Aria.
I stood outside his door for a long time before I knocked.
He didn't answer.
I knocked again.
Nothing.
I pressed my palm flat against the wood and closed my eyes for a second. Then I pushed the door open and walked in.
He was standing at the window with his back to me, one hand braced against the frame, looking out at the grounds below where the gathering fires were still burning. He didn't turn around when I came in. He didn't move at all.
But his shoulders tightened...He knew it was me.
"Leave," he said.
"Eryx—"
"I said leave, Aria."
My name in his mouth. The first time he had used it directly and it came out like something he was forcing through his teeth.
I stayed where I was.
"I thought you sent her," I said quietly. "Talia. When she came to Ashfen I thought—"
"I k
