Page 129 of A Forgery of Fate

“Truyan?” Baba whispered.

Joy clotted my throat. I rushed forward, forgetting completely where I was. My only thought was for Baba, wanting to embrace him, touch him, be with him.

Then ice frosted Baba’s lips and eyelids. He shivered violently, eyes closing once more.

“Finish the portrait,” Nazayun snarled. “Now.”

I clenched the brush, my entire body glittering with hate. He wanted me to paint? By gods, then I would paint.

With great flourish, I outlined the shape of Elang’s eyes and painted the first one yellow. Then I turned to the other.

I used to think his yellow eye upstaged the gray, but now I found myself contemplating the many shades within that gray. Ashen when he was angry, pewter speckled when amused, and charcoal dark when he was in pain. The shade I mixed for this portrait was achingly deep.

I leaned forward to dot his pupils. One last stroke, to capture the light, and I’d be finished. I braced myself, about to mark it upon the Scroll—when Elang spoke.

“Wait,” he said, shattering the chamber’s brittle silence. “A last request, if you may. Before I am sent to Oblivion, I should like one kiss from my wife.”

I nearly dropped my brush.

“A kiss, Elangui?” The Dragon King’s laugh made the walls shudder. “Look at your bride, ready to betray you for all eternity. No kiss will make her return your love.”

Love?

“Didn’t Shani tell you it was all a sham?” I blurted. “Elang doesn’t love me.”

The moment I spoke, the water in the room went utterly still. The Dragon King dipped his head, coming close enough that I could feel the electricity sparking from his whiskers. His eyes beheld me, just as mirror sharp as I’d remembered.

“Elangui doesn’t love you?” he repeated. “Surely, Bride of the Westerly Seas, you cannot believe that. If it were true, my patrols would have slew you as soon as you entered my realm. But they did not.”

He was lying, wasn’t he? I blinked, thinking back to the day I’d arrived in Ai’long. The jellyfish had wrapped their tentacles around Elang, testing him for any traces of deception. I’d been so preoccupied with getting them away from me, I hadn’t been paying attention to what they had done to him. Only that he had passed the test, because…because…

“They heard Elangui’s heart,” Nazayun answered for me.

His heart,I thought, over the pounding of my own. “But…how? I thought he had none.”

“He doesn’t. Unless he’s with his Heavenly Match.”

It was like I’d been struck. My head jerked up, eyes flying to Elang, certain he would deny such a ludicrous claim—the way he had when we’d first made our bargain.

Don’t be dense, krill,he had said, the tips of his ears burning red.Don’t imagine I wouldchooseto take someone like you as a bride. It would be for appearances only. Until our business is complete.

But he was silent. His eyes were unwavering, not even daring to blink. His gaze, stuck on me.

And suddenly I knew.

“It is simple,” Nazayun explained. “When he is in your presence, his heart returns. Away from you, it vanishes. Too long apart from his love, and Elang suffers, he grows weak.The curse resembles an affliction common among mortals—what is it called? Ah yes, a broken heart.” He leaned forward, his voice falling to a soft purr. “I’m told it can be deadly.”

My brush snapped under my thumb. I was vibrating with anger, and it took my greatest self-control to bury it and speak, in my iciest tone. “Like the demon told you, our marriage isn’t real. Why should I care if he dies?”

Nazayun impaled me with his gaze. “Yousoundas though you care, Bride of the Westerly Seas.”

“She does not,” said Elang.

“I didn’t ask you.” Lightning fired out of Nazayun’s eyes, striking Elang in the chest. “I asked the girl.”

Elang jerked back. Smoke sizzled where he’d been hit. It was the hardest thing, masking my horror and feigning cold aloofness. But I stayed rooted in place, silently choking on my fury. No matter what, I would not give up the game.

Nazayun peered at me. “Do you love Elang?”

---