Page 130 of Star Bringer
His face closes up, and I know I’ve made a mistake. He knows something, but he’s not ready to share. I try again. “Why do you think the Sisterhood attacked Kali and Ian today?”
“I don’t know. And we don’t know for sure it was the Sisterhood.”
“Come on, Merrick, I know you know more than you’re saying.”
He purses his lips as he considers me before he says calmly, “Kali and I are cousins.”
For a moment, the words make no sense. “You and Princess Kalinda? Cousins? What? How?”
He nods. “Her father and mine were brothers.”
I knew Kali’s father was a Seratian priest—it’s common knowledge. But how did I not know my bodyguard was related to her? “I don’t understand. Why did you never mention it before?”
“It’s not something we ever talk about. When my uncle married the Empress, he turned his back on the Sisterhood and his family. There were a lot of hard feelings, and that led to him being estranged from my father and his. Then he was assassinated, and any chance of reconciliation was lost forever. I never met Kali. Not until that day on theCaelestis.”
Wow.I mean, I’d known something was bothering him, but I would never have guessed something like this. I scrutinize his face, trying to see some sort of similarities. And they’re there when you know to look. They have the same skin swirls, though Kali’s is bronzer. The same high cheekbones and strong chin. “Does Kali know?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“No.”
“But you’re family. That must mean something.” I never knew my own family. They gave me up to the Sisterhood when I was a baby and renounced all ties with me for the greater good.
I try not to let that hurt.
It was an honor for them, though I’m guessing money also changed hands. They were apparently very poor.
“Family is…often complicated,” Merrick says. “And love even more so. My uncle was caught in between both.”
“Maybe he had no choice? His love was just too strong?”
He shakes his head. “You are such a good person. But there’salwaysa choice. You just have to accept the consequences.” He stands up. “Time for bed.”
Something tells me that he has a lot more secrets than he’s letting on. That he gave me the Kali-and-I-are-cousins thing to deflect my questions from the ones he doesn’t want to answer. Part of me wants to push for more, but I know he’s done talking for today.
“Okay, but I think you should tell her,” I say.
He inclines his head. “I’ll consider it.”
And he walks out, leaving me more confused than ever. I sit there long after he’s gone, even pour myself another drink and ponder what he’s told me and what it means.
Merrick and Kali are related. Could that have any connection to what’s happening to us all?
And I weigh in my mind how I feel about the fact that Merrick is not a true believer.
Where does that leave me?
More confused than ever.
Suddenly, I have the urge to be near the one person on this ship who I know will tell me the truth. The one person who sees me as I am.
Not as a high priestess. As a woman.
Chapter 50
Rain
