Page 225 of Salt in the Seas
Many of the same questions and information were delivered to Gaeren, forcing—or perhaps allowing—them to work together to find solutions that would please everyone. It helped that he seemed just as uncomfortable with a position of power he hadn’t meant to take. At least his rule was temporary, and he could pass it back to Enla when she returned with Riveran.
Aeliana smiled at his clever way of protecting his sister and scrubbed harder at the blood staining the stone floor. She wished she’d thought to get the fish from Velden to do the same for her mother.
“If you’re smiling,” Gaeren said, “maybe this time I can get you to say yes.” He winced when she glanced up, then held up both hands defensively. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
Her smile fell. “Don’t tell me you want me to go see Sylmar.” She sat back on her heels and shoved the brush aside, grabbing a washcloth to clean off her stained hands.
“I understand why you don’t want to see him. I don’t want to either. But this time it’s not just Sylmar asking to see you.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “What do you mean?”
“Orra is asking to see him.”
Aeliana frowned. “Why?”
“Something about him knowing where the onyx stone is.”
“How would he know? He never even talked to Mayvus. He just killed my mother.” Aeliana’s words came out curtly, and while she regretted taking it out on Gaeren, she felt no guilt over her hatred for her mother’s murderer.
“I didn’t think he knew anything either. Which is why I let her go see him.”
Aeliana’s hands balled into fists. “You shouldn’t have done that without talking to me. I don’t want anyone listening to him spew his lies.”
Gaeren hesitated, and Aeliana narrowed her eyes.
“You went with her, didn’t you?”
He glanced at the door as if looking for an escape. “I might have.”
She huffed and stood, dragging her bucket of water to the window and dumping it outside.
“I’m sorry. I thought nothing would come of it and that it would get Orra off my back, but here’s the thing.” He placed a hand on her arm. “He’s telling the truth. I can’t always sense it since it’s my secondary spoke, but he was eager to prove himself. I gripped his forearm while he spoke, and every word he said was true.”
“What did he say?” she asked against her will.
“He thinks there’s more to the curse and that it’s not over with their deaths. He wants you to keep searching for answers.”
She stilled, hating the way it piqued her curiosity. “What, like something can bring them back?”
Gaeren hesitated. “I don’t know. I don’t want to get your hopes up. But I also don’t think we can ignore him.”
“What does this have to do with Orra’s stone?”
Gaeren shrugged. “Apparently one of the Stars told her to ask him, but he wouldn’t tell her unless you and Iris were present.”
Aeliana nearly choked on her scoff because her throat was clogged with tears. “How can I face my mother’s murderer?” She pressed her palms against her eyes. “And what does Iris have to do with anything?”
“You won’t be doing it alone.” Gaeren placed his hands on her shoulders. When she moved her hands, he was crouched before her, looking her in the eye. “I will be with you the entire time. And anytime you don’t want to listen to him anymore, you can leave. But if he has something to say that can change the course of our plans—of our lives—we need to hear him out.”
Aeliana closed her eyes, trying to think of her mother and what she would do in this situation. As much as it burned to admit it, her mother would have let Sylmar talk, even if it was just so she could discard his words the moment she left the room. She would never turn down information that could potentially help them. The job of a leader was to filter through that information.
And now that she knew Sylmar harbored some secret, could she really sail to the other side of the continent and forget about it?
“Fine,” she whispered. “I’ll go.” She lifted Gaeren’s hands off her shoulders and shoved him aside. “But you can’t blame me if I use my light shield against him now that I have it back.”
Traveling to the prison cells was hard enough as Aeliana imagined her mother and father here with Marnok, Orra, and Gaeren.
“How did you stand it?” she asked Gaeren, squeezing his hand tighter as he led her through the tight hallway. Orra and Iris trailed behind them, the maidservant as clueless as Aeliana about why she’d been summoned.
