obviously you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m just … trying to be a friend.”
Vesno nudged my hand with his head, the very large stick whacking me in the thigh. I still wasn’t even sure what my mother’s point had been.
“And there they are,” Sondra proclaimed. “Uncomfortable conversation is over, thank Ejarat.”
I scowled at her and she grinned back cheerfully. Turning, I spotted Lia, copper dress bright in the sunlight, crown once again glittering on her head as she emerged from the cave with Ambrose beside her, Merle back on his shoulder. I squinted, wondering if a trick of the light made her … “Lia,” I breathed, running up to her and taking her by the shoulders. “Look at you.”
“My hair grew,” she confided in a hushed voice, like it was a secret.
“Yes, and I—hello, Ambrose.” I shook my head. “Glad to see you found Merle.”
“He found himself,” the wizard corrected amiably, though the raven cawed at me with harsh displeasure. “But we are indeed happy to be together. Lady Sondra, shall we observe the dancing?”
“Sure,” Sondra agreed. “And you can tell me more about this magic walking stick.” She unhitched it from her belt and held it up, Ambrose and Merle both ducking.
“I suppose we’d best discuss it, if we can’t persuade you to give it back,” Ambrose said ruefully, and Merle croaked agreement. They walked off, Vesno going with them, carrying his own stick.
I returned my fascinated attention to Lia. “Your hair is gorgeous. More than I imagined it would be.” Her bright, jeweled eyes—one green, one blue—sparkled back at me with her former good health. Though still delicately boned, her face and body had filled out more, her flawless skin glowing. And her hair—it flowed like a river of blossoms, otherworldly and ethereal. More than ever, she reminded me of the painting of the elemental in the book Rhéiane had read to me when I was a boy. “You are so unbelievably beautiful,” I said. “You always have been, but now…”
She smiled, uncertainty in it, a shadow of grief in her eyes. “I’m still the same person. Vanity, arrogance, and self-absorption intact.”
I laughed, the sound hoarse and uncouth. “What about obstinate and prickly?”
Her smile deepened, relief in it. “That, too.”
“I understand you tamed the beast,” I ventured, not sure if I was supposed to ask about it.
“The beast in Myself, indeed,” she replied cryptically.
I waited, but she didn’t say more. “All right.”
Her lips quirked and she raised a brow, tiny flowers in it. “You’re not going to try to bully more out of Me.”
“Nope.” I grinned at her perplexed frown. “I’m a changed man.”
She snorted in a most indelicate way. “The waters of truth have wrought a miracle, then.”
I sobered, then nodded. “It was something.”
“I’d bet Myself that you wouldn’t do it.”
“Yeah. I wasn’t going to, but the place made me do it.” I told her about the time bubble and how I resisted—leaving out making an utter idiot of myself swinging the bagiroca at thin air. “You could’ve warned me that the magic would force me to drink,” I finished up crankily, recalling my earlier annoyance with her.
She’d listened to the story with interest, and now she smiled, laughter in her eyes. “I didn’t warn you because there is no such compulsion. No one is forced to drink and witness the truth inside themselves. We make ourselves do so.”
“Uh-uh.” I shook my head vigorously. “You weren’t there. Something forced me to do it.”
“Yes.” She raised a hand to my cheek, her caress silky on the skin over my beard. “You did. You made yourself do it.”
She was definitely amused by this—but she wasn’t lying to me. I felt sure of it. “You’re saying some part of me wanted to drink the waters and overpowered the part that didn’t.”
Pursing her lips, she considered that, then nodded. “That must be what happened. Everyone responds to the waters differently. You’re a complex man and a natural rebel, an iconoclast, so naturally you came up with something new.”
I decided not to ask what “iconoclast” meant. I’d get someone else to tell me.
“Despite your battle not to, are you glad you drank the waters?”
A good question. “Not glad, but … yeah, I learned some things.”
She searched my face, then seemed pleased by whatever she saw. “I’m glad to hear that. If it’s all right with you, we should return to the palace. No more damage will occur to the island, but the havoc already wreaked