He told her about the tunnels, the Valg.
Nesryn only said, “So we’ll find them again. Tomorrow.”
He waited for her to pace, to shout and swear, but she remained steady—calm. Some tight part of him uncoiled.
She tapped a finger on the wooden table—lovingly worn, as if the kneading of a thousand loaves of bread had smoothed it out. “Why did you come here?”
“For distraction.” There was a suspicious gleam in those midnight eyes of hers—enough so that he said, “Not for that.”
She didn’t even blush, though his own cheeks burned. If she had offered, he probably would have said yes. And hated himself for it.
“You’re welcome here,” she said, “but surely your friends at the apartment—the general, at least—would provide better company.”
“Are they my friends?”
“You and Her Majesty have done a great job trying to be anything but.”
“It’s hard to be friends without trust.”
“You are the one who went to Arobynn again, even after she warned you not to.”
“And he was right,” Chaol said. “He said she would promise not to touch Dorian, and then do the opposite.” And he would be forever grateful for the warning shot Nesryn had fired.
Nesryn shook her head, her dark hair glimmering. “Let’s just imagine that Aelin is right. That Dorian is gone. What then?”
“She’s not right.”
“Let’s just imagine—”
He slammed his fist on the table hard enough to rattle his glass of water. “She’s not right!”
Nesryn pursed her lips, even as her eyes softened. “Why?”
He scrubbed at his face. “Because then it’s all for nothing. Everything that happened … it’s all for nothing. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I wouldn’t?” A cold question. “You think that I don’t understand what’s at stake? I don’t care about your prince—not the way you do. I care about what he represents for the future of this kingdom, and for the future of people like my family. I won’t allow another immigrant purge to happen. I don’t ever want my sister’s children coming home with broken noses again because of their foreign blood. You told me Dorian would fix the world, make it better. But if he’s gone, if we made the mistake today in keeping him alive, then I will find another way to attain that future. And another one after that, if I have to. I will keep getting back up, no matter how many times those butchers shove me down.”
He’d never heard so many words from her at once, had never … never even known she had a sister. Or that she was an aunt.
Nesryn said, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Stay the course, but also plot another one. Adapt.”
His mouth had gone dry. “Were you ever hurt? For your heritage?”
Nesryn glanced toward the roaring hearth, her face like ice. “I became a city guard because not a single one of them came to my aid the day the other schoolchildren surrounded me with stones in their hands. Not one, even though they could hear my screaming.” She met his stare again. “Dorian Havilliard offers a better future, but the responsibility also lies with us. With how common people choose to act.”
True—so true, but he said, “I won’t abandon him.”
She sighed. “You’re even more hardheaded than the queen.”
“Would you expect me to be anything else?”
A half smile. “I don’t think I would like you if you were anything but a stubborn ass.”
“You actually admit to liking me?”
“Did last summer not tell you enough?”
Despite himself, Chaol laughed.