“
About a half hour later, there was a knock on my door and I stiffened, my heart hammering. Who could want to see me?”
“Come in!”
Narian slipped through the door, closing it quietly behind him, and I laughed at myself. I was not used to him entering my room in a conventional fashion.
“I never knew your home--all of Cokyri--was so beautiful,” I confessed when he was sitting beside me. “We’re not told about these things when we learn about history.”
“It is beautiful,” he agreed, almost wistfully, and I wondered what he was thinking.
“You really grew up here, in this temple?”
He was nodding, absentmindedly rubbing his wrist, and I simply watched him for a moment.
“And you love it,” I surmised.
“I suppose I do. It feels like home. But I don’t miss it when I’m with you.”
He kissed me, then leaned back against the pillows, pulling me along with him.
“Narian,” I murmured, lifting my head to look at him. He was so handsome, so perfect with his halo of golden hair and his intense blue eyes that I ached for him to kiss me and touch me. But there were things I wanted to ask him. “What was causing the friction between you and the High Priestess?”
An ironic smile lit his features. “Call it a familial disagreement. She doesn’t understand my change of heart--that I don’t care anymore if she sees us together. Ever since the Overlord’s death, she’s been trying to win me back, you might say. She knows I’m not happy with her. But she doesn’t realize that she’s already lost me--this place may feel like home to me forever, but it will never again be home. This part of my life is over. My loyalty has turned.”
“You’ve never said that before,” I pointed out, feeling like there was something important he was not telling me. “That your loyalty is to Hytanica.”
“I only recently came to realize it myself. But that is where my loyalty lies.”
He was resolute, decided--and he was making me uneasy. What had the High Priestess said at dinner? The Grand Provost wouldn’t leave her province in unrest. I hadn’t had I?
“Narian--” I started, sitting up, but he interrupted me.
“Your loyalty has always been to Hytanica, and I don’t want there to be anything standing between us. So I’ve made up my mind, Alera. It’s a good thing.”
I nodded, trying to shrug off my disquiet, for he was, of course, right. I stood up and tugged on his arm, trying to get him to move.
He laughed. “I told you I was tired, remember?”
“Yes, but as long as we’re here, I’d like you to show me something.”
“What might that be?” He came to his feet, and I dragged him toward the door.
“I want to see where Miranna was confined.” I clutched nervously at my blouse, unsure how he would react, for I had not been able to think of a tactful way to raise the topic.
He stopped, forcing me to face him. “Alera, do you really want to see that?”
“You told me she was well cared for here,” I bristled, my tone slightly accusatory. “If that’s true, then you have nothing to hide from me.”
Narian released me. “I didn’t lie to you. The High Priestess made certain Miranna was well accommodated. But she was still a prisoner. I just want to be sure that you are ready to see this.”
“I’m ready.
”
”