And her name is…

When I try to leave dinner before the rest, Tiago subtly puts his hand on my leg and holds me down until he’s done. Only when he is does he let me go, and when I rise so does he. He follows me up the stairs to my room and waits beside me as I search for the key in my pocket. I can’t help feeling like a child about to be reprimanded and I stop before opening the door.

“Tiago?” I question. “What’s going on?”

He looks at me firmly and takes the key from my hand, unlocking the door, and then pushing me through it. I back into the room and keep my eyes on him as he closes and locks the door behind him. He looks at my nervousness and visibly relaxes before putting my key on the table by the door. He moves over to the group of chairs in the corner and plops into one of the single chairs that’s facing me. After he gestures to the chair across from him I reluctantly move to sit but don’t let myself relax too much.

“What’s going on?” I ask again.

He sighs and presses the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Do I want to know why your fork is covered in Wulfric’s blood?”

He pulls out the fabric napkin from his pocket, that I hadn’t even seen him take, and shows me the fork he smuggled out. Seeing it and his face I start to laugh. I can’t help it and he smirks at me, relaxing a little further into his chair as he puts the fork and napkin on the table. I move to pick it up by the napkin but think better of it and sit back in my chair. I don’t know that a napkin between it and my fingers is even enough to stop the compulsion.

There’s no reason to lie about this.

“I picked it up out of some old habit while I was reading,” I admit, “and the compulsion hit. He put his hand over mine so I stabbed him instead of myself. That’s all.”

He nods like this makes perfect sense and sighs again. “Okay. I was hoping as much, but when Noryth blocked us from coming in… If it had been your blood there I would have called them out at the table.”

“I appreciate you looking out for me,” I return with a smile. “I’m okay though, I can handle those two.”

He crinkles his eye brows at me. “You sure? They had you really upset before…”

“I’m sure,” I interrupt with a smile. “You learn something new everyday, right?”

For the longest time I was just learning how much more I could take. Now, I’m figuring out what I’m willing to give up. I’ve always been ready to die to kill Kheliq, but now I care about what happens after I’m gone. I don’t want to leave the people I’ve come to think of as friends in a position where they could be used and controlled.

“I need to ask you something,” I say and pause, making him nod nervously. “That day after the big party at Helion’s, you found us drinking in my room and you looked angry, but then he said something to you and you relaxed… What did he say?”

He found a fork with not even my blood on it, and someone holding a door closed for a minute or two, and thought it important enough to take me aside. He was feeling more and more like a guardian to me but that day I saw his face, and he thought something was wrong.

Why had he let it go?

Tiago looks thoughtfully away from me while he tries to remember but then snaps his fingers. “He told me it was none of my concern.” Tiago looks thoughtfully at me and then looks angry. “Why did I listen? Don’t answer, does he have the same affinity as Ignacio? Was he manipulating you this entire time?”

He slams a fist down on the arm of the chair and stands, stomping towards the door. I panic and run after him, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling as hard as I can.

“Where are you going?” I demand.

“Where?” He turns on me. “To see Ignacio! If he knew about this…!” He drifts off into angry grunting sounds. “They’re about to lose a major asset in me! I can’t believe that he would stand for this! I don’t understand why you aren’t more upset. He’s been playing you up as his fiancé and fucking you, all while manipulating you. The number of times that man has said your name…grrr, I thought it was just because your mind wanders off sometimes and he wanted too make sure he had your attention.”

“Butwhy?” I ask and he pauses to quirk half his face in an unspoken request for clarification. “Why the whole story? I would have killed Kheliq regardless, and what does he care if I killed a bunch of people along the way? If they want to take over it’s easier to do that in chaos. He could have had you drop me at the front gate after we met and stuck around to gather the pieces. I told him I knew killing Kheliq is a suicide mission for me, so he didn’t have had to convince me of anything. What does he have to gain by pretending I’m his wife?”

“Wait?Is,like for sure?” He asks.

I roll my eyes. “Not the important question here.Helionwill still be here when I’m gone and there are a select few, you included, who I don’t particularly want to leave with a more convincing evil patriarchy.”

He walks back to his chair and sits down. He looks like my father did when me and my mom had to sit him down to tell him about my affinity.Too many questions.This isn’t about to get easier for him. I carefully walk back to the couches and sit with him

“You think they’re up to something?” He asks after a minute.

“I think that even people with the best intentions can go about it the wrong way,” I return. “They’re worried about the blight… I’ve been ignoring the conversations about that,” I admit.

“Why trust me?” He returns.

“I don’t,” I confess, “but I like you as much as I do Nyx, for the same reason. Broken bones and weak muscles bury the same as strong ones. I’m at a toss up on whether you two are genuinely amazing or acting to get my trust, but you took me aside today and were ready to leave the cause for what Helion’s done… so I’m taking a calculated risk.”

“Fighter, from the day we found you wearing two layers of men’s clothes to fit the armour you snuck out in I have respected your drive, but when you came down to dinner after tying a dress into pants… knowing what I know now, I know you could have killed us all that day, but you warned us to get away. Despite your reservations and intents, you’re not a monster. That’s more than I can say for the men I’ve chosen to put my faith in right now… I’m with you. I want to figure out what they have to gain in all this from these lies before we line them up with another throne. What do you need?” He’s looking at me so seriously that I feel like I should already have a plan but I don’t.

“I need to take alongerwalk tomorrow before I go train with Wulfric. I honestly think I want to go as often as possible over the next week or so.”

I start biting the side of my lip in thought, and switch to my thumb when I realize I’m likely to break my lip. There is too much to worry about right now and it would be safer for me to justendthe problem. I am struggling to remember why that would be a bad idea, though somehow I know it won’t be appreciated. I know I could go to Kheliq’s right now and be done, but a part of me wouldn’t die happily without my questions answered.

I nod to Tiago. “If you can’t keep your chill around the others I need to know. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m somehow a pawn in another king’s game and if you’re going to confront any of them before I’m ready I need to know.”

He shakes his head. “I can keep my yap shut for a few days, but I want to be in the loop. No secrets..”

“I can’t promise that,” I interrupt him quickly. “I won’t promise that. I have a lot of secrets, and I don’t trust easily. I’ll figure it out without you if I need to.”

He huffs a frustrated breath. “I guess I don’t really have any leg to stand on, and you’ll just take me out if I get in your way.”

I laugh a surprise laugh. “No Tiago, I won’t ‘take you out’, but if you know you’re going to be a problem I’m pretty sure I can erase this little bit of time from your memory. No telling how much you’ll remember when you wake up though.”

“You can do that?” He asks and I shrug.

“Maybe, just a theory since the guards I knocked out didn’t tell Wulfric what I told them. I’ve been curious to test it though..”

He holds up his hands and chuckles. “I’ll be good I swear. I’ll meet you and Nyx down the trail on your walk and whisk you away.” He glances at a clock in my room and tsks his tongue at the late hour. “Off to bed, going to be an interesting day tomorrow.”

I nod and he hugs me before he’s gone. His room is the only one here not warded against his form of teleporting magic, that’s why he has to wait for me to open the door to get in, but can leave without an issue. It’s also why I check my windows again before getting ready for bed. No one should be able to get in my room.

I stare at the stuffy for a minute before leaving it in the bed and heading to sleep. I want to be up early tomorrow to start this day I have ahead of me, but I know I’ll wake up as the nightmare ends no matter when that is.