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“I don’t blame her.”
“Me either. My father spent months begging for her forgiveness. After Sila made him promise to never perform the experiment again, on any female, she eventually forgave him. Then came Brenneth. But she’s lived with the camp ever since, and prefers it here—says the woods arehealingand all that. If it weren’t for my mother, I would’ve stayed here too.”
“It sounds like you were bred, not born.”
“Yes,” he said with certainty.
They were much the same in that way. “Me too.”
He shot her a curious glare, and she sighed before unraveling her own truth. All of it. Matching his honesty wasn’t as hard as she’d thought it’d be.
When Thessa finished, he said, “If my father finds out about your magic, you may as well flee.”
“He’ll be allowed nowhere near my womb, thank you very much.”
Soren chuckled, and there’d been something about that sound, so light and different from the rigid male she’d come to know.
After staring at him for a moment she asked, “Could you tell me about Eiliana now?”
She watched his throat bob before he answered, “Our marriage was arranged.”
That was not what she was expecting to hear. “Did you love her?”
His voice shifted, there was anger in it. “Madly. And I hated my father for what he forced, then destroyed. Losing her in battle … I almost lost myself.”
She shook her head, feeling sorry for him. “It was your father’s idea?”
He groaned, answering that question.
Thessa wasn’t sure why she was so curious, but had to ask. “Why her?”
“She was the heir to the Forgone One. He presented myuniqueskill set to her father and they forced our hands—to help restore hope after the exiles.”
She wondered how anything forced could do such a thing. “And did it?”
“Yes, even in myself. She was as righteous as she was stunning. Falling for her was as easy as it is falling foryou.”
Thessa blinked. “You can’t mean that.”
“I mean it with every drop of magic in my blood.”
He couldn’t. He was a mourning mess. One question still lingered in her mind. “I don’t even know how old you are.”
“I’ll be two hundred this year.”
Thessa’s jaw unhinged. His eyes and perfect skin held nothing but youth. “And Emiel?”
“The same. Father’s orders, remember? We grew up together. He’s my best friend.”
“Does lying come easy to him too?”
Soren snorted.
“I mean it. You weren’t going to tell me you fought in the UnResting? That I was gifted the grimoire of your late wife? That your father was a fanatical scientist? That you were created? That you want me to lead your army? At any point during our time together, were you thinking,hmm should I tell her anything?”
The inches between them seemed to disappear entirely. “I haven’t been able to think about anything since I met you. Nothing but those sea-blue eyes and sharp tongue.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.
“I can assure you, your thoughts are skewed.”