The Vine Eater (The Magic Eaters Trilogy Book 2) by Carol Beth Anderson

Author:Carol Beth Anderson [Anderson, Carol Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eliana Press
Published: 2020-06-22T16:00:00+00:00

When Ovrun returned, he found both Krey and Nora sleeping. Krey was on his side in bed, knees pulled in tight, his back to the room. A chair sat next to the bed, but Nora was sitting on the floor, head resting on the mattress. Her hand was on Krey’s shoulder, covered by his shackled hand.

Ovrun tried to sit silently, but the chair squeaked when his bulk hit the seat.

Nora’s head lifted. She pulled her hand from Krey’s and rubbed her eyes. “Hey,” she whispered.

Ovrun stood and gestured to the chair. Nora got up, but she didn’t sit. She took his hand and led him to a corner of the room, smiling as she pulled him down to sit on the floor. He wedged himself in the corner and draped his arm over her shoulder, drawing her into his side.

Nora let out a long breath and snuggled closer. “How’s Zeisha?” she whispered.

“She’s tired,” he murmured. “I dropped her off at the bathhouse, and she said she’d take a nap afterward.”

“Good.” Nora yawned. “I guess we’re all tired.”

“How’s Krey?”

Ovrun felt Nora shake her head. “He’s desperate for more fuel. When he realized I wouldn’t give it to him, he went to sleep.”

“Did you lecture him first?”

“I tried. Ended up crying and making a fool of myself instead.” Nora pulled away, sitting up straight and meeting Ovrun’s gaze. “He betrayed us.”

Ovrun lifted his eyebrows.

“Part of me wants to write him off completely,” Nora said, “but I can’t bring myself to.”

Ovrun ran his thumbs along the swollen skin under her eyes. Her full lips curved up at his touch, and he dropped a soft kiss on them before taking her hands and saying, “He hid the truth from us, but I wouldn’t call it a betrayal. He went to the palace for you.”

Her forehead furrowed, and for a second, he could picture what her worry and laugh lines would look like when she got older. She’d be just as lovely as she was now. “What do you mean, for me?” she asked.

“When you were comforting Zeisha, he talked to me. He was trying to get me to bring him fuel, and I guess he wanted to justify what he did. He said you need to be able to lead the country, and it wouldn’t be safe for you to confront your dad alone. He knew what he did was dangerous, but he wanted to protect you.”

She blinked several times. Her tongue ran across her lips, and he cursed his body as it responded. Now’s not the time for that.

At last, she said, “He wouldn’t risk himself for me.”

“Why not?”

“Because—because that’s something you’d do for someone you care about. Our whole friendship has been a lie. He doesn’t care about me.”

“Nora . . . you lied to him too. You . . . you lied to all of us. Osmius was never gonna take you to the palace.”

Her head dropped. She pulled her hands away. “I shouldn’t have done that. I was just desperate, and I—didn’t think it through.

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