Page 14 of The Blade in the Ashes
“Did you know?” I found myself asking, ice coating my words.
I felt Caldrius kick my leg under the table, but I couldn’t look at him. No, I focused my attention on the God who now lifted his chin with narrowed eyes.
Hyrax frowned. “Know?”
“What Pasnia was going to do to me? Did you know her plans?”
Hyrax leaned back in his seat, the shadows at the edges of the room shifting and stirring. Without meaning to, I flinched against the sudden feeling of magic in the room. Magic that Ididn’thave.
Because of him.
“Did I know?” He scratched at his beard. “You’re asking if I knew that in her last months my wife was going to abandon me? If I knew that shewould rip the magic out of my only true daughter? Did I know she would use her very last breath to bring me here?”
I tightened my grasp on the dinner knife in my hand.
Pointless as it was.
What use was a dinner knife against the God of Death?
“No, Theadora. I did not know that, nor do I appreciate the implication that I was complicit in any harm that may have befallen you.”
Hyrax wrapped his fingers tightly around his fork, the whites of his knuckles showing as he leaned forward again to resume eating. Before he could spear the meat though, he seemed to think twice about it and slammed down the cutlery with an echoing crash.
“Honestly, Theadora!” He scoffed, frustration clear in his furrowed brow. “It’s like you’re not even happy that I’m here.”
“Of course she’s happy,” Caldrius interjected, wrapping a hand around my shoulder and squeezing. “We’re a family now, after all.”
I turned to him, noting the intensity in his eyes, the silent warning and plea to play along with this.
He was worried for me.
Which begged the question… whatwouldHyrax do to me if he thought I was disloyal?
“Of course,” I agreed, holding Caldrius’ gaze. “I was only curious.”
Subtly, Caldrius nodded in approval, and the shadows in the room seemed to recede.
I swallowed before turning away, forcing my gaze onto the food in front of me. I would have been content to stare at that food for the rest of the evening if it weren’t for a sharp sniffle from Hyrax.
The God dabbed at his eye gently. “I apologize. I just—”
His voice trailed off as he looked at Caldrius and me. With a content kind of sigh, he took my hand in his and ran his thumb over the metal locked onto it.
“You are my daughter.” He turned to Caldrius with an affectionate smile. “And I’ve always viewed you as a son. It brings me such joy to see you together. I only wish Pasnia were here to see it too.”
I wanted to pull my hand away from his frigid touch, but I didn’t.
I’d already risked too much with that last outburst.
So, I let the most hated God in all of history hold on to my hand while we ate our dinner in what he perceived as companionable silence.
ChapterFive
Iris
Iwas in a mood.
I had been trapped in it for some time now, unable to release the bitterness that gripped me.
