Page 22 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

“Something troubles you. Dalana wishes to know if she can make your evening more pleasant,” Ellisar said with a warm smile.

Zylah looked at the female. “I’m fine, thank you. How…” She bit her lip. “How are you communicating with him?”

Dalana smiled and tilted her head to one side.

“You’ve never met a mated pair before?” Ellisar asked.

“No.”

Ellisar took Dalana’s hand and looked into her eyes as he spoke. “Lana has no voice of her own, but we speak down the bond. I hear her voice as if it were my own. And even if I couldn’t, I would still feel her presence. I know when she walks into a room, I can feel her anywhere.”

Zylah shifted her attention to the water.

She and Holt had talked about mates once. She’d thought it cruel.

But when it works—when it all falls into place—that’s a powerful thing, Holt had told her.

“We share our thoughts, feelings, even what little magic we both possess should we need to,” Ellisar added, his tone cheerful as he explained. But then he turned to Zylah, his smile fading. “Forgive me. Lana says we have made you uncomfortable.”

“No, I… I’m just tired.” She looked over at Holt’s table again, to where Lady Maelissa sat beside him, a hand on his arm, laughing at something, and squashed the ugly thoughts that were working their way to the surface.

“Any friend of Holt’s is a friend of ours,” Ellisar added.

“You know Holt?”

“There are few here who do not.” Ellisar followed her gaze to Holt’s table, where Maelissa leaned across him to reach for a handful of grapes, her body pressing against his as she moved.

“So I see.” Kopi hooed quietly on her shoulder as if prompting her to change the topic. “This place… old magic keeps it well hidden from the humans.”

A half-truth wasn’t as bad as an outright lie, and though Ellisar had said they were friends with Holt, Zylah was yet to see any evidence of that.

“We were uneasy at first with Lady Maelissa’s… developments. But we’ve become accustomed to them. The court thrives within the confines of these rocks, and though we miss our old home, this one has grown on us.”

Zylah considered how much she should press them, whether she should admit what little knowledge she had of her own people. The rulers of the courts had been murdered, she’d thought. “Have you lived this way for very long?”

“Since a few years after the last uprising. Our Lady might not make the best first impression, but she is very…fiercewhen it comes to her court.”

“But you wish to live beyond it?”

Dalana and Ellisar exchanged another look. “We wish to walk through this world freely,” Ellisar said softly.

The unspoken words hung between them: despite Arnir’s death, Astaria was still not safe for the Fae. Not with Jesper’s army, and whatever sick games Marcus was playing. But the desire to live free… Zylah understood that all too well, and all she could offer in response was a tight smile. She took in the court around them, the laughing faeries, the music. And already the air pressed against her skin, already she felt trapped.

Her back throbbed, but her vials of tonic were in her saddlebags, wherever they were. Kopi hooed softly at her shoulder in reassurance.

“Lana asks if she may touch him,” Ellisar asked.

Zylah hesitated for a moment, fighting her natural instinct to put space between her and others. But Dalana’s smile seemed genuine, warm. “Hold out your hands.” Zylah shifted her shoulder towards the Fae’s upturned palms, a slice of pain cutting through her as she moved, but she ground her teeth together to conceal it. Dalana’s face lit up even more as Kopi hopped into her palms, making a little noise, not unlike a purring cat. Zylah rolled her eyes at his dramatics, returning the smile Dalana offered her. She looked over the Fae’s shoulder to see Lady Maelissa watching Holt as he made his way over, her cloak clutched in one hand, the other tucked into a pocket.

“Lana. Ellisar. It’s good to see you,” Holt said, stepping in beside her.

Both Fae bowed their heads.Bowed.Zylah pressed her lips together to make sure her mouth didn’t hang open. Kopi flew back up to her shoulder, and Lana’s hands began moving quickly, signs and gestures moving from one to the next so fast that Zylah barely registered them.

Holt huffed a quiet laugh, resting Zylah’s cloak on his shoulder and moving his hands like Lana’s as he said, “We’re friends.”

Zylah’s cheeks flushed.

“We’ve had a long day. Perhaps we could catch up over breakfast?” Holt asked, his hands moving again as his attention moved between Lana and Ellisar.

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