Page 27 of Ties of Death

He shook his head. “I’m afraid that would be quite impossible. I’m very sorry, my lady. Now, if there’s nothing else...”

“No, that was all.”

He bowed, then he left me in the hallway, my heart down in my gut.

Tolomon had interfered again.

Letta had seemed happy here. She’d said the chef had complimented her on her skills more than once. With her mother needing the specialist, she wouldn’t want to move.

And now, because of me, she had been let go. I desperately hoped she’d find a new position that would cover the expenses of her mother’s medical care.

With her, my hope was gone too. None of the other servants were more than distantly respectful. None of them responded to my efforts to bridge the gap between us.

My eyes burned with a sudden wave of despair, but I shook my head to rid myself of it as I hurried down the hall.

I was alone again. Tolomon had made sure of it.

15

Nothing but Air

When morning comes, the silence is thick between us again, tense and cold. Daenn looks distant and unapproachable—kingly—but I almost get the sense that he feels frustrated and hopeless.

Or maybe I’m projecting my own feelings onto him. What doeshehave to be frustrated about? He’s the one who killed my husband and stole me, though his words keep echoing back to me.

He didn’t start the fight. He only finished it.

Tolomon was a jealous man and prone to bursts of anger. There had been plenty of evidence of that throughout our marriage.

He once challenged a young lord to a duel shortly after our wedding, claiming that he was leering at me at a ball. I found it romantic that he was so determined to protect my honor, but then it happened again. And again, and again, until I was sick of it—and the subtle accusations he started throwing atmethat I was luring them in somehow. And then once, he’d beat a stable hand within an inch of his life before releasing him from service, all because the man got too close to me when helping me with my horse in the stable.

Yes, I could believe Tolomon started the fight. I could believe it very, very easily.

He never liked Daenn, growing irritable any time I mentioned my childhood friend. So if he was going to start a fight with anyone, Daenn would certainly be it.

But why did Daenn kill him? Tolomon was my husband. Daenn doesn’t know what Tolomon was like. It was his right to defend me against threats, real or perceived.

Surely Daenn understands that. But it doesn’t really matter if he does—Tolomon is dead now, and good riddance to him.

The thought rouses my always-simmering guilt, so I turn my focus to breaking down camp and preparing the gryphons in silence.

It is irritating how well Daenn and I work together, despite the silence, despite the years apart, despite the anger in the air.

I don’t need to speak to him to understand what needs to be done, what he will gravitate toward or leave to me because he knows my strengths. We make an excellent team.

We get into the air soon after, Raindrop following Storm up past a little layer of clouds.

Once we’re flying, it’s easy to leave the thick anger behind. It’s easy to focus on soaring, on the wind pressing against me. It rips strands loose from my braided crown, slapping them into my face and back over and over.

I’m just getting into the rhythm of the flight when a shadow passes overhead. I frown; there’s nothing above me but sun. I turn in my saddle to look—

Something slams into Raindrop’s side, and suddenly I’m free falling.

There’s nothing to grab, nothing but air around me. I can see Raindrop above me, tangling with another gryphon. It has a rider, the detached part of my brain says.

I recognize the rider’s gear and colors, but I’m panicking too much to pin it down. My thoughts are free falling like I am.

I’m about to die. There’s no way around that. I have no way to stop my fall. No way to help Raindrop. I remember this lesson from my flying classes.

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