Xara Zynthar's Arc

Chapter 10 of 16

The council doors did not open. A steward held up a hand and murmured that the lords were still gathering inside. The prince stepped aside to wait. Verity drifted down the corridor to speak with a guard, giving them space without seeming to. Xara looked at the prince and knew she had one gap left before the room swallowed them both. "Walk with me," she said. "Just to the window." He followed. The corridor ended in a tall pane. Grey light was going gold at the edges. Dawn. "I told you last night I could not stay," she said. "That was not all of it." She reached into her sleeve and drew out the folded parchment. She had carried it since her first night here. She opened it on the sill between them. The crimson sigil caught the new light. The wax edges looked black. "This is a blood pact," she said. "My council sealed it before they sent me. I was to seduce you. Secure the ships. Return. If I failed, my name would be struck from every record at home. They chose me because I was already half struck out. I think they sent me as a punishment." He did not touch the parchment. He looked at her face. "I am telling you this now because I need you to hear the other thing separately," she said. "Not tangled with it. I love you. Not the ships. You. I did not plan it. I did not want it. It happened while you were crossing out numbers on a page." His mouth opened. She kept going before he could answer. "My world is dying. Even if your ships reach it, my people will not forgive me for how I bought their passage. They will look at me and see this seal. So I have already lost them. Do you understand? I am not asking you for anything by saying this. I am not trading. I have nothing left to trade. I only wanted you to know before you walked in there. If it damns me at your table, let it." She set the small vial of moonlight water beside the seal. "Drink it if you doubt me. I will drink it too." He looked at the vial. He looked at the seal. He did not reach for either. "I believe you," he said. "Put them away." She folded the parchment. Her hands were steady now. "After the council," he said, "whatever the room decides. Come find me." "I will." Verity returned. Her eyes went to the sill, then to Xara's face, and something in her softened again. "They are ready," she said. Xara walked toward the doors. The weight in her chest had moved. It was still there, but it was hers now, not a secret between them. Whatever the lords did next, they would do it to two people who had already told each other the truth.