Paperglass (The War of Princes, Book 2) by A. R. Ivanovich

Author:A. R. Ivanovich [Ivanovich, A. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-04T19:00:00+00:00

*

By the time I finished my story, I was sitting on the edge of the bed with my legs tucked beneath my nightgown. Rune was leaning against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed. I’d told him all about the destruction of the weather tower, the officer from the Hall of Defense, my missing mother, and every step of my journey since I set foot in the outside world again.

“Do you believe me?” I asked. It had to be enough to convince him.

He looked away. “The truth is too rare a thing to be accepted without question.”

What kind of an answer was that? “What do you want me to do?”

He broke from the wall to stand directly ahead of me. The soft stream of moonlight from the window radiated behind him, turning him dark as a shadow. “Give me some irrefutable evidence that what I know about you isn’t a lie.”

I yanked down the neckline of my nightgown. “What about this? Is this enough proof for you?” Showing anyone the circle of toothlike scars in the center of my chest, just beneath my neck, made me feel exposed. Just thinking about them, remembering that they were there, plagued me with echoes of excruciating agony.

Something flashed into his features. Pain or regret. I saw a break in his armor against me. He wanted to believe what I was telling him.

Rune exhaled, looking tired, and sat down stiffly beside me. He rested his arms on his knees and hung his head for a moment. Sucking in a breath, he used a single hand to touch his ribs.

I watched him, worried and not knowing what to say.

“I’m sorry about the knife,” he said, without looking at me. We were sitting next to each other, but he was as far away as he could be, if body language meant anything. “And all this. I would never have hurt you on purpose. Not even if you were one of Hest’s own.”

“I’m sorry for shocking you,” I said, trying to smile despite the strange circumstances.

He lifted his head to look at me with a familiar affection softening his eyes. It was a relief to see it there.

“Do you believe me?” I repeated, folding my hands in my lap.

“I want to,” he returned, softly.

“I wouldn’t lie to you, Rune,” I said, hoping he could recognize my honesty.

His head bobbed. “I suppose I’ll find that out.”

It wasn’t the reply I hoped for. “I’m not your enemy. After all the things you’ve done for me . . . I owe everything to you. I want to be here for you, if you’ll let me.”

His lips pressed tightly together and his head hung parallel to his shoulders. He was quiet for a long while, processing what I’d said. “That’s better than I deserve.”

I looked over his side, and the shallow rise and fall of his chest. “Are you hurt?”

“Cracked ribs.” He grimaced. “Took the dull end of a battle ax in full swing. If it’d been pointed the other way, I wouldn’t be sitting here.

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