Page 16 of To Fight and To Fold

“Is that it, then? You care for the Tethered," Vaelen guessed.

Thea schooled her expression and glanced up at Vaelen. “What do you mean?”

She tapped Thea's knee, stilling its bounce. “You’re restless, and while I might be able to accept that you’re just thrilled to be home, I wonder if it’s something else. You did spend a lot of time with her—Aaryn, right?”

Thea pursed her lips and pulled her legs up to sit crisscrossed. “I’m dedicated to this cause.”

Vaelen smiled, tilting her head. “Do you not think your heart vast enough to care for two things at once?”

Thea grumbled and leaned back. “No. My heart is dead and cold.”

With a chuckle, Vaelen poured herself another cup of tea, and motioned the pot toward Thea. Vaelen refilled it as well.

“I think we both know that’s a lie. You feel guilty."

Thea groaned, running a hand over her face. "How could I forget how damned insightful you are?"

Vaelen laughed. "Do not hold onto your guilt. We'll make sure Starspark is well. We'll make him comfortable. He'll warm up to us."

"And if not?" Thea asked, wincing, heart racing at the thought of the answer.

"Then I think you know what you have to do."

Thea's heart skipped, tripped, leapt during Vaelen's knowing pause.

A smirk, then, "Retrieve Aaryn," she clarified.

4

UNWELCOME GOODBYE

Unease slithered through her, and Aaryn wasn’t sure what the source of it was.

It could be the guilt over Thea’s actions still rocking through her, fear that she’d done something wrong or said something to send the woman over the edge, to drive her to this. Or worse, what if Thea had used her from the beginning, played a long game that all led to… this?

What if it was none of that?

While the possibilities all raced through her mind, she was painfully present in the moment, in every step that echoed through the castle. On the arm of the prince, all gazes were latched to her as he led her from the infirmary to the Tethered’s towers. Wide eyes greeted them and hushed whispers followed them.

She bit the inside of her cheek and hated their attention.

“Ignore them,” Jarrick murmured as they rounded a corner to a blissfully empty hallway. “Whispers are harmless. I’ve heard them my entire life.”

“Yes, your majesty,” she agreed, but she didn't know if his words offered her the comfort he intended. Aaryn hated this feeling of their eyes on her, the weight of what they might be thinking.

She had certainly giggled and played into the scenarios the Tethered would spin about the bachelor prince beneath the afternoon sun. Now that a scene much like some of the silly fiction she’d encouraged was coming true, she wished she were anywhere else.

"We'll be placing extra guards on duty to secure the Tethered's safety while the outside wall is repaired," he explained, and as they walked past where the explosion had been, Aaryn blinked.

It hardly looked the same. Already there was a crew working on laying new bricks.

"We want the Tethered to feel safe."

He escorted her through the walkway, up the stairs, and to her room. Aaryn gazed out of her grand windows, which offered a view of the back of the castle and the dragons’ field. Usually the grass was covered with lazing dragons and Tethered, but now, guards were afoot and progress was being made on the wall.

She suspected by this week's end one could not distinguish if there had been an incident at all.

Aaryn watched the dragons from her window, restless within their caves, probably being comforted by their Tethered, as the prince began to speak. Thea had caused an explosion as a distraction while she mounted Starspark and flew away on his back.