection with Filo and moved as quickly as I could to eliminate the threat.”
“This isn’t your fight, Gen.”
“No, it’s not, but he has my sister locked in his house of horror. He told me things about her that I can’t even repeat out loud. I’m powerless, unable to save her, so I struck the only way I knew how. I saw an opportunity and I took it.”
Gaelin reached for my shoulder, but I recoiled away from him.
“Please, don’t push me away. Let me help,” he whispered.
“Like you helped at dinner,” I spat out. I looked at him for the first time with disgust. He pulled his hand from me, gripping the edge of the large tub. “How could you just sit there and do nothing? How could you watch as my blood splattered across your table? As the sounds of my bones breaking and my screams of pain filled the air. How can you sit there and say you love me, yet you did nothing?”
“I couldn’t have done a thing, you know this. You knew the laws and you used them to create a distraction for Levos. How is this my fault?” he said.
I took a breath, calming my head and my temper. “You’re right, I did choose this. I knew what I was doing and what had to be done. The point is that you sat there without emotion and watched as they mutilated me. You sat there and you heard me cry out in pain and you did nothing to even try to prevent this from happening. Outside of these walls, I am nothing more than another human body bag that can be used and abused and then thrown to the wolves if it would please the other alfar.”
“That is not true. You know how I feel about you. You know I love you.”
“Do you, Gaelin? Are you even capable of love?”
His face went somber.
“If Ambassador Lyklor wanted to take me from you, would you even lift a finger to prevent it?”
“Of course, I would. You are bound to me. You are mine,” he said angrily.
“Yes, I am your property, but I am also the property of the king. If the king allowed Lyklor to take me there’d be nothing you could do, is there? Because I am just another disposable human, here for your pleasure and your convenience.” I held my head as small tears ran down my face.
“You mean more to me than you know,” he whispered.
A few moments passed before I cleared my throat enough to speak again. “What does the brand mean?” I asked, indicating the mark on my chest. He hung his head in shame.
“It’s the sigil for house Lysanthier.”
I nodded, realizing how clever that little bitch was.
After my bath, Gaelin tended to my hand. Because of my alfar blood we couldn’t call in a healer to quicken the healing process. He reassured me that it would heal in a few days. I curled into bed, facing the balcony. He kissed me gently on the top of my head before turning out the lights. My hand wasn’t the only thing that had been completely shattered. Filo might as well have taken the hammer to my heart and any hope that Gaelin could truly love me.
Chapter 14
Gaelin was gone by the time I woke up the next morning. The table on the balcony was covered in fresh fruit and breakfast foods for me. I walked into the sunshine and took a seat in front of the feast. If it weren’t for the events from last night, I would have thought this to be romantic, but I knew it was a symptom of his ever-growing guilt. I ate in peace before dressing for my big day.
My hand still throbbed and ached something terrible. The mark on my chest was even worse thanks to the ulyrium blade. I bandaged my injuries and headed out to find Levos. He was tucked away in one of the service halls making out with a human slave I didn’t recognize. I cleared my throat, trying to be subtle. He turned with a growl of aggravation. Once he saw it was me, he calmed, motioning for the young girl to be on her way.
I had almost allowed myself to forget that he was an alfar. He was kind to me, but he used humans just as much as the others. My heart broke a little seeing him for who he really was. He walked over to me with a smile on his face. I tried to regain my composure, but I failed miserably.