I laugh half-heartedly. “Not far off.”
“How could I not have seen it?” he continues. I get the sense he’s not talking to me. And then he turns back, looking me straight in the eye as he puts his hand on my shoulder.
“A year ago, shortly after Estela came into my life, you gave me the advice that set me free. You told me, ‘One of the hardest consequences of our actions is having to live with the choices we thought were right in the moment.’”
The knot in my throat grows larger, making it hard to ignore the moisture accumulating in my eyes. “I thought…”
“I know.”
I turn to look at him. My throat is tight.
“I didn’t tell Arlet. She found out along the way. On the island?—”
“The witches. Somehow they knew?” he fills in, understanding where I was going.
I nod. “I hid this from everyone. And I hurt her. She left because Arion threatened this place, but she also left because I lied to her. She…”
Fucking damnit. More moisture slides down my cheeks.
“You will make it up to her. I’ve never known anyone as determined as you, brother.”
I close my eyes, letting more tears slide down. The pain is soothed a little when arms are drawn around me. A firm pat lands between my shoulderblades.
“Life is long. You are strong. Stay the night that you might rest, and tomorrow, you will continue your journey.”
Teo releases me.
“Thank you, brother.”
Teo smiles. “I have faith in you.”
I flick the tears from my eyes just as the guard returns with food. The smell of it causes my stomach to clench.
“I will stay and rest. And in the morning I will leave,” I say.
The guard sets down a tray of enough food to feed several. Teo gestures for them to bring it to the table. And then, he sits at my side. Once I bring a chunk of meat to my mouth, my stomach rumbles after so long without food.
We used to hunt theRuh’Glumdlor—cave bears—together before the humans arrived. Before I left with Arlet, he was so busy with his family.
There is a comfort in knowing that the friendship that existed between us can still exist, even if it is harder now.
Only after I’ve taken my first bite does he begin eating as well.
“I’ve been lighting up the Wall of Remembrance in your absence,” he says. The wall was filled with the names of the loved ones we had lost after the Great Eruption that destroyed most of the continent and killed almost all our people.
It was a task I did almost every night for half a century.
“Thank you,” I say gently.
We sit like that for a long while, eating and drinking in silence. I am not a man of many words, but it almost feels like a dozen conversations were exchanged in that span of time.
Ultimately, it was the right choice to come. The situation is not less dire or urgent. But knowing I have people like Teo on my side—good friends and a good life to fight for, a future to fight for—lightens my dark mood.
“Did they say you came in on a dragon?” Teo says suddenly. “You hate heights.”
I laugh. “Yes, well, Arlet seems to have cured me of that. I’ve been flying Seraph around the continent and back. The mount is still outside. Wouldn’t come into the under mountain.”
Teo laughs too. “Probably has something to do with Drathorinna, Estela’s mount. They are very territorial.”