Page 113 of Blood of the Stars

“Someone took the dagger off my belt. You’ll want to see it,” Gaeren said. “Although I still have another in each boot, which means you all didn’t search me for weapons. Fine job you’re all doing protecting Daisy.”

She bristled at the accusation, unsure if she was offended that he felt she needed protection or that he was belittling her companions. Or that he still called her Daisy.

Lukai stepped forward, pulling the daggers out of Gaeren’s boots before producing a third.

“There’s a design etched in the pommel,” Gaeren said, wriggling to sit taller and lean forward. “Do you see it, Daisy?”

She started once more at the name, then recoiled from the dagger that Holm tried passing to her. A simple daisy glinted up from the metal, large enough for others in the circle to see and start whispering about it.

“Do you remember the daisies?” His question was almost a whisper, the eagerness on his face suddenly stripping away his years to make him a boy.

She took the dagger from Holm, running her thumb over the grooves of the flower. It looked no more familiar to her than anything else in this part of Rhystahn.

“No.” She handed it back to Holm, barely catching the way Gaeren’s face fell before he could school his features.

“You chained them together,” he murmured, shifting his gaze to the grass at their feet. “Wanted me to teach you to make crowns. You made a dozen of them that night while we hid—before you disappeared.” He closed his eyes then and leaned back against the tree.

“You saw me disappear?”

“Yes.” The single word held as much pain as the cries Arvid had wrung from Della. If she had been three, he had been, what—six, seven? In Lorvandas, dedication years for the nobility occurred when a child turned eight. Was it the same here in Vendaras? With his eyes closed, all his features were soft again, and she could imagine him as a boy, trying to protect a toddler.

What would it do to a child to witness something like that at eight years old?

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He held her gaze once more, the sensation unnerving. “To make sure you were safe. Do you feel safe here?”

She hesitated, not because she was uncertain about her answer, but because she wasn’t sure how he might use it against her. “Being with these people is the safest I’ve ever felt.”

Hurt flashed in his eyes, but then he gave a short nod. “That’s—that’s good. I should have known you wouldn’t remember. You were so young. I could show you, but I doubt anyone would let me. It’s my opposite spoke. I’d have to touch you to give you the memory.”

Velden pushed off the tree he leaned against, shaking his head.

“Come here, love.” Iris pulled on Aeliana’s arm even though she was already out of Gaeren’s range of touch.

Aeliana was opening her mouth to argue that she wanted the memory when the sound of approaching footsteps made everyone turn toward the Islaran gate once more. She sluggishly pulled her gaze away from Gaeren, still not sure what to think of him.

Kendalyhn and Sylmar approached, the old man hobbling forward with his cane. His skin hadn’t regained its color. Knocking out a dragon must have taken everything out of him.

“It’s clear Durriken came here against his will.” Kendalyhn’s gaze lingered on Aeliana as she announced her assessment to the group.

Aeliana nodded, grateful that the other woman could see the lies of his past. If there was a way to disagree with Aeliana, Kendalyhn would have managed it, which made the information even more reliable to their companions.

“He still killed all those innocents,” Lukai said.

“As Mayvus’ puppet.” The words slipped out of Aeliana’s mouth before she could think them through. “What if my mother had been on Durriken’s back instead of Arvid? What if she’d attacked right alongside him?”

No one met her eyes. Cyrus shifted beside her as if he might say something, but even he kept his gaze fixed on the so-called prince.

“I know what you’re all thinking right now. You’re not deciding whether to let him live.” She stared each of them down, her gaze landing on Sylmar. “You’re deciding how to kill him.”

“Of course he needs to die,” Gaeren said.

Aeliana whipped around to find the stranger staring at her incredulously.

“He killed an entire city,” Gaeren added.

All sympathy she might have felt for the tied-up prince vanished.

“It doesn’t matter if it was on Mayvus’ orders,” he continued. “If anything, that’s more reason to kill him. What else could she order him to do?”

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