Chapter 11: By Name

Maelis sat up slowly and pulled the sheet over her breasts.

The gold light had gone from her skin, and the room felt very cold.

"My mother was a queen," she said. "She had cold hands, and she hummed when she was sad."

"Maelis."

"And now it is in me."

She watched his face.

"You are not surprised," she said.

"No."

"You saw what I did in the wing hall, and you are not surprised."

"I am afraid," said Torvald. "That is a different thing."

Her stomach turned over.

"How long have you known what I am?"

He lay very still against the pillows.

Then he reached for his shirt and dragged himself upright against the headboard.

He moved with the stiff, careful strength of a man who hated being watched.

"Since I was twenty," he said.

"Tell me."

"You will not like it."

"I did not like being sold either. Tell me."

His amber eyes held hers.

"The treaty letter I sent to Corrin last spring did not ask for a daughter of Osric Hartwen," he said.

"It named you.

"Maelis, the younger.

"By name."

The words went through her.

"You asked for me."

"Yes."

"Before you ever saw my face."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To break you."

She stared at him.

He did not look away. That was the worst of it.

"I wanted the queen's daughter in my hall," said Torvald, flat and steady.

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