Page 130 of A Deception of Courts

And before Duncan.

I didn’t pull away for fear he would see the embarrassment stain my cheeks and neck scarlet. Just as I built the courage, two arms fell around me. Like an exhale of relief, wings followed, folding around my body and holding me upright.

“You are going to be fine, I promise.” Erix’s words were nearly unintelligible as he spoke them into my mess of black hair.

“How can you promise such things?” I allowed the tears to come once again. If it made me weak, then I was the most brittle of them all. And I didn’t care if I held such a title. I deserved it.

“It is my duty, as your guard, to make promises others would deem impossible to keep.”

Erix felt my change in posture. He freed me. I pulled back from him, almost stumbling back if his hand did not take mine to steady me.

“You know you could leave now,” I said firmly. “There is no need for me to have a personal guard. I lost the one thing which gave me my title. You may think you are fulfilling a duty, but Althea won’t force this on you. I’m sure there are more deserving–”

“Robin, that is enough.”

I choked back on my words.

“I take my vows seriously. My bond is final. I protectyou. It is what I desire and what I will stop at nothing to ensure. Regardless of what you say, how you act, you cannot push me away. I will not allow it.” He traced a finger down my cheek, making me suck in a breath. “My duty and pleasure. Remember that.”

“What are you going to protect me from now?” I asked, finding it difficult to hold his intense gaze. “Myself? It seems it is my decisions, actions and lies that cause more damage than anything else. Aldrick is dead, Duwar is locked away forever, the world has the peace it deserves. You deserve to find your peace, too, Erix.”

Erix’s stare left mine for the first time. It was brief, but his attention flickered to Duncan. His expression set in a grimace. When his eyes snapped back to me, all evidence of his emotion was gone. “I found it already, little bird.”

Before I could question his reply, he stood to the side and gestured me to walk. “Before Althea comes looking for you herself, perhaps we go to them.”

I was glad for the change of topic, although his final words haunted me.

“This conversation is going to be painful,” I said. “Isn’t it?”

“Like pulling a thorn from your foot. Once the task is dealt with, you will soon forget it and move on. I speak on all your behalfs, but you each cannot hide from one another.”

“Althea hates me, and I don’t blame her.”

“And has she told you this herself? Because I hardly imagine Althea couldeverhate you. Dislike, perhaps. However, an apology can be the greatest gift. It can heal rifts. It is the starting block of building trust. Believe me, I would know.”

I forced a smile, thankful to have him at my back. Thankful to have him with me in any capacity.

“Erix?” I asked, voice pitching at the end of his name.

He exhaled. “Yes?”

I screwed my eyes at him, and his lips curled back into a toothy grin. Something warmed low down in my stomach. “When you are ready, will you tell me what happened?”

At once, his smile faded. Erix didn’t need me to further explain what I was asking. He knew. As before, I expected him to refuse me. To tell me nothing had happened inside of the gate or for him to repeat the same muted story he’d already said, the one lacking details.

Something had happened during the short time Duncan and Erix had entered Duwar’s realm. I remembered Erix’s palpable shock even now, days later. When he looked at me, his eyes seemed to cut straight through me as though I wasn’t there. Duncan was unconscious in his arms. Erix hadn’t reacted when I shouted his name, he didn’t even seem to notice when I waved my hand before his lost, all-seeing eyes.

Terror. I recognised it in his gaze.

Whatever had happened, Erix had come back in a state of shock and Duncan was gravely hurt. I didn’t believe Duncan had hurt himself by the fall, which Erix had suggested was the cause.

But I hadn’t pushed because it wasn’t the right thing to do. There were far more important matters deserving of my focus. Especially now that Duwar’s fate had been sealed for all eternity with the destruction of three out of the four of Altar’s keys.

Erix gazed ahead, the burning sconces on the wall reflecting haunting light across the sharp lines of his face. The turmoil drew his expression into something unrecognisable. “If I am honest, Robin, I hope I never need to tell you what I saw.”

My heart thumped in my throat. There was something in his reaction that called for my ice to crackle around the tips of my fingers. It was as though the power, beaten and tired like a hound cowering in its cage, finally felt the need to protect me.

A familiar lost expression riddled with terror shadowed Erix’s face. I felt his refusal to look at me now as though it would stop me from seeing his horror plastered, as plain as day, across his face.

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