The Answer is Yes
TEORIN
Darkway Palace
"Who are you?"
"Dali." She tilts her head. "Dali Vaelor."
"How are you in here?"
"I have my ways."
He looks at her. The teal hair. The teal eyes. The way she holds herself, as though the room belongs to her and she is simply allowing him to use it.
Realization moves through him slowly.
She watches it happen. "Yes," she says. "You are quicker than I imagined. Though to be fair, there are few creatures with teal hair and eyes."
He says nothing.
She looks at him carefully. Then at Asharin. Then back at him.
"I can help you," she says. "Both of you."
She crosses to him without being invited and places her hand flat against his chest. The jolt is immediate, heat moving through him, spreading outward from the point of contact, pressing into his limbs. He feels himself come back into focus.
"I can awaken her," Dali says. "Not so much that she can leave you. But enough that she can function. Walk. Talk. Be in your company."
Something eases in his chest at that. His fingers tremble once and he hates that they do. He hates how badly he wants this. He wants Asharin alive. He wants her eyes open and her mouth moving and to see the way her mouth twists when she is annoyed. He wants all of it.
"What do you want in return?"
"Simply to be here," she says. "As Asharin's companion. Without interruption. Your needs for her presence become secondary to mine."
He narrows his eyes.
"And," she adds lightly, "the vault of Morrath. It holds some family heirlooms I wish to have. I want you to open it for me."
"I don't know what's in there."
She takes one step toward him. "Does it matter? If it gives you Asharin at the end of it?" She holds his eyes. "Are jewels and trinkets worth more to you than she is, Teorin?"
He exhales.
"Fine," he says.
"Good." She moves to Asharin's bedside and looks down at her.
"When she is ready she will begin going to the shoreline. Eravic Vaelor has had the best healers from across the Thronelands deliver various treatments to his ship. One of them is an expert in poisons. He has created a treatment for her while they try to find the antidote. If it doesn’t work, they will try various remedies until they find one that works. "
“So she’ll be with Vaelor alone while he gives her an unknown treatment?”
“Yes.”
"I don't like that."
"It is the only way."
"I'll attend."
She pauses. "You cannot attend."
"Then forget it."
"You would risk her life over your own pride?"
"Someone needs to make sure she is safe."
"Eravic Vaelor is as honorable as they come." She looks at him. "Even you know that. And he will not allow a feeder to hover while he works. It is an insult to his character."
She smiles. "Those are my terms."
He looks at her. There is something familiar in her face that he cannot place. He turns it over and finds nothing.
"Have we met before?"
She shrugs. "Maybe."
"Why do you want her as a companion? None of this makes sense."
She changes without warning. The teal bleeds out of her hair, her eyes, and what is left standing in its place is a woman with dark brown hair and softer eyes and a face that is quieter and older and real in a way Dali was not.
"I was her closest confidant when she came to Rathmor Palace," she says.
He stares. Then it hits him. "The servant. Mary. She mentioned you."
"Maridale," she corrects him. Her voice is different now. Lower. More careful.
Something feels off. He cannot name what. But Asharin is lying in that bed and her eyelashes have barely moved in weeks and he wants to see her gold eyes open and looking at him even if what is in them is fury.
He says yes.