“I already forgave you.” Another truth.
His shoulders relaxed. Hope sparked behind his golden gaze.
Then he asked the one question he had been holding in the back of his throat for weeks. “Would you ever marry me if your mother wasn’t forcing you?”
I lifted my chin. “That depends. Did you kiss me in front of everyone because you loved me and were worried about me, or because my mother asked you to make a public scene for the papers? To stabilize the kingdom? What is the truth?”
Thalen’s answer came instantly. Too easily.
“I did it because the queen and the General asked me to. They wanted a genuine display of love for the press so the island would focus on you marrying an Emberkeep, so no one would think you were a Dragontail princess, and to ensure Emberkeep lineage. Things are balanced again, and you can rule. You will rule Rionis as it is meant to be.”
The ground beneath me went still.
I pulled my hand back from his chest as if burned, turning my gaze away before the hurt could show.
“Thea, how did…? I didn’t mean…” he started, reaching for me.
But fire snapped at my fingers, itching to ignite. My magic, which had stormed under my skin, felt betrayed. No, furious.
Deep down, I knew.
Of course, the General’s son would do exactly what benefited the crown. I hadn’t asked earlier because I was afraid of this answer.
And he’d said it so lightly. So carelessly.
I looked up at him, my voice steady as steel. “Then, I would never marry you willingly.”
Thalen froze, his breath catching. His eyes, usually warm and bright, darkened as realization spread across them like a shadow.
“I am sorry,” he begged. “I didn’t have an option. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
But by then, I had already turned away from him and pretended to go to the restroom. And for the first time, Thalen totally understood exactly how much he had already lost.
Chapter 25: Ancient Magic
“Thalen wasn’t able to get into her head,” Jan said, practically vibrating with excitement. “I mean, it was obvious I couldn’t. I don’t have noble blood strong enough for deep truthfinding. But Thalen does, and he still couldn’t.”
Jan, Soehl, Shakari, Rowan, Tran, and I sat around a long oak table in the library, sunset pouring molten light across the stacks.
“It’s been two days, Jan. Get over it,” Shakari snapped, her patience, what little she ever had, already wearing thin. Jan had spent the last forty-eight hours insisting my mental resistance had to be tied to some ancient, lost magical trace. He hadn’t stopped talking about it since, which explained Shakari’s growing irritation.
And as ridiculous as it sounded… he wasn’t entirely wrong. It was unheard of. I’d been turning it over in my mind for the past two days, circling the possibilities, but I couldn’t let myself go down that path, not with the Dragontail Trialslooming so close. My head didn’t have room for mysteries about me when survival was demanding all my focus.
“I had great tutors in the Glass Castle,” I added, trying to downplay my friend’s annoyance.
“He’s right,” Soehl murmured, eyes narrowed in thought. “I’ve been looking through records. This isn’t common. It’s… well, impossible.” There was intrigue and worry in her tone.
“Can we please just focus on studying?” I begged kindly, hating the feeling of being dissected. “The trials are weeks away. I need to prepare.”
Soehl looked like she wanted to argue, her mouth even parted but she swallowed it down and pivoted back to her mountain of books. No fewer than fifteen tomes surrounded her in uneven towers, making her look like she was studying inside a fortress of parchment.
“Yes, well, we Dragontail might die in just a few weeks trying to collect those stones,” Tran drawled, pushing his shock of red hair back with dramatic flair.
“They are not stones, idiot. They’re gems,” Shakari said. “I still don’t understand how you both are even related.” She aimed the comment at Rowan. Shakari was clearly not in a patient mood, which earned a snort from Rowan and made Tran sink back into his research.
While the rest of us searched through old trial logs to figure out what we might face in the Dragontail Trials, Soehl and Jan had been digging through every scrap of royal history they could get their hands on, determined to uncover the forgotten Dragontail Solenhart. What began as Soehl’s research had turned into a full-fledged partnership. Jan and Soehl were a duonow, inseparable, and if I wanted her help, I had to let Jan in on my truths, too.
So far, they’d tracked almost every Solenhart legion placement stored in the archive room, missing only four royals. Now they had moved on to Dragontail history itself, cross-referencing names, magical traces, and old photographs.