Page 3 of A Blightress of Wrath
Iled her inside our forest dwelling andBorosfollowed, settling himself on one side of the enclosure.Ihelped her down onto the tattered blanket, unrolling the entrance flap and lighting another lantern.
Sheremained quiet, staring off into nothing asIunclasped her cloak and placed a warm, clean blanket around her shoulders.
Iliked taking care of her.Imissed taking care of her whenIhad to leave.Butthis silence was frighting and instead of offering her food and drink,Isat in front of her, lifting her chin that was pointed at her boots. “Talkto me,Sae.”
Herred-rimmed eyes had turned to brilliant lighting blue.Hercheeks and nose were splotched with tracks of dried tears.
Ireached out to her hands. “Wasit your mother?Whatdid she say to you?”
“Shesaid…” she gulped andIfelt the shiver that ran through her body. “Shesaid my father is alive.Shesaid we leave tomorrow for theSpireand that we are going to save him.”
Inarrowed my eyes to mere slits, cocking my head. “BaronRevichdied seventeen years ago.Everyoneknows that.”
Shescoffed, lowering her head again. “Apparently, that’s not true.Mymother has lied all these years.Hardlyanyone knows.”Herhead snapped back up to me. “Yourparents don’t even know.”
“Itdoesn’t make sense,”Ipressed. “Whylie?Whywouldn’t she go after him?”
“Idon’t know yet.MaybeIshould have stayed to listen, butIdidn’t want to hear any more.”Sheglared at the flicker of the lantern. “Shekept this from me my entire life.Pah-Pahdid, too.Ifeel so betrayed by them both.Andmy father?Ishe hurt?Ishe fighting?”
Iknew he wasn’t.Unlessthere was more to the story,BaronRevichwas known as a martyr, not a man fighting in this war. “DidBaronKarussay where he is?”
“Withsomeone called theBlightress.”
Myblood went cold, andIsobered further.
Saewatched my reaction, not missing a beat. “Whois she,Thevin?”
Itook her hands from her lap and squeezed them. “She’sthe cause of all of this.She’sthe one who started this war.”
Chapter3
Saelyn
War.
Iknew little of it and even less about its origins.WhatIdid know was that it had been raging outside ofFelgrenmy whole life, and now,Iwondered if it had been raging the exact entirety of it.
Iwiped the tears off my cheeks. “Willyou tell me?”
“I’mnot supposed to te?—”
“Idon’t care what they’ve told you to hide from me,Thevin.Iam not a child.”Istraightened my spine, squeezing his hand back. “IfIam to leave for theSpireand help save my father,Ineed to know all of it.Everythingyou know.”
“I’munder a direct order fromBaronKarusto never say a word to you about life outside ofFelgren.”Oneside of his lips lifted and his eyes sparkled. “GoodthingI’mnot very good at following orders.”
Iwasn’t sure that was true.Thevinalways followed the ordersI’dgiven him since we were fifteen.
Herubbed his face, pulling a hand through his golden curls.Mystomach tightened at the movement.Ihadn’t forgotten what had happened between us, what had torn in his confession of his feelings and my rejection of them.Andwhen we had danced at my party, andI’dbeen ready to take a risk with him?Then, he’d told me to forget all about it.
“Ican’t tell you much about how it started.Mostof us don’t know.”Hisjaw tightened in muscle that ticked as his icy blue eyes caught mine. “ButIcan tell you how it’s going.”
Isuddenly wasn’t sureIwanted to know.Justby the look on his face,IknewI’dbeen kept ignorant to all of it for seventeen years for a reason.WasIso fragile?
Mymother must have thought so.
“I’msorry,Thevin,”Iwhispered, barely audible with the pounding of rain that continued its slew on the eaves of our hideout.
Heshook his head. “Youdon’t need to be sorry.”
