"So... James" I began, my voice breaking. "All this time, did you think I actually liked him?".
Thorne clenched his jaw, his silver eyes flashing with a pain he couldn't hide.
"I saw you smile at him in the hallways, Maren. I saw how he took your hand and how he looked for you at the end of classes."
"At first I only wanted to help you…" I admitted, feeling the heat rise to my face as I confessed my own weakness. "That morning the rector... he said so many things when he believed you were seducing me. And I didn't want you to blame me for losing everything. But then I... James... My Goddess… I feel like a fool now that I know everything you've carried all alone."
Thorne let out a bitter laugh that shook his shoulders while he looked at me with a mixture of adoration and weariness.
"Ye
