Page 96 of When Wishes Bleed

“No… it’s crawling under the crack at the bottom of the door. It’s inside. Oh my goddess – it’s the King’s bedroom. Tauren is sitting on the bed. The King looks sick! Something’s wrong.”

“He’s dying,” I entrusted.

Brecan paused in his cleaning and glanced up at me. “How long does he have?”

“Until the next full moon.” Brecan’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“I can hear them,” Mira said. “Shhhh.”

She listened for a long while. I settled into a chair beside her and waited while she eavesdropped.

“He thinks you tricked him,” she whispered.

“I didn’t.”

“I know,” she answered. “He thinks you only pretended to love him. He’s telling the King about what your mother said in the mirror.”

I balled my hands into fists.

Mira continued, “But the King doesn’t believe it. He said that Cyril loves to play games, and that Tauren should never take her word over yours.”

I threw my hands up. Exactly!

“The King told him to listen here,” Mira relays, clapping her hand over her heart. “He doesn’t believe you would lie to him. He thinks you love Tauren.”

Brecan stiffened as he walked to the window and opened it. The shards of glass turned to dust in his hand, and with his breath, he sent a violent gust to scatter the particles.

“Awww,” Mira sighed. “He says you look at Tauren the way Annalina looks at him. He says the other girls are nice enough. They’d enjoy being Queen. They might even be a good partner. They’d enjoy the title, the prestige, and the privilege that comes with it. But he says they don’t have hearts to lead; hearts strong enough to weather storms and withstand battles and all that comes with them, yet be soft enough to show mercy. He says you have that.” She smiled. “The King likes you, Sable.”

Her smile faded slowly away.

“What’s happening?”

“Tauren said you can’t be with him, but the King said he thinks Tauren’s being foolish. He says… rules can be rewritten. New traditions made. Compromises forged. He doesn’t think there’s anything you and Tauren couldn’t figure out and withstand… together.”

Brecan stood stock-still, his arms folded tightly over his chest. I noticed he didn’t close the window.

“Tauren…” she began.

“Tauren, what?” I asked.

She shook her head. “He’s leaving the room. He patted his father’s hand and told him to get some rest, that he’s sorry to have bothered him.” Mira’s eyes refocused. She turned her head to me, giving me a look that was part sorrow, part pity. “The moth is returning.”

A knock came at my door, and the three of us stared at it for a moment before I stood to answer it. Tauren stood on the other side. “I’m sorry,” he said, glancing into the room to see Brecan and Mira were still inside.

“We were just leaving,” Mira chirped, standing up and grabbing Brecan’s arm. She had to pry him from the wall beside the window, but he left the room with her and they returned to their own. I searched the walls for moths, just in case.

Tauren hovered outside, his forearm braced against the door frame.

“Come inside.”

“I shouldn’t.”

“Yes, you should,” I said softly, taking hold of his free hand and pulling him in.

He looked to the ceiling, but I could see tears glistening on his long lashes. “It’s so hard to see him weakening. Day by day. Hour by hour. Knox is with Leah. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“I’m glad you came to me.”

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