Chapter 3 #3
‘Obviously.’ This time the slightest form of a laugh manages to escape, and I purse my lips thoughtfully. ‘You know what, there is something you can help me with, actually. Come on.’
Without another word, I grab Benny’s hand and lead him into the dining room. ‘You can help me eat some of this,’ I say, pointing at the table in the centre of the room.
Benny grins. ‘Now that I can do.’
We dig in with gusto.
‘So what’s going on, Rose?’ Benny asks as he takes a bite of toast. ‘I expected the gifted to be celebrating in luxury. Either that or still in bed … with company.’
‘Kyor and I are over,’ I start with. ‘And then there’s the little issue of—’
I stop myself just in time, amazed at how easily I was about to release the secret that my little brother was alive, given how it could lead to him being killed.
‘What is it?’ Benny frowns. ‘What’s the little issue?’
I shake my head, trying to shrug it off like it’s nothing. ‘It doesn’t matter. Just Kay. That’s all. Things going on with her.’
It’s not a lie, but I still feel bad about only giving him half-truths. After all, things going on with Kay is a massive understatement. She might not get killed the way William would be if the truth came out about him, but she’d be stripped. Stripped of magic I’ve not even seen return to her yet.
There is one thing I can share with Benny though. Only him. And Gods know, I need to talk to someone about it.
‘There’s something else.’ I lower my voice, causing him to momentarily cease his masticating. ‘I lost control. I used my ice powers on Jonas. Accidentally.’
‘They’re not gone?’ he asks in surprise, but I’m glad that’s the question he chose. Not why I used them on our former ally.
‘Apparently not.’
‘That’s not ideal,’ he mutters, running a hand through his hair.
‘No shit. I nearly killed him.’
As silence forms between us I pick up one of the many pastries still on the table.
It tastes sublime and is easily as good as anything we had in the Retterheld, and yet my appetite has diminished substantially since we first sat down.
Nothing like talk of betrayal at breakfast to really curb your appetite.
‘Listen, Rose.’ Benny leans forward and breaks the silence. ‘Come with me. You’d be more than welcome on the Isles. I know Llinos told you as much.’
I try to reciprocate his smile, but I can’t.
As much as I would love to get on that boat with him and forget that the High Hold even exists, there’s no way I can leave now.
Not with things the way they are. Not with my brother and sister here.
Besides, it’s not like the Isles are without pain.
The memories of Llinos’s mother and her sister, Carys, holding me tight are buried in my bones now.
To be on that land – her land – without her would be like feeling her loss over and over again.
‘Look,’ Benny says, catching my eye before I can reject his offer, ‘whatever’s going on with you and Kay, you’ll sort it. I’m sure of it. You won the freakin’ Retterheld for her, right?’
Before I can reply, the doorbell chimes, and we both automatically stiffen at the sound.
‘Sounds like the damned trial bell,’ I mutter.
I can’t help but hope it is Kay, even though I still have no idea what to say to her.
‘Damn sound gave me flashbacks,’ my friend says as I push my chair back to stand.
I can hear Summer answering the door.
‘Lady Rose?’ the maid calls. A moment later she enters the room. ‘Sorry to interrupt, m’lady.’ She dips her head slightly in a sign of deference that I really do not need. ‘There’s a gentleman here to see you? He says he knows you.’
‘A gentleman?’ My stomach clenches. If it were the prince, I’m sure she would have said as much, and she already knows who Jonas is. What other man could be calling?
Not one I want to see, is the immediate thought that enters my head.
‘What’s his name?’ I ask.
‘He wouldn’t give it. He said you’d be unlikely to believe it.’
‘Sounds like a weirdo,’ Benny remarks. ‘You’ll get them all the time now that you’re the gifted. Best send him on his way.’
Benny knows more about this shit than I do, so I nod. ‘Just tell him to go.’
Summer starts to leave, only to hesitate and turn back. ‘M’lady … he did say something else. It was a little … odd.’
‘Yes?’
‘He said he hoped you weren’t too cold without him these last moons.’
‘Sorry?’
‘He said he hoped you weren’t too cold,’ she repeats, but I don’t actually need her to say it again as I realise who is here.
My heart leaps in my chest.
There is only one person who would say that to me, but there is absolutely no way in hell that Ruben – my Ruben from the slums – could ever make it past all the guards on all of the rings and into the High Hold itself. And yet …
I run out of the room. As I approach the front door, I freeze at the figure standing before me. Benny was like a breath of air after coming up from the kraken, and Ruben is the warm hug I so desperately need.
‘Hey, Rosey,’ he says, his face lifting into what is possibly the warmest, most welcome smile I have ever seen. ‘Did you miss me?’